Skywatch Friday: Hills Hoist and Sunset

Our very beat up Hills Hoist, made here in Adelaide and abused by teenage kids at parties, silhouetted against the sunset.

A Hills Hoist for Every Home

Reading Sean Jeating's article about the onset of the northern winter reminded me of the miserable conditions that my mother endured for most of the year in drying clothes on a clothes line. The only thing going for the sodden nappies and the like was the wind and occasional sun. Even a good wringer did not extract enough water to favour quick drying between showers.

According to the Boston Globe,

91 percent of detached single-family homes in the US have a clothes dryer, and a single electric dryer can blow 1,500 pounds of carbon monoxide into the air each year. Now, there is a growing "right-to-dry" movement; some states are working on legislation to overturn bans on clotheslines.

When I lived in the US, most of the places disallowed the drying of clothes outside, through local regulations. Obviously appearance over common sense, driving a huge white goods market in the United States. Clothes lines were rare, despite fantastic drying weather in many parts of the country much of the year.

Seems like a very sensible move. Perhaps there is an export market for the Hills Hoist, made here in Adelaide. We have one in the back yard.