History of the Clothes Hanger
The clothes hanger's history includes efforts to preserve garment shape, save storage space and prevent freshly cleaned clothes from creasing. American patents from 1869 and 1932 provide two documented examples of these concerns.
1869: supporting clothes and saving space
On 12 January 1869, O. A. North of New Britain, Connecticut, received US patent 85,756 for an improvement in clothes hooks. Its bent-metal rod or wire supporter fitted into sockets on a mounted plate, with additional hooks. This was a particular garment-support assembly, rather than simply the familiar loose triangular hanger.
North described placing a garment’s armholes over the support’s outer ends to help retain its shape. He also proposed hanging several garments together in a small space. The document records concerns about protecting clothing and organizing storage; it does not establish how many households owned the device. North’s patent.
1932: a problem for laundries and clothes cleaners
Schuyler C. Hulett’s US patent 1,885,263, issued on 1 November 1932, addressed garments that developed unwanted creases while drying on thin wire hangers. He described cleaned and pressed clothing being placed on hangers while still moist, ready for delivery.
His proposed improvement used tubular covers, preferably cardboard, strawboard or heavy paper, on the hanger’s arms and lower bar. These broadened the supporting surface. Notches prevented the lower tube from rotating, helping keep folded trousers in place. Hulett identified laundries, cleaners, dyers and pressers as intended users, alongside households. Hulett’s patent.
What these objects tell us about ordinary life
Read together, the two patents suggest that storing clothes involved more than finding somewhere to put them: the shape and surface of the support mattered. North emphasized keeping garments in shape and fitting them into limited space; Hulett focused on preserving the results of cleaning and pressing. This is an interpretation of their stated aims, rather than evidence that every household followed the same routine. North, 1869; Hulett, 1932.
These records document specific designs at particular dates. They do not establish a single worldwide inventor, the earliest use of any clothes hanger, or the date when hangers became common across different communities. A patent describes an inventor’s proposed solution; production records, shop catalogues and household inventories would be needed to trace its adoption.
The comparison also helps distinguish two design questions: where a garment is held, and how its weight rests on the support. North’s description directs attention to the garment’s armholes and the outer ends of his supporter. Hulett’s directs attention to the narrow surfaces beneath moist clothing and to the lower bar carrying folded trousers. Read this way, garment care involves several points of contact, each capable of affecting how clothing hangs. The tubular covers and the provision against rotation address different aspects of that contact: the width of the supporting surface and the stability of the trouser support. North, 1869; Hulett, 1932.
The dates should not be read as a complete sequence of development. A mounted supporter and covers for a wire hanger illustrate different approaches, but these two documents alone cannot show that one design replaced the other. Nor does Hulett’s inclusion of both commercial cleaners and households establish which group used his improvement most. Keeping intended use separate from demonstrated use allows the patents to illuminate practical concerns without turning proposals into an unsupported account of everyday ownership.