The hills hoist: A beloved Australian icon

Life wasn’t always simple when it came to hanging out the washing.

Today it’s so easy to hang out the washing, just wind up the clothesline and rotate.Up until about 60 years ago, washing time was a very different story; it was never such an effortless task. In fact it was quite labour intensive, tiring and back breaking; overall, a difficult mission. These days however, drying clothes is a breeze thanks to a beloved Australian invention that is cheap, easy and effective, the all new and improved, Hills Hoist, which has become a beloved Australian cultural icon.

The Hills story began in the Adelaide backyard of Lance Hill in 1945 where he developed a rotary clothes hoist out of scrap metal following his return from war. Hill created this ingenious rotary clothes hoist invention after his wife, Sherry complained that the fruit trees were competing for space with the ‘prop’ line.

Although, Hill was not the first to create a rotary clothes hoist, he was the first to attach a handle which enabled the hoist to raise and lower as well as a new way of attaching the lines to the central post. The line was made of a single steel pole from which metal ribs spread out from the centre. Between the ribs he strung rust-proof wire from which the clothes would hang. The raising and lowering of the hoist enabled the clothing to be dried more effectively in the great Australian sunlight.

It took only a year for Lance Hill’s invention to become well known and in 1946 Hill and his brother-in-law Harold Ling, established a business making the famous ‘Hills Rotary Clothes Hoist.’ Back then, a hoist cost only 10.10 shillings and an extra 1.5 shillings for installation. Lance Hill revolutionized the way we all do our washing today with the Hills Hoist now being exported overseas after celebrating the sale of their 5 millionth Hills Hoist in 1994.

Today the Hills Hoist has become part our everyday life for all Australians after 60 years the popularity has increased drastically. We are presented with many remaining ads from magazine advertisements to homemade songs. The Hills Hoist has become a symbol of our nation and reflects the life of all Australians as a beloved cultural icon as shown in this 1960’s print advertisement.

The Hills Hoist is a great symbol of Australian culture and taps into a feeling of nostalgia for the simplicity of suburban Australian life. It truly is a timeless classic. From the beginning Hills Industries have been promoting their products to appeal to the Australian consumer. This 1960s Women’s Weekly magazine advertisement is directed towards a female audience which reveals the attitudes to domestic chores during this time.

Within this era women were the ones to stay home look after the kids and cook and clean. The representation of the Hills Hoist in this advertisement is of a product being promoted as the best Mother’s Day present. The message is that a gift of a Hills Hoist on Mother’s Day will not only solve mother’s wash-day exhaustion but, produce a complete transformation in mother’s lifestyle being affordable and beneficial to all Australian families.

In the advertisement, a shining Hills Hoist replaces the original line and suddenly, the worn-out mats, weak weatherboard house and the unenclosed backyard have also vanished. Mother is now smiling, her trim figure set off by a full-skirted dress, white apron with a stylish bow and high heels, and she hangs up her washing against a backdrop of a brick house, trim lawn and paved path.

The pictures in this advertisement are positioned to show progression, starting with a women being exhausted after hanging her washing on the ‘prop’ line to loving her Hills Hoist in a happy and relaxed atmosphere.

The Hills Hoists is an established Aussie household name and therefore the company does not need to advertise extensively. In the 1960s however, there was a TV commercial released in the late 60s featuring an Adelaide singer, Bev Harrell, promoting the famous Hills Hoist as a symbol of Australian innovation.

This commercial advertises the strength and endurance of the Hills Hoist by attaching a washing machine to either side. The commercial also privileges that the Hills Hoist is spacious and can fit in Australia’s large ¼ acre blocks. Bev is smiling as she sings ‘ease up, ease up, easy so easy with Hills,’ explaining just how simple and effortless it really is to hang your washing. As shown earlier in the print advertisement, a woman is promoting the Hills Hoist suggesting that washing is a domestic daily chore for females and privileges the inventiveness of Australians, wanting to make life and an everyday chore easier. The Hills Hoist gained popularity from this time on and today they are a familiar sight in many Australian backyards.

In the early 1950s, a musician named Kathy Wehr visited Australia and was inspired to develop a song about the Hills Hoist by her friends who told her stories about their memories as a child and how important the Hills Hoist was to them and all Australians. Kathy thought it was amazing as she had never before dried her clothes outside. Within the song, the Hills Hoist isn’t only promoted as a way to hang your clothes but for enjoyment purposes. I’m sure many of you have great memories of times spent swinging around on a Hills Hoist until it broke or you were found out. As a child we would hanging the hose over to play games and at birthday parties our piñata would hang proudly from the wires. Even our beloved family pet enjoyed being swung around it in a towel hammock. All Australians recall the Hills Hoist as a treasure that holds our most beloved childhood memories. As Kathy says, ‘it’s like a bloom in every back garden,’ and she realises that Australians ‘take pride in the land down under.’ And our all Australian invention as we don’t try and hide it like some other countries; we want everyone to have our symbol of national pride. By repeating the phrase, ‘I’m gonna need a Hills Hoist, Hills Hoist,’ it clearly explains how much of a necessity the Hills Hoist is in our everyday life. This song by Kathy is recognition of how many Australians respect the treasured and iconic Hills Hoist.

The Hills Hoist is a beloved Australian cultural icon that has many stories associated with it. Even if your idea of a Hills Hoist is not to hang your washed clothes from but for enjoyment purposes, the Hills Hoist will never be forgotten as it is undoubtedly a symbol of being truly Australian.