Stepping back, I scanned the closet with satisfaction. I’d drastically reduced the contents which had been hidden for so many years behind its two 1970-style folding doors. There were two piles of closet contents on the bedroom floor behind me. One pile would be gathered up and placed in the garbage. The other pile would go to Saint Vincent de Paul as a donation. All that I had left in the closet was sorted and neatly stored in boxes.

When they were little, my two daughters shared the bedroom with this closet. I smiled, remembering one summer in their childhood. I would tuck them into bed each night and they never failed to request that I shut the closet doors. When I asked them why having the closet doors ajar bothered them, they explained that a giant frog holding a huge trident was in that closet at night. They didn’t sound scared but were insistent that the doors be closed.

Before shutting the doors on the newly cleaned closet, I gave it one last satisfied glance. Something I hadn’t noticed before suddenly came into focus: high in the closet, all shoved to one end, hanging on a mounted water pipe was a huge collection of wire clothes hangers. I’d stopped hanging clothing in this closet years ago but kept the wire hangers.

There were two different types of hangers. One third of them had spring-loaded clips on each end, which was ideal for hanging skirts or pants. They were good, sturdy old-fashioned hangers made to last. The rest of the clothes hangers were all made of heavy gauge wire. No matter how heavy a coat is, the weight wouldn’t make the wire bend.  I couldn’t bear to throw any of them out. You can’t buy new ones of this quality anymore!

Later that day, I started to think about my obsessive determination to keep the old-fashioned clothes hangers. On a recent visit to a store, I’d seen sturdy plastic clothes hangers in various colors. It made me wonder if people color-code their wardrobes or match the hanger colors to their bedroom walls. Clothes hangers certainly aren’t hard to replace.

I’ve heard stand-up comedians joke that the reason everyone has an excessive number of clothes hangers in their closets at home is because the sneaky little hangers mate in the dark and multiply. If clothes hangers can mate and multiply, their offspring are the white and extremely flimsy wires that some drycleaners use to return clothing. These work great for crafts.

These wires we take for granted are seemingly small and unimportant in a household, but in the 1800’s they provided an important change in how clothing was stored in homes and displayed in stores. The first wire clothes hanger was invented in 1860 by O.A. North. After improving the design, Albert Parkhouse patented the invention in 1869.

I don’t remember ever buying the sturdy clothes hangers that I have in my children’s bedroom closet. Did I take them from my childhood home when I moved out 56 years ago? Is that why I feel so attached to them that I must keep them?

Admittedly, I do have a slight packrat tendency which makes it hard to let go of certain things-especially things that are well made and practical-or things that might be useful at some future time. Seeing a sturdy shoe box makes me want to keep it because it would be the perfect size to hold a Christmas gift. Jackets are another weakness for me. Every time I find a jacket that suits me, I want to buy it. Needing one doesn’t even enter the equation. I currently own many shoe boxes and jackets right now…thank-you very much!

For the time being, I’m going to keep the small stash of antique, wire clothes hangers in my children’s childhood bedroom. If my children’s giant frog ever comes back to live in that closet again, it will have wire clothes hangers to use instead of Poseidon’s giant trident pitchfork.