Oh! I LOVED this piece and can well remember my angel Mom out in the
heat or the bitter cold hanging our freshly-and-often-HAND-washed clothes, God
love her sweet and hard-working soul...and taking them down the right way too
not to mention the hours of IRONING she did for all of us! And – there is
NOTHING sweeter-smelling than pillows and sheets whipped dry by the wind and
gathered and put on beds by a truly LOVING Mother – !!! Thanks for
sending; so very nostalgic and touching – if I close my eyes I can go back and
smell those freshly-washed and dried bed clothes to this day – you know the
sense of smell is the last sense to go they say
From: Maureen Schoch
Sent: Friday, June 21, 2013 6:40 PM
To: Jackie Brown
Subject: Fw: Clotheslines...
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Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android
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I grew up hanging clothes on the line and remember every one of those "rules". It was a challenge in those cold wet Iowa winters; clothes indeed froze on the line - making it impossible to fold them up; tuck them in the basket and carry into the house. As a teenager, it was very embarrassing hanging undies on the line for neighbors or passersby to see or worst yet should a boyfriend stop by. However, if it were allowed today in my own fenced backyard, I'd hang my clothes out to dry and sleep on the freshest smelling sheets one could ever ask for . . . yes, those where the good old days and it kept little hands busy; out of mischief along with doing the dishes, scrubbing hardwood floors or picking veggies from the garden. Great memories :)
Great memories for some of us! It's the poem at the end that's the best!!! Remembering Mom's Clothesline.
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 can hear my mother now...
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.
12. IRONED??!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject!
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.
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