A Famous Australian invention??!

I found out recently that Australia, a country famous for its sport, sun, surf and sand can actually boast a useful contribution to the human race.

And no – it isn’t “stubby coolers” (foam cups to keep your bottle of beer – ‘stubby’ - cool in the heat) or eskies (Cool Boxes to the rest of the world) but something all together more humble and perhaps even more practical – the rotary clothes line.

Or so I thought.

Further investigation on the Wikipedia website, shows that the crown and pinion winding mechanism of the Hills Hoist rotary clothes line was invented by Lance Hill in 1945 but the rotary clothes line itself had been invented 55 years before in 1890 by an American.

It was popularised in Australia by Lance Hill and is a common sight in Australian and New Zealand backyards. It is considered one of Australia's most recognisable icons, and is used frequently by artists as a metaphor for for suburbia in Australia.

It is widely (and incorrectly) believed by the public to be an Australian invention.

However, other Australian and American precursors existed decades before it was produced in 1945 in the Adelaide suburb of Glenunga by Lance Hill.

And that’s it.

I hope you’re all impressed by all this research that I am pursuing for you, The Discerning Surfer…