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THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:
1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes- walk the entire lengths of each line with a damp cloth around the lines..
2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first.
3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What would the neighbors think?
4. Wash day on a Monday! . . . Never hang clothes on the weekend, or Sunday, for Heaven's sake!
5. Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y' know!)
6. It didn't matter if it was sub zero weather . . . Clothes would "freeze-dry."
7. Always gather the clothespins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky!"
8. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothespins, but shared one of the clothespins with the next washed item.
9. Clothes off of the line before dinnertime, neatly folded in the clothes-basket, and ready to be ironed.
10. IRONED?! Well, that's a whole other subject!
A POEM
A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.
It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.
For then you'd see the "fancy sheets"
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the "company table cloths"
With intricate designs.
The line announced a baby's birth
From folks who lived inside -
As brand new infant clothes were hung,
So carefully with pride!
The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed,
You'd know how much they'd grown!
It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.
It also said, "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full line sagged
With not an inch to spare!
New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy and gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way .. . ...
But clotheslines now are of the past,
For dryers make work much less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody ' s guess!
I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line
Many people in the UK still hang out their wash. We are so spoiled here to have clothes dryers in every house. I was hanging clothes out as late as '73.
ReplyDeleteHi Benne. I actually attempted to use a clothesline again in the 90s. But I found that working full time there was not enough day light in the day and on days off it too often rained. Where I live now I do not think clothes lines are even allowed by the association.
ReplyDeleteWhere we stay in Florida, hanging clothes out is not allowed. Just as well, though, they don't dry unless it's right in the sun. Too humid.
ReplyDeleteI remember my great grandmother trash talking her neighbor on one side because she hung out her undies and bras on the line. My great grandmother had a drying rack inside for those items.
ReplyDeleteI still have a drying rack that I use even though I have a dryer. Shirts and trousers or course go in the drier so avoid ironing, but towels, drawers, socks all go on the wooden drying rack which I usually set up in the "guest room." My back yard is completely enclosed by trees, so from time to time I will rig up a temporary clothes line and dry my sheets and towels out there. They smell much better than those sheets that go in the dryer. I like the feeling of he towels when they are nice and stiff.
ReplyDeleteI even have a pair of "pants creasers" for my blue jeans, if anybody remembers what they were and how they worked.
I agree about the sheets on the line but prefer my towels soft.
ReplyDelete