REMEMBERING MOM’S CLOTHESLINE.

Great memories for some of us! It’s the poem at the end that’s best!

There is one thing that’s left out. We had a long wooden pole ( clothes pole ) that was to push the clothesline up so that longer items ( sheets, pants, ect) 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 socks by the toes…NOT top.

2- You hung pants by the BOTTON/ cuffs…NOT the waistband.

3- you had to WASH the clothes’ lines 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, always hang ‘whites’ with ‘ whites’ and hang them first.

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

6- Wash day on a Monday! Never hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday, for Heaven’s sake!

7- Hang sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could hide your ” unmentionables” in the middle ( perverts and 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 the dry clothes! Pins left on 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 two pins with the next washed item.

11- Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, 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,
Foe neighbours always knew,
If company had stopped by,
To spend a night or two.
For the you’d see the ” fancy sheets”,
And towels upon the line;
You’d see the ” company tablecloths,
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 dull 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 out on the line.

Anon