In the days when hangers were a luxury, and hotels and trains provided a place to sleep but not necessarily a means to hang your clothes up, a hanger or two was a necessary part of a well-packed traveler's suitcase. American inventors quickly saw the market was ripe for a "better mousetrap", creating literally hundreds of different hanger and clothespin designs. Some hangers and clothespins were simple, others quite complex, and some were granted patents. Others bordered on or were ridiculous. In Hangers, there were folders, sliders, hinged varieties, expanding ones, hangers with clothespins or clips, others that incorporated a clothes brush or a shoe horn, those that advertised a product or business, pocket-sized dainty models, and large graphic twisted wire versions. It was the same with the seemingly simple clothe pin. It seems like one simple idea would have sufficed, but the American spirit and ingenuity said otherwise. Here's a small sampling of the seemingly endless variety of antique and vintage clothespins.
Wireware
Hanger with Great Form This
one shows great imagination! It could have been bent this way or that to accommodate
different size garments.
LCM-H-1
Very Good .... $24.00 SOLD!
3
Child size Clothes Hangers Cute and very hard to find
these days
ML-H-8
Good+ .... $25.00 / lot or $10.00 ea.
Unusual
Mechanical Antique Wooden Clothespins
These clothespins are unlike any I have ever seen.
Dating from the 1920's, the story goes that they were designed by a great-great
cousin of the woman back East that I bought them from. This fellow was
obviously wildly creative, but like so many other inventors of his day he was
a poor businessman. Anyway, he took on a partner and together they applied
for a patent on these clothespins. The partner took off for California,
and probably went on to a life of fame and fortune, or at the very least he
enjoyed some real nice weather. The cousin was left sitting in New Jersey
with a bunch of wooden clothespins, which I now own! The story is great,
and the clothespins themselves are wonderful too. They measure about 5"
long and the way they work is that you squeeze the spring-loaded pin to open
and release the "jaws" that would hold the article of clothing. The third
leg of the
pin,
which is tapered, hangs over the clothesline. I have several of these
antique clothespins available, and whether or not the patent was ever granted
on them I do not know. But my guess is that it is very possible they never
went into widespread production, so these may be the only ones available.
I also have some repaired ones---can you imagine repairing a clothespin---so
if you like examples of antiques that document that some people really did have
too much time on their hands, be sure to inquire about those too!
Click For Pic
LCM-CP-1
Excellent ........$25.00 each
Clothes
Rack Dryer This one has articulated arms and is different from
the norm. It is well made, and an interesting design.
ML-Rack-5
Very Good .... $95.00