by Mary Ellen Johnson
(if you don’t even know what clotheslines are, better skip this)
- You had to hang the socks by the toes… NOT the top.
- You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs…NOT the waistbands.
- 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.
- You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang “whites” with “whites,” and hang them first.
- You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders – always by the tail! What would the neighbors think?
- Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday, for Heaven’s sake!
- Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could hide your “unmentionables” in the middle.
- It didn’t matter if it was sub-zero weather… clothes would “freeze-dry.”
- ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were “tacky”!
- 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.
- 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!
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.
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 too 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 too 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 out on that line.
This brought back so many memories! Our family numbered 8 so my mom was always washing, and since I was the oldest, I learned the right way to hang, according to the rules. Our wooden pole was really long, as the lines were very long. I started helping when we lived in East Syracuse, NY, and the clothes would freeze on the lines.
I learned well, and every home I’ve lived in had to have a sunny spot for the clothesline! No apartment or complex living for this outdoor clothes maven, even though I’ve always had a dryer. I like to think I’m saving the planet, but it’s something I enjoy and I know my mom smiles from heaven when I wash. My husband rarely gets to hang wash, as he will never be fully trained, but he is allowed to take them down, although the clothes aren’t folded “properly” (the pants are not folded upside down, inside seams folded together). I have switched to an English-style clothesline some call a whirly-bird, much sturdier than the American style I once purchased at ACE Hardware (I had to order it online). It collapses down and has a cover so the lines don’t have to be cleaned. And yes, a former neighbor told me she knew I was home when she saw my wash fluttering in the breeze. My laundry very rarely stays up past late afternoon – one of the rules. If the weather is not cooperative, the wash is delayed, or just the quick-drying clothes are laundered. The Georgia winters are too cloudy for my tastes, so I dry a load occasionally, but never a heavy jeans load.
Do you also remember pants stretchers for the men’s pants before permapress? Yuck! They dried the slacks with the creases in the right places, but awkward to hang in the winter – and so stiff.