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Barbara C.
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| Posted: April 12 2008 at 10:55am | IP Logged
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My dad just forwarded this to me in an e-mail. I am not usually one to pass on stuff from mass mails, but I thought some of you might get a kick out of this. I wrote my dad back and told him clothes lines were starting to make a comeback.
The Clothes Line
Do you remember?
The clothes line....a dead give away. Do the kids today even know what
a clothes line is?
For all of us who are older, this will bring back the memories.
THE BASIC RULES
1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes. Walk the
length of each line with a damp cloth around the line.
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 th ink?
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.
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 line was '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
A clothes line 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 design.
The line announced a baby's birth
To 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 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 gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way..
But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work 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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Barbara
Mom to "spirited" dd(9), "spunky" dd (6), "sincere" dd (3), "sweet" dd (2), and baby girl #5 born 8/1/12!!
Box of Chocolates
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stefoodie
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| Posted: April 12 2008 at 11:24am | IP Logged
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Nice!! I've been missing our clotheslines too. We're now in a neighborhood where they're not allowed  -- not even a portable one I could take down when not in use. Thinking of attending the next HOA meeting to vent about this
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stef
mom to five
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chicken lady
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| Posted: April 12 2008 at 11:52am | IP Logged
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I love it! We love hanging our clothes over here. The dryer seems odd to me 
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MaryM
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| Posted: April 12 2008 at 12:04pm | IP Logged
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stefoodie wrote:
| Nice!! I've been missing our clotheslines too. We're now in a neighborhood where they're not allowed -- not even a portable one I could take down when not in use. Thinking of attending the next HOA meeting to vent about this |
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Florida has a strong "Right to Dry" legislation which overrides any covenant restrictions. Utah and Hawaii also have laws. It seems in this day of high energy we need to have more protection for renewable energy options like line drying!
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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stefoodie
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| Posted: April 12 2008 at 12:11pm | IP Logged
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Thanks so much, Mary!! If it's out of the scope of this thread, would you mind PMing me as to how to put this information to good use in our local community? I'm not well-versed in how the local government works and frankly am a bit surprised that this thing has to be legislated that high up.
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stef
mom to five
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Mary Chris
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| Posted: April 12 2008 at 12:48pm | IP Logged
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I have to admit that I am not nostalgic for clotheslines  . I have become spoiled since the days of my youth. I dislike the hardness of the clothes when you take them off the line, and everything is wrinkled.
That being said, I did enjoy hanging up clothes on the line when I was younger. I have been giving a lot of thought to finding a place in our home where I can hang clothes up. I do want to cut down on our energy expenses, and energy use as much as possible. We live in one of those highly regulated, SUV driving, appearences are more important type of communities.
I know there was a thread recently about hanging in the garage, I have to go check that out.
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Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
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Stephanie_Q
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I've been trying to decide whether we should hang dry. We live near a very busy gravel road - needless to say, we get a lot of dust. I'm worried that I'd end up bringing in dirty clothes! Also, when the humidity (I know it really has more to do with dewpoint - but you know what I mean) is high, do clothes really get dry in a day?
What's the weather / conditions like for those of you who use clotheslines?
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dd 6.02, dd 8.03, ds 3.05, ds 12.06 at Catholic school.
dd 12.09 at home.
Baby boy due 10.13
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ctrivette
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| Posted: April 12 2008 at 2:59pm | IP Logged
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Right to Dry legislation? I need to find out more about that. We are not restricted from clotheslines, per se, but from things that offend the aesthetics or the neighborhood or some such language.
I had a line in humid OH and the clothes dried in a day...but somethings like the bulky diapers took all day. The air is so dry here (and it is windy) that they dry much quicker!
Thanks for posting that, I love it (but don't follow all the rules;) )
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nissag
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| Posted: April 15 2008 at 2:20pm | IP Logged
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I love clotheslines, too. So much so that last year I did a carnival, inspired by a beautiful post of Elizabeth's.
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Nissa
Deacon's wife, mother of eleven, farmer, teacher, creator, cook.
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: April 15 2008 at 4:19pm | IP Logged
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Oh, about 23 years ago, we lived in a row house neighborhood where a number of us hung out the wash on Monday mornings. It worked as a kind of telegraph system, because if someone's wash wasn't up, one of the others would go and check whether they were okay, needed anything, etc. I love it!
Peace,
Nancy
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RenB
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| Posted: April 16 2008 at 7:10am | IP Logged
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One thing about moving east into the home we live in was the fact I'd be the proud new owner of not one, but two (count them!) clotheslines, and a small porch out the back door to stand on for hanging up things. I have to tell you I always lived in a city slicker subdivision, and clotheslines were forbidden. In my old age, I must confess, I LOVE clotheslines! Due to the living in the country though, and much farming surrounds us, often there are way too many bugs out in the thick of summer, so I don't always use it for the standard wash days. When I do, there is nothing so wonderful as the scent of air on clotheslined clothes. As well, it's remarkable how much "eau de stink" (!) I can get out of the hockey jerseys several times each year after a good wash and hanging them outside to dry. We also live near the water's edge and when our pool is out in the warmer months, there are always many towels and wet bathing suits, so the lines are so convenient. The funniest thing last summer was when three older grand-daughters came to visit, and they told their parents my house was a cool place because they got to have "clothesline lessons". See, it's not a lost art! Even wee children know how cool it is to see sheets flapping in the wind. But, blue jeans, never, because they get all crunchy out there. javascript:AddSmileyIcon('')
Here's to my double clotheslines then, yahooey.
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Blessings;
Renee
Mommy to eight, cherished treasures sent to us 22 years apart. Nana to seven lovelies...so far.
"Go East," they said
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mama251ders
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| Posted: April 16 2008 at 10:56am | IP Logged
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OOOOHHH! I got some clothesline lovin' this morning! We got our umbrella clotheline out of the garage this morning, put it up and hung our clothes out! The kids were ecstatic!! They can't wait for this load to dry so we can hang up the next one. And my husband is so excited that our gas bill will go down from now until October when it gets to cold here to go hang wet clothes up! I took some pictures and if I can figure out how, I'll put them up here. Hee hee hee hee!
Blessings,
Betsie
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Benny, Braidon, Olivia, Anna and Saragh
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Carole N.
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| Posted: April 16 2008 at 11:57am | IP Logged
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Clotheslines are a must over here. Very few homes have dryers (although they are becoming more popular). We have an umbrella clothesline in our rental (with a lovely cover to keep the weather off it). And our new house (well, it was built in 1910) has a line that runs from the garage to the kitchen window. My dd loves this set up much better.
Oh, and I love clotheslines! We were not allowed to have one in our neighborhood in the states, so I am really looking forward to using one again!
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Carole ... in Wales
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Teakafrog
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| Posted: April 16 2008 at 4:58pm | IP Logged
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Well, I've got clothes on the line right now (that need to come in), but I guess I'm 'tacky' because I'm going to leave the pins on the line. Need to go put that load of diapers out to dry. Yes, cloth diapers. Ha!
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juststartn
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| Posted: April 23 2008 at 2:36pm | IP Logged
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Let's see. I leave pins on the line, hang shirts by the shoulders (why on earth would I hang them the other way?), hang clothes EVERY day the humidity is low enough (not today, because of higher humidity and low wind), and generally just do what works fastest.
As far as the stiffness, see about dropping them into the dryer for 5-10 mins after air drying them. Just to knock out the wrinkles and the stiffness..
Rachel
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Clothes Line Nostalgia
