Clotheslines

Tuesday August 4, 2015

Since today is my birthday and Kathy and I are getting ready to go to NYC tomorrow I am cheating with this slice and sharing something that was sent to me by a friend.  This did bring back memories of my grandmother on washdays (Mondays).. I remember shoveling snow from under the clotheslines in the winter so that the clean clothes didn’t touch the snow.

Living where we do, many people still hang clothes out to dry.  We have a line in our back yard but don’t use it.  Well, here is what my friend sent.

THIS IS FUN TO READ AND QUITE TRUE…WE ARE PROBABLY THE LAST GENERATION THAT WILL REMEMBER WHAT A CLOTHESLINE WAS.
And in lots of places they are illegal. It’s the poem at the
end that’s the best!!!
Remembering Mom’s Clothesline.
THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES: (If you don’t even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)

1. You had to hang the socks by the toes… NOT the top.
   2. You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs… NOT the waistbands.
   3. You had to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes –
   Walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around
   the lines.
   4. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always
   hang “whites” with “whites,” and hang them first.
   5. You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders – always by the tail!
   What would the neighbors think?
   6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend,
   Or on Sunday, for Heaven’s sake!
   7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could
   Hide your “unmentionables” in the middle (perverts & busybodies,
   y’know!)
   8. It didn’t matter if it was sub-zero weather… Clothes
   would “freeze-dry.”
   9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes!
   Pins left on the lines were “tacky”!
   10. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that
   each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the
   clothes pins with the next washed item.
   11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in
   the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed. IRONED??!! Well,
   that’s a whole OTHER subject!
   12. Long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the
   clotheslines up so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc.)
   didn’t brush the ground and get dirty.

And now 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, “On vacation now”, When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, “We’re back!” when full lines 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.