Carpet hanger
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Jasm%C3%ADnov%C3%A1%2C_lavi%C4%8Dka_a_klepadlo.jpg/220px-Jasm%C3%ADnov%C3%A1%2C_lavi%C4%8Dka_a_klepadlo.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/Ignacy_P%C5%82a%C5%BCewski%2C_Bloki_mieszkaniowe_na_osiedlu_W%C5%82ady_Bytomskiej_w_%C5%81odzi%2C_I-4710-14.jpg/220px-Ignacy_P%C5%82a%C5%BCewski%2C_Bloki_mieszkaniowe_na_osiedlu_W%C5%82ady_Bytomskiej_w_%C5%81odzi%2C_I-4710-14.jpg)
The outdoor carpet hanger (also carpet stand or carpet rack) is a construction to hang carpets for cleaning with the help of carpet beaters. It is known in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Finland,[1] Sweden, Romania, Russia, and other countries.
Secondary usage
[edit]It was a small center of social life.[2] German writers Walter Benjamin and Erich Kästner described hangers as important places during their childhood.[3] Children may use it as a playground, as a soccer goal, as a drumming implement,[4] a gymnastic device,[5] etc.
Poland
[edit]In Poland the outdoor railing for hanging the rug is called trzepak (a noun from the word trzepać, "to beat"; the beater itself is called trzepaczka).
Since the 1990s, it is very rare to see anyone using a trzepak for its prime function [citation needed]. In the newest housing developments, trzepak are rarely installed.[citation needed]
Romania
[edit]In Romania the carpet hanger (bara de bătut covoare or bătător de covoare) was an important landmark in the social life of each neighbourhood during the communist and post-communist period, where it served as a meeting point for neighbours and was frequently used in children's games.[6] Before important holidays, queues would form around the railing, as few people owned a vacuum cleaner, and even those who did would still beat their carpets in order to 'freshen them up'.[7] During the rest of the year, "it was generally used as a football goal by the boys, while it suddenly transformed girls into Nadia Comăneci."[7]
The carpet hanger has been described as representing a sort of "Arc de Triomphe in front of the apartment block",[8] while writer Paul Gabor dubbed it "the ancestral belly of the totalitarian regime" during the communist era.[9]
In recent years, the carpet railing has been a topic of debate for urban planners and local authorities, as many Romanian cities have passed (and sometimes rescinded[10]) laws forbidding their placement or decreeing their immediate removal, citing aesthetic or noise pollution reasons.[11][12]
Sweden
[edit]In Sweden the carpet hanger is called piskställ, derived from piska (meaning "to whip") and ställ (meaning "stand").[citation needed]
References
[edit]- ^ "Carpet Racks in Finland", by Riitta Oittinen
- ^ Socjolog: dla wielu nastolatków galerie handlowe to współczesne podwórka
- ^ Thomas Blubacher, Wie es einst war: Schönes und Wissenswertes aus Großmutters Zeiten
- ^ "Užkliuvo kilimų dulkinimo stovas"
- ^ "Joanna Mucha chce rozruszać dzieci. "Kiedyś trzepak, dziś komputer i iPhone. Rośnie pokolenie sprawnego kciuka""
- ^ (ro)kit - Identitate romaneasca in 50 de componente - Alexe Popescu, Doru Somesan (in Romanian).
- ^ a b "Bara de covoare". www.vice.com (in Romanian). Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ "RO-KIT | Promenada Culturala". 2017-05-21. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ "Țara mea suspendată (My Suspended Land) de Anca Mizumschi | TORO fest|Țara mea suspendată de Anca Mizumschi". torofest.ca. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ Live, Ziare. "Batatoarele de covoare si culmile de rufe pot fi montate din nou in Pitesti. Gentea a initiat un proiect de hotarare in acest sens". ZiareLive.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ rootstirea. "Război cu bătătoarele de covoare și sârmele de rufe – ȘTIRI ZILNIC". Retrieved 2022-04-21.
- ^ "Culmile de rufe si batatoarele de covoare de prin incintele de bloc ar putea fi interzise la Onesti". Ziarul de Bacău (in Romanian). 2010-07-27. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)