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Wall Coat Rack
09.24.2009
Since man first discovered fire, and started wearing clothes, wall coat racks have had a very definite influence in the shaping of man’s destiny.
In early times, our ancestors had to keep all their skins and furs, and later, woven cloth garments on the floor, or the bed. This was kind of practical, especially in winter, when everything was in one place. However, in the summertime, it was a bit of a drag. Somewhere in history, one enterprising soul broke a branch off a tree, jammed it into a crack in the cave wall, and draped all his extra skins and furs over it. This was a marvellous discovery, as it also shielded his sleeping skin from the bright light of the sunshine. In one fell swoop the curtain, the screen, and the wall coat rack were invented.
Seeing as everyone now wanted one of these items, but not everyone had a suitably situated cave-wall crack, another step toward life as we know it became necessary. A collection of rocks were carefully piled on top of each other, and, as it was outdoors, a few branches were placed across the top, with bindles of reeds tied to them. This was to keep out the sun, moon, and some rain. Inside the new invention was a bewildering array and collection of suitable cracks. In fact, there were too many.
In time, with much practice, dwellings were built and developed, and wall coat racks found themselves on the floor, on legs, as the builders had lost site of the actual purpose of the dwellings. They forgot to include the all-important cracks!
Exactly how long this sorry state of affairs persisted, no-one knows. It took a history scholar, who had been perusing old cave walls, to alert builders to the fact that they were in fact building for the wrong reasons. It would be an understatement to say that the building and woodworking guilds were horrified. Their entire existence was in danger.
At a meeting of the guilds it was unanimously decided that henceforth all dwellings and buildings were to be provided, not with the actual racks, but at the very minimum, the opportunity and means to have such an article become a part of the decor. At this point in time these items lost much of their prior usefulness, as it was decided that from that point onward, the coat racks were to be situated as close to the front entryway of the dwelling as possible. This was not a great loss as curtains were now widespread, as were screens.
The means were easy, drill bits and wall plugs were to be utilised. It became standard practice to allow each building to have any of a wide range of wall mounted racks on which to hang coats. In smaller dwellings, a simple unit with space for one or two coats was practical, and if the owner of the dwelling was affluent, an optional cubby hole would be introduced for keeping keys or other small items. Dwellings or buildings which accommodated many people would have access to larger units, inasmuch; many more coats could be hung on them.
Off course there are many who would not believe that wall coat racks had such a large part in shaping the destiny of man, but, viewed with an open mind, and a degree of objectivity, there is no reason it cannot be true.
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