REMEMBER WHEN…YOU USED TO SWING ON THE HILLS HOIST?
The Hills Hoist. Where does it take you?
On Facebook, you told us it reminded you of Spring days and freshly dried towels. Though more of you admitted that the good old clothesline was in fact more of a fun past time; many of you recall the strife you got into for having bent the arms.
“One of the happiest memories of my childhood.”
“Love it! Was so much fun. If you did this now on the new Hills Hoist it would collapse.”
“Nan used to yell at us for doing this… And chase us with the broom!”
What are your memories of the Hills Hoist? Do your kids swing on it like you used to?
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14 Responses to this article
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diane August 15, 2012
Our kids did swing on our hills hoist until we had to remove it to make for our pool. Now some 25 years later the pool has gone and now I want another Hills Hoist again.I had a system when hanging out the clothes with the sheets and towels on the outside lines, then the singlets shorts and shirt on the next line and the undies were always hung on the inside line,away from preying eyes,as my Mum used to say, haha.The new clothes aren’t as good
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Walabytrack August 15, 2012
I never had the pleasure of swinging on a HH as a kid,Mum just had Wires and Clothes Props and when you tried to swing on those the wooden or pipe prop would fall and all the washing would land on the Dirt. I don’t think I need to tell you what happened when Mum arrived,Screaming loudly. The handle of the duster made a dull sound. God Bless Ya’ Mum.
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Margaret August 15, 2012
Ah, such sweet memories. My cousins and I would would place our selves around the line so it spun evenly. The taller ones lifting the little ones. For some reason we had to change spots every so often…? and then one by one our legs grew too long…. Mum didn’t approve, but let us have our fun as there was thick grass underneath to save our falls. The old Hills out lived our childhoods – amazing. Testament to whoever installed it !
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Pauline August 15, 2012
I have to confess to using the hills hoist for a rather cruel scientific experiment. I had heard that cats always land on their feet no matter what. So I set out to test that theory. I put our much loved cat Meow Meow ( yes that was actually her name) in a bucket and on the end of the Hills Hoist and and swung her around and around, then took her out and dropped her from a small brick wall to see how she would land. I am please to say that she did in fact land on her feet and appeared unharmed. I am also pleased to report that I did not grow up to be a psychopath.
Not sure this use ever appeared in any instruction manuals. -
sami August 15, 2012
Oh no Pauline! So glad Meow Meow survived unscathed
haha poor tormented cat. I had a boy cat named Fog, I rememebr he used to bring home lady cats at night time and serenade them loudly under the hills hoist. Dad used to run out there and chuck the broom handle at them In the day time I spent many an hour sitting up the top in the middle of the HH. I’d also hang upside-down by my knees, but always checked for spiders first!
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Jane August 15, 2012
I knocked all my front teeth on the pole of one of these running & singing up there gazallee as I ran thru a sleeping bag hanging on the line – we didn’t have money for a proper dentist so my teeth are crooked to this day. Wonderful memories….
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Penwahr August 16, 2012
I used to swing on the Hills hoist, and my claim to fame was that Mum never caught me lol!.
I actually taught my daughter how to swing on a hills hoist when she was about 4, I figured its something that every aussie needs to have given a bash at some stage -
dramaqueen75 September 3, 2012
I loved standing on the top – one leg each on an arm of the clothes line, with my arms out wide and my head tipped up to the sky while my brother or sister swung the line around and around.
It was magic -
Merryl Chantrell September 4, 2012
I remember when our original Hills Hoists could take the weight of my sister and me. Sadly not these days with the new fold away clotheslines
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sue Bell January 11, 2013
loved swinging on the hills hoist but in later years, when the temperatures soared and we had neither fans nor cooling, I would cover the HH in sheets, put a sprinkler with a dribble of water on the top. As the water soaked the sheets it acted like a coolgardi safe. I would lie under the sheeted HH on the ground, out of the sun and reading and the wet sheets would cool me, especially when a breeze blew up.
Never put my pets on a HH but I used to give my bantam chickens merry go round rides on the wind up gramophone. Gen Y readers may need to look up that old fashioned word gramophone and marvel at our new technology. -
taz January 12, 2013
As an employee of Hills one of the saddest days was the decision to no longer manufacture the Hills Hoist in Adelaide. Cheap imports had sadly rendered it obsolete even after a very strong marketing campaign by Hills to remind us of those good old days swinging around on mums clothes line. Gone the way of playing under the sprinkler on a hot summers day I wonder what our kids backyard memories will be?
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Robyn January 23, 2013
I still bear the scar on my left palm, when after being told repeatedly to ‘stop swinging on the clothesline’, I fell off and somehow cut my hand- on the lawn! To this day I have said that it is part of my identity! From a time when I was young, non compliant and you didn’t get burnt to a crisp just walking into the yard to hang out the clothes.
