thumb|upright=1.35|Plastic clothespins on a clothes line

thumb|Laundry pegged onto a clothes line

A clothespin (US English) or clothes peg (UK English), also spelled "clothes pin" is a fastener used to hang up clothes for drying, usually on a clothes line. Clothespins come in many different designs.

Design

thumb|Hand-made one-piece wooden clothespins

thumb|A one-piece, mass-produced wooden clothespin (also known as a 'dolly peg')

During the 1700s laundry was hung on bushes, limbs or lines to dry but no clothespins can be found in any painting or prints of the era. The clothespin for hanging up wet laundry only appears in the early 19th century supposedly patented by Jérémie Victor Opdebec. This design is fashioned in one piece of wood, with the two prongs part of the peg chassis with only a small distance between them. This form of peg creates the gripping action due to the two prongs being wedged apart and thus squeezing together in that the prongs want to return to their resting state. This form of peg is often fashioned from plastic, or originally, wood. In England, clothes-peg making used to be a craft associated with the Romani people, who made clothes-pegs from small, split lengths of willow or ash wood.

thumb|left|upright=.5|David Smith clothespin, two prongs connected by a fulcrum, plus a spring

In 1853 David M. Smith of Springfield, Vermont, invented a clothespin with two prongs connected by a fulcrum, plus a spring.

By a lever action, when the two prongs are pinched at the top of the peg, the prongs open up, and when released, the spring draws the two prongs shut, creating the action necessary for gripping.

thumb|Sprung, wooden clothespin

The design by Smith was improved by Solon E. Moore in 1887. He added what he called a "coiled fulcrum" made from a single wire, this was the spring that held the wooden pieces together, acted as a spring forcing them to shut, and as a fulcrum on which the two halves could rock, eliminating the need for a separate component, and reducing manufacturing costs.

thumb|Metal cloth clips

Clothespins were further enhanced by the invention of stainless steel clothespins that do not rust or decay with outdoor use. Rather than using a torsion spring that often twists, causing the clothespin to fall apart, they rely on a strong, trapped, compression spring that results in a stronger grip.

Other uses

thumb|Matchmaking in China, using clothespins and umbrellas

Public art

One famous clothespin is a sculpture by Claes Oldenburg, entitled Clothespin. It is in Philadelphia across the street from the City Hall.

There is a clothespin granite grave marker in the Middlesex cemetery, Vermont, marking the grave of Jack Crowell, the last owner of the National Clothespin Company, which was the last clothespin manufacturer in the United States. He originally requested that it include a working spring be included so children could play on it, but the stone workers convinced him it wasn't feasible. The wooden clothespins do not transmit heat very effectively, and therefore are safe to touch, even when attached to hot lights for a significant period of time. Plastic clothespins are not used as plastic would melt with the heat of the lights, and metal would transfer the heat, making the clothespin too hot to touch. People like gaffers, grips, electricians, and production assistants may keep a collection of C47s clipped to clothing or utility belt at all times. Hence the nickname "bullet", as so many crew members clip a number of C47s to their utility belts, much like an old west gunslinger would carry extra bullets on his gun belt.

When a performer is in full makeup they sometimes cannot drink from a cup so they drink from a straw. When the bottle or cup is too deep for the straw a C47 is clipped from the top of the straw to keep the straw from falling into the drink.

Lutherie

In lutherie (the construction and repair of stringed instruments), clothes-pegs are often used to glue on kerfing during the production of guitars, mandolins, and other stringed instruments.

Frequency control at radio-control model flying/operation sites

Since multiple RC frequency use began in the RC hobbies in the mid-20th century, so-called "frequency pins" have been used to ensure that only one modeler was using a particular frequency at any one time. The common, spring-loaded two-piece wood clothespinmarked in some manner with text and/or color-coding for the designated frequency it references, usually with an added piece of thin plywood or plastic on the clothespin to place the text or color-code upon for greater visibilityis the usual basis for these, whether the model club itself provides them already clipped onto a "frequency control board" for the modeler to take for their activity (clipped onto their transmitter's antenna, in a so-called "subtractive" method) or the modeler make them for their own transmitter(s), and places them on a club facility's existing frequency board (the "additive" method).

BDSM

Clothespins may be used during acts that involve pinching such as in breast torture or zippers.

See also

  • Binder clip
  • Bulldog clip
  • Crocodile clip

References

  • Wiktionary listing for "C-47"
  • Project Laundry List
  • The Better Clothespin
  • Traditional clothes peg making in England
  • Collection clothespins from different countries
  • The World of Pegs website