You have to be a "certain age" to appreciate this one....
(If you don't even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)
(But you YOUNGER ones can read about "The GOOD ol' days"!!)
I can hear my mother now.....
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.
12. IRONED???!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject!
There is one thing that's left out. We had a 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.
I HATE freeze-dried clothes! LOVE this! I'm going to share on my facebook page!
ReplyDeletethanks Chris,
DeleteAwesome!
ReplyDeleteOurs was (and frankly, still is) high, because my mom was 5'7". Her 5'2" daughter had to use a step stool as a child to hang clothes. I can reach now tho... We didn't need a clothes pole...but I have since used one! What an excellent memory jogging bit of...dare I say, trivia?!
ReplyDeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteWhile growing up I can't think of a time my mother and grandmother didn't use the clothes line. I loved seeing the clothes drying in the sunshine. I still do.
ReplyDeleteI've used the clothesline off and on for all of my married life. I go through phases I think. Sometimes I'm too busy. Sometimes too sick. And truthfully, sometimes just too lazy.
I was using it all the time for a couple of years then last year I got creeped out and haven't used it since. I have OCD, so some things just creep me out. It's just a fact of my life.
What caused me to stop using the clothes line? When I went to get them off the line last year there was bird poop on a shirt. I immediately tossed it into the trash bin, along with the clothes pins, and I've never gone back out there. I thought about having my husband take it down.
But then, just yesterday while taking the clothes out of the washer I was thinking about how nice it would be to hang them out again. I don't know if I will or not, because the bird poop episode is still embedded deeply in my memory. But the sight of those clothes blowing in the breeze is pretty strong too.
Darla, this is the one of the things I have always wondered about and that has kept me from hanging out my clothes. The thought of birds pooping on the laundry or landing on it and getting mites on it. I totally freak out over creepy crawly bugs and birds and stuff. You confirmed my fears with the bird poop, lol!
DeleteI can relate to all of these!!!
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of clothes off the line & the feel of towels dried in the sun. Still use a clothesline in the summer when it's not raining in Seattle.
ReplyDeleteTHIS made me laugh so hard... The first time my Mom saw me hang clothes she came running out yelling at me to get those down before the neighbors see. I was like you're kidding me right?? Nope, apparently there is proper hanging etiquette.
ReplyDeleteI use my clothesline all the time. (Even on Sundays which I will now have to stop!) It's not so crazy, doesn't take that much extra time, saves some money. Now ironing, that's a different story!
ReplyDeleteWe are telling our age when we talk about clotheslines! I do remember hanging clothes as young as 5 years of age!
ReplyDelete