Rules of the Clothesline

Yes there are rules to properly hanging clothes on a line. With the way things are going nowadays, you may see more and more clotheslines popping up. My family currently hangs most of ours on hangers and then on the porch in order to conserve as much electricity as we can. I do, however, miss the way clothes, fresh from the line, would smell. Living in the city they don't smell as fresh as they do in the country.

Back in the days of my youth, we didn't own a dryer. Dryers were usually owned by the richer folks. It seemed laundry was always my chore. It was done once a week, weekly. There was no allowance for doing chores. It was just part of your job in the family. You were never reminded what chores needed to be done or when they were to be done... you just knew. If you didn't get your chores done there was consequences to be paid. Basically you got your tail tore up. Rain and/or near death illness was the only excuse(s) you could use for not doing chores. They were there waiting for you when the rain stopped and you were feeling better.

Odd as it may seem, I never minded doing the laundry. Doing the dishes was another story (and still is, hehe). Growing up, we had a huge clothesline with four lines and a post in the middle. Each line was used for certain things and in a certain order. Each person had their own line. Pants first, button up shirts, pull overs, tee shirts, underclothes then socks. Towels were hung longest to the shortest. Sheets were always pre-folded inside before putting on the line so you wouldn't get grass or dirt on them. When you unloaded the washer, you sorted the clothes before putting into the basket and you always "popped" the clothes to shake out as many wrinkles as you could before putting them on the line. I know you may think this all seems like a lot of work, well not really because in the end it saved you a lot of work and made putting clothes away so much easier. If it was done properly you didn't have to iron any clothes!! I always took hangers to the line and hung the hanging clothes right off the line. Oh if for some reason, the clothes got rained on you had to rewash them because they would smell sour if you wore them. Same way if they hung out overnight.

So in case you were lucky to grow up not having to hang clothes on the line, here are the rules you will need to know should you find yourself having to conserve money and electricity.



THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:

1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes - walk the entire lengths of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.

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

3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What would the neighbors think?

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

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

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

7. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky!"

8. 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.

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

10. IRONED?! Well, that's a whole other subject!


A poem for those who were raised with a clothesline.

A clothesline was a news forecast
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 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, "Gone 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!