A Week of Vintage Australiana - With Gemma Jones - Day 2

Hoist it Up!

My grandfolks moved from South Australia to Western Australia sometime in the late forties after my dad was born. Lucky for my dad they took him too - and the Hills Hoist. Geoff Jones introduced the Hills Hoist to the West. That is a swinging claim to fame, yo!

Not many peeps these days remember their own Hills Hoist being planted. And no one takes their Hills Hoist with them. They stay rooted. After Cyclone Tracy in Darwin - one family lost everything - except for their Hills Hoist which still worked. Rooted in a good way.

They are part of the Aussie suburban landscape invented by Lance Hill in 1946 when the lemon tree in his garden started to piss his wife off as it tangled itself in the old clothes line she was currently using.

Top things you can do with a Hills Hoist:

1. You can swing on it

2. You can throw that Mexican blanket over it to make some shade

3. You can bird watch as the magpies sit on the wires

4. You can hang fairy lights thereon when you have a party in the backyard

5. You can hang a sprinkler on it for a DIY water park in your own yard

6. You can include them in an Olympic ceremony (this requires uprooting and strong athletic types to carry)

7. You can dry laundry on it

xx Gemma