The Clothes Line
For those who are older, this will really bring memories. And to the younger ones-- this is how it was.
1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes. Walk the length of each line with a damp cloth around the line.
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?
CLOTHES LINES
A clothes line 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 line
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 design.
The line announced a baby's birth
To 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 said, "Gone 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 gray,
As neighbors raised their brows
And looked disgustedly away.
But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work 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!
1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes. Walk the length of each line with a damp cloth around the line.
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?
CLOTHES LINES
A clothes line 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 line
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 design.
The line announced a baby's birth
To 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 said, "Gone 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 gray,
As neighbors raised their brows
And looked disgustedly away.
But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work 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!
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We still use the clothesline for bed linen. There is something about the smell of sheets dried in the sun that a dryer just does not do. 0 -
My family still uses clothes lines for most of our clothes in every season but winter. It saves a lot of $$$ and they smell way better than from the dryer. 0 -
You left out the monday morning race between the women to see who would get their wash hung first. [:)]
And the switchins for gettin it dirty! [B)]
Allen0 -
Had a foolish homeowners association try to prevent an owner from drying clothes in his own backyard.
Once the homeowners association learned that it is permitted by Federal regs (energy savings, FWIW), they backed down.
Association thought they could then control the owner by not permitting permanent posts, so the owner laughed and got some portable ones. He dries his laundry outside as often as possible. Wonder why? LOL0 -
quote:Originally posted by Huntingnerd33
My family still uses clothes lines for most of our clothes in every season but winter. It saves a lot of $$$ and they smell way better than from the dryer.
Same thing here.0 -
quote:Originally posted by 11b6r
We still use the clothesline for bed linen. There is something about the smell of sheets dried in the sun that a dryer just does not do.
You got that right. Makes a grown man sleep like a baby![:D]0 -
My wife dries clothes on portable hangers in the garage. When they're
dry she puts them in the dryer for a couple minutes to get the wrinkles out. Saves money and wear on the dryer.0 -
In this modern world you'd have to stick your head in your neighbors dryer to find out all the stuff you learned by looking at an old clothesline! 0 -
If I lived in the country I would use a line part of the time. Underwear and dress cloths I'd do in the dryer. 0 -
One of my fondest memories was the time I was spending a week with my grandparents when they lived in what was then referred to as the country. Now there's a Wally World and every other typical store out there. But I remember helping hang up sheets and clothes, etc on the clothes line, but the best was watching a young buck try to go under the sheets to get to the deer feeder at the other end of the yard, then get quite scared once he was in the sheets. Needless to say, that wash needed to be redone after being trampled by a scared buck through the dirt. 0 -
I have hung out enough loads of laundry to not find it nostalgic at all. 0
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