The clothesline is my favourite household appliance. I love the smell of clothes and linens after they have flapped dry in the air. Clotheslines also bring me back to a happy childhood, helping my mother with the wash and hanging out the clothes. (Note: I also love ironing!)
I got away from them when I moved to Toronto in the late sixties, but they returned to my life after using them in the summer at our cottage. The first Fall we returned, I had the builder of our house put one up in the backyard and every house we have lived in since has had one. Until the condo, where I used illegal racks on the balcony.
Moving to Calgary and a condo townhouse that also forbade them, I had to forego the lines and resort again to racks, which I did. But now that we are in Cochrane, I am once again in clothesline heaven! Just bought a four-sided, umbrella clothesline, which my son-in-law is going to cement into the back lawn. Can't wait!
Here are clothesline "rules":
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. Washday 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 newscast,
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 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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