\’Wood or wire? They have both\’, and in 1967 with the now famous line spoken by a young Dustin Hoffman in the role of \’Benjamin\’ in the film, \’The Graduate\’, humble clothes hangers were immortalized. Wood, wire, plastic or fabric-covered, there is a design for every need in the battle for tidiness. He never saw a penny of the fortune that was made from the patent of the first wire coat hanger in 1903, but Albert J Parkhouse is credited with its invention. By 1906, nearly 200 patents had been granted for novel devices with the simple aim of keeping garments off floors. Two hundred years after its creation, many other uses for this versatile family essential have been described. Some can be accomplished without changing the hanger, others require it to be unwound to one degree of another and still others demand that it be cut or stretched out to the desired shape.

Characters in the 2008 film, \’Birdemic – Shock and Terror\’, defend themselves against an angry mob of vultures by waving coat hangers at them.

\’NO WIRE HANGERS, EVER!\’ Joan Crawford, played by Faye Dunaway in the 1981 film, \’Mommie Dearest\’, admonished her teenage daughter for daring to hang her expensive party dress on a cheap wire clothes hanger instead of the fabric-covered variety that she had so thoughtfully provided.

Less celebrated users of the hanger have cleverly devised some unexpected uses for the handy wardrobe warrior.

As manufactured: Television aerial(with or without foil). Cover with fabric or wool and give away as gifts for friends and family to use as, you know, a coat hanger. Use as a back scratchier. Remove static cling by running it between the garment and your skin. Hook two or three together, add decorations of choice and hang from the ceiling and use as a mobile. Hang keys.

Unwound: Unblock a drain. Break into and/or hot wire a car (preferably your own. Note: Modern electronic car door locks have rendered the wire coat hanger pretty much obsolete for this purpose.) Roast marshmallows over an open fire. Hold up a dragging muffler under your car. Sterilize with brandy and perform emergency surgery to repair a collapsed lung on an airplane at 35,000 feet. The hook at the end of a completely unwound wire coat hanger makes a handy avocado picker (please do not harvest produce without the permission of the owner).

Stretched into a different shape: Catch fish. (First, bend it into a round shape and stretch an old pair of pantyhose across it.) Tie bits of yarn until it\’s completely covered and use as a Christmas wreath. Use as a bow to play Robin Hood. Indoor tennis racket.

International Pop Princess Kylie Minogue has confessed to a secret coat hanger phobia; she hates the way they sound.

Finally, there is the monkey hanger. Not a weapon of animal abuse, but an affectionate nickname for fans of Hartlepool United Football Club. The name dates back to the Napoleonic Wars when a shipwrecked French monkey was hanged as a spy by patriotic residents of Hartlepool. Today, the club mascot is a monkey.

Author Bio: As Canada’s top provider of retail supplies such as store fixtures and plastic bags you can trust that you are in good hands when you make a purchase.

Category: Home Management
Keywords: hangers, retail, retail supplies, home, shopping, clothing, wood, wire, clothes hangers