What a blast from the past! Clotheslines

[KBs PensNmore]

I do miss that fresh smell of sheets from a clothesline!
This is funny & quite true. We are probably the last generation that will
remember what a clothesline was.

It's the poem at the end that's the best!
Remembering Mum'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 neighbours 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 pegs when taking down dry clothes!
pegs 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 pegs, but shared one of the clothes pegs 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 neighbours passing by,
There were no secrets you could keep,
When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link,
For neighbours always knew
If company had stopped 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 dressing gown too,
Haphazardly were strung.

It also said, "On holiday 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 grey,
As neighbours 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 neighbours knew each other best...
by what hung on the line.

[BobL]

Our clothesline is under the back veranda because according to SWMBO sunlight fades the colours.
The 4 lines run the whole length of the veranda starting and the laundry and across the main family room window,
I do most of the washing at our place and have to handles things according to set rules.

The main one is sorting the clothes by Colour, fabric type, extent of grubbiness, horse and dog blankets and stuff.
There is a separate washing machine for the animal stuff.
This gives me about 16 piles but I usually just chuck it all in when SWMBO is not looking and as a result this month SWMBO has a set of ex-white unmentionables that are now lime green, and I have a number of pink T-shirts and sports socks.
My best effort is a set of new white bed linen that is now mauve.
Despite me constantly doing this I never seem to get the job taken off me.

1. You had to hang the socks by the toes... NOT the top.

SWMBOs rule is mid way down the sock near the heel for her socks - for mine I can do what I like!

2. You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs... NOT the waistbands.

Jodhpurs by the waistband, trackie daks across the crotch, and the rest how I like,

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.

Yep I have to do that if I have been doing things like using the Arbortech or chainsaw in the back yard

4. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first.

No order but definitely a location preference see#7

5. You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What would the neighbours think?

Shirts go on coat hangers till I run out then I have to hang them by the tail

6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday, for Heaven's sake!

Wash day is any day or night. Handing out or collecting clothes wearing just underwear is OK but in the nuddy is frowned on.

7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y'know!)

No unmentionables in front of the family room window

9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pegs when taking down dry clothes! pegs left on the lines were "tacky"!

Pegs to be pushed to one end of the line

10. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pegs, but shared one of the clothes pegs with the next washed item.

smalls can have one peg but otherwise two pegs are mandatory unless I run out and then one is OK.

11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.

Clothes stay on the line until SWMBO runs out of unmentionables and then complaint levels rise.
I fold sometimes but mostly the stuff comes of the line as we need it.

12. IRONED? Well, that's a whole OTHER subject!

Definitely not my strong point.

[rwbuild]

Ah, memories and dont forget the cheese and pudding cloths, also recycled washed plastic bags, they were a luxury

[KBs PensNmore]

Bob, some of your thought replicate mine, clothes stay on the line till required, saves time and cupboard space. Wash and wear clothes are the best as are T shirts.
Kryn

[BobL]

When I run out of smalls I go and collect all mine and they all get shoved in my cupboard.
Same with my work gear.
Eventually there's nothing left on the line but SWMBO's stuff.
When she finally takes her stuff off the line it looks like she's the only one with clothes being washed and I get accused of being a grub and not washing any of my clothes.

[AlexS]

8. It didn't matter if it was sub-zero weather... clothes would "freeze-dry."

I actually copped this as an assignment question once, "Explain why clothes will dry on a line, even when the temperature is below zero."

[Oldgreybeard]

I actually copped this as an assignment question once, "Explain why clothes will dry on a line, even when the temperature is below zero."

And the answer is ???

[Fuzzie]

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.

It was a 'clothes prop' where I came from and there was a backyard big enough to string it up away from the fruit trees and a slope to run the billy cart down.

(edit Not to mention the burn off, but never on washing day.

[joe greiner]

And the answer is ???

Sublimation.

Cheers,
Joe

[AlexS]

And the answer is ???

Because ice has a vapour pressure, they will dry by the process of

Sublimation

.

[Handyjack]

On a rotary line it was always hang the smalls on the inside, towels and sheets on the outside.
I hang my socks in pairs, makes it easier to put away.
I take the clothes off the line, my clothes get folded and put away. The rest wait for a fairy to take them out of the basket.

[Allan at Wallan]

Ahhh! the clothesline.

That's where my wife hangs out.

Allan

[rrich]

Actually, number 8

In winter the clothes line was strung in the basement.

OMG, we moved out of the house with the basement in 1958 but my mother had a natural gas fired dryer then. She got it, probably around '52 or '53.

And you forgot to mention the clothes line on a pulley at each end. One end was attached near a window or door. The remote end was attached to a pole, tree or the building across the alley.

[Big Shed]

I'm surprised one of these hasn't cropped up here yet


hillshoist.jpg

[bsrlee]

Big Shed, I still have one of those in the back yard in working order. The top section had to be replaced when a Willy-willy (call them tornadoes these days)came thru one Christmas and demolished it but the bottom section was intact. I think it was a house warming present to my Mum from her parents.