A carpet hanger in PragueChildren playing at a carpet hanger, Łódź, c. 1960s
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
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
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
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has been a topic of debate for urban planners and local authorities, as many Romanian cities have passed (and sometimes rescinded[10]) laws forbidding their placement or decreeing their immediate removal, citing aesthetic or noise pollution reasons.[11][12]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
In Sweden the carpet hanger is called piskställ, derived from piska (meaning "to whip") and ställ (meaning "stand").[citation needed]
