Remembering Mom's Clotheslines
>> Monday, March 19, 2012
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. You have to be a “certain age” to appreciate this one…..
But you younger ones can read about the “Good Ol’ Days”. I can hear my mother now…..
Basic Rules for Clotheslines (If you don’t even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)
1. Hang the socks by the toes … not the top.
2. Hang pants by the bottom/cuffs … not the waistbands.
3. Wash the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes. Walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.
4. Hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang “whites” with “whites”, and hang them first.
5. Never hang a shirt by the shoulders … always by the tail. What would the neighbors think?
6. Wash day is on 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 and busy bodies, y’know).
8. It didn’t matter if it was sub-zero weather … clothes would “freeze-dry”.
9. Always gather the clothespins when taking down dry clothes. Pins left on the lines were “tacky”.
10. Line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothespins, but shared one of the clothespins with the next washed item.
11. Clothes were off 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!
(Author Unknown)
5 comments:
I remember those days, well!!
Thanks for this trip down memory lane. Didn't the sheets smell awesome?
Yes they did. I love sheets that have been flapping in the breeze.
I agree with most of these. We were tacky and left the pins on the line. And we hung pants by the waist so the wind could blow through them. Which brings me to---hang them in the right direction, depending on which way the wind was blowing. :) And on rainy days, we had "indoor clotheslines" - strung from door frame to door frame. We also had an order to laundry towels first, then whites, then light colors, then darks, then jeans. One wash tub washed them all so you definitely didn't want to start with the dirty work jeans. :) Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Too young - but I love the IDEA of a clothesline - and I could do it here. May need to have words with the hubby about putting a clothesline up. Have one in my basement (from the former owner). But doesn't that defeat the purpose?
Cat so many rules. My mother took in washings and ironings so I had a lot of experience. No dryer. Lived upstairs. Up and down outside stairways. Joanne if you can then do it. So fresh smelling.
Post a Comment