{"product_id":"cordomatic-retractable-clothesline-reel-linen-textured-case-with-cast-aluminium-bracket-philadelphia-c-1943-1963","title":"Cordomatic Retractable Clothesline Reel, Linen-Textured Case with Cast Aluminium Bracket, Philadelphia, c. 1943–1963","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA wall-mounted \u003cstrong\u003eretractable clothesline\u003c\/strong\u003e — a spring reel in a case, with the line paying out through a guide in the side and winding itself back in when released.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe case is a \u003cstrong\u003eshallow drum in soft blue\u003c\/strong\u003e, finished with a fine \u003cstrong\u003ewoven linen texture\u003c\/strong\u003e pressed into the surface so it reads as cloth rather than as metal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt sits in a \u003cstrong\u003ecast aluminium bracket\u003c\/strong\u003e, unpainted and bright, drilled for two screws and shaped so the reel stands proud of the wall and the line runs clear.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCast and printed on the back: \u003cstrong\u003eMFG BY CORDOMATIC\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003e1726 N INDIANA AVE\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003ePHILA. 32. PA\u003c\/strong\u003e, with a model number.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe address dates this piece to a twenty-year window, and it does it precisely.\u003c\/strong\u003e “PHILA. \u003cstrong\u003e32\u003c\/strong\u003e. PA” is not a ZIP code. It is a \u003cstrong\u003epostal zone number\u003c\/strong\u003e, and postal zones have a start and an end.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThey began in May 1943, in 124 large cities\u003c\/strong\u003e, and they began because of the war: thousands of experienced postal clerks had left for military service, and the men and women replacing them did not carry the city in their heads the way a twenty-year veteran did. A number written after the city name told an inexperienced sorter which part of town a letter belonged to. The system eventually covered \u003cstrong\u003e131 cities\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThey ended on 1 July 1963\u003c\/strong\u003e, when the Post Office Department replaced them with the Zoning Improvement Plan — the ZIP Code — and the two-digit zone gave way to five digits nationwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo a case printed with a Philadelphia zone number was made \u003cstrong\u003eafter May 1943 and before July 1963\u003c\/strong\u003e. That is not an estimate from style. It is a date printed on the object by the postal system.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe linen texture on the case is worth noticing.\u003c\/strong\u003e A clothesline reel is a hardware item, and hardware in this period was painted smooth and left at that. Pressing a cloth weave into the finish is a deliberate attempt to make a laundry fitting look like part of the house rather than part of the plumbing — the same instinct that gave kitchens crackle-finish canisters and bathroom scales in pastel. It is postwar American domestic design doing what it did best: making the utilitarian presentable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAnd the object itself belongs to a vanished daily routine.\u003c\/strong\u003e A retractable line is for a household that dries laundry outdoors or over a tub every day, and wants the line out of the way the rest of the time — pull it across to the opposite wall, hook it, use it, unhook it and let the spring take it home. Domestic electric dryers were expensive and uncommon through most of this period; the line on the wall was not nostalgia, it was the dryer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDated on the postal zone in the printed address: \u003cstrong\u003ec. 1943–1963\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;\"\u003e\n  \u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/thead\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eWall-mounted retractable clothesline reel with mounting bracket. Case approx. 5 in across.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOrigin\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCordomatic, 1726 N Indiana Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eShallow drum case housing a spring-return line reel, with a side guide for the line, seated in a cast aluminium wall bracket drilled for two screws\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ePainted metal case in soft blue with a pressed woven-linen texture; unpainted cast aluminium bracket\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMFG BY CORDOMATIC \/ 1726 N INDIANA AVE \/ PHILA. 32. PA, with model number\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003ec. 1943–1963. Dated on the Philadelphia postal zone number in the address — zones were introduced in May 1943 and replaced by ZIP Codes on 1 July 1963.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eGood original condition, sold as a decorative and display piece. The case is sound with no dents or splits, the printed address is legible, and the bracket is solid and undamaged. \u003cstrong\u003eIt has not been tested in use and is not represented as functional\u003c\/strong\u003e — expect age wear and light scuffing to the painted case, and oxidation to the aluminium. The mechanism is original and unserviced. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe best small antiques are the ones that carry a date on themselves, and this one carries a twenty-year bracket in the printed address.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat makes it a good object to hand somebody, because the story is short and it lands: the number after the city is a wartime postal zone, it exists only between 1943 and 1963, and the Post Office printed the date on the thing without meaning to. Very few household items can be pinned that tightly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe colour and the texture do the rest. Soft chalky blue with a pressed linen weave is an unmistakably mid-century American surface, and it sits beautifully against white subway tile, painted board, galvanised metal and old wood. In a laundry room, a mudroom, a pantry or a bathroom it reads as though it has always been there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMounted, it is wall sculpture with a purpose implied. Unmounted, it sits on a shelf as a small blue drum with a good bracket, and it needs nothing done to it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA note on care and on use, and the second one matters. \u003cstrong\u003eIt is sold as a decorative piece and has not been tested.\u003c\/strong\u003e A seventy-year-old spring and a seventy-year-old line should not be trusted with wet laundry — if you want it working, have the line replaced and the spring checked before you hang anything from it, and mount it into solid framing rather than into plaster.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo not repaint it and do not polish the aluminium bright.\u003c\/strong\u003e The pressed linen texture only reads because the paint sitting in it is original and evenly worn; a coat of fresh enamel fills the weave and the whole point of the case disappears.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDust it with a soft dry brush and wipe the case with a barely damp cloth. Keep it out of standing damp, which is what takes the paint off a pressed finish and pits aluminium.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48047022604393,"sku":"VE-0733","price":196.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/6A6F7386-30DC-4C1E-B242-6A3504445969.jpg?v=1789275756","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/cordomatic-retractable-clothesline-reel-linen-textured-case-with-cast-aluminium-bracket-philadelphia-c-1943-1963","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}