The Clothesline

Because today is "wash day" for me and I love to use mine, and because I recently recieved these in an email, and because Eldest Farmer's Daughter called to ask where I got mine, I thought this might be a good time to share about~

"Clotheslines"

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.

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

and hang them first.

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3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail!

What would the neighbors think?

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4. Wash day on a Monday! . . . Never hang clothes on the weekend,

or Sunday, for Heaven's sake!

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5. Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you could hide

your"unmentionables" in the middle.

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6. It didn't matter if it was sub zero weather . . .

Clothes would "freeze-dry."

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7. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes!

Pins left on the lines were "tacky!"

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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.

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9. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothesbasket,

and ready to be ironed.

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

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The Clothesline

by Marilyn K. Walker

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A clothes line was a news forecast

To neighbors passing by.

There were no secrets you could keep

When clothes were hung to dry.

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It also was a friendly link

For neighbors always knew

If company had stopped on by

To spend a night or two.

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For then you'd see the 'fancy sheets'

And towels upon the line;

You'd see the 'company table cloths'

With intricate design.

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The line announced a baby's birth

To folks who lived inside

As brand new infant clothes were hung

So carefully with pride.

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The ages of the children could

So readily be known

By watching how the sizes changed

You'd know how much they'd grown.

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It also told when illness struck,

As extra sheets were hung;

Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,

Haphazardly were strung.

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It 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.

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New folks in town were scorned upon

If wash was dingy gray,

As neighbors carefully raised their brows,

And looked the other way.

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But clotheslines now are of the past

For dryers make work less.

Now what goes on inside a home

Is anybody's guess.

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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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(Oh! I forgot to mention, I got my clothesline from my Grandmother!

Handmade with 3 inch pipe welded in a T shape with five rows of line.

That's about 100 feet. I can hang a lot of clothes!)

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"Let thy garments be always white;"

Ecclesiastes 9:8a