In the days before people could buy “designer” hangers in stores like Home Goods or Bed, Bath, and Beyond–and were more frugal than to spend money on things like that anyway, they relied on their own artistry to add a bit of flair to everyday household items, like coat hangers.

On my (pre-coronavirus) estate-sale prowls I often found hangers embellished with hand-worked yarn covers. I have assembled quite a collection and they are not only cute but they are useful. The covers protect garments from the sharp angles of the hanger and keep wide-necked garments from sliding off. One woman I bought some from told me that her mother had made them for all her daughters.

(The quilt the hangers are lying on is also an estate-sale find–a beautiful hand-made creation so old that some of the fabric has deteriorated.)

I truly do not know whether these hanger covers are knitted or crocheted, though I lean toward crochet.

The wonderful pink detail on this one definitely looks like crochet.

Sometimes they sport extra flourishes. And what fun to use ombre yarn!

So far these are all based on wooden hangers, but here’s one that starts with a wire hanger.

These hangers are all beautiful and useful, but for the truly ingenious we turn to . . .

My sweet daughter-in-law found this on a recent (masked) estate-sale prowl and sent me photos.

In her accompanying note, she said, “When we stepped outside of the sale, family members of the homeowner were observing the madness inside. They were very kind and spotted the hanger in my hand, saying, ‘My mother made one of those for each of us!’ I mentioned that I was thrilled to give it a new life in our home, and I plan to repair it and use it as a drying rack for our hand-washed face masks. They were so touched that they asked to take a photo of me with it to share with their mother. The whole experience was very charming.”

It will be very useful as a drying rack for hand-washed face masks–though a sad testimony to the weirdness of our times. But what on earth could its original purpose have been? Drying rack for hand-washed nylon stockings in the days before panty hose? A way to hang scarves so they wouldn’t get wrinkles from folding?

If anyone has any ideas, please use the “Contact” feature on this website to share them with me!