# Clothesline Rules



## cougartex (Jan 2, 2010)

Basic Rules for Clotheslines
Our kids missed a lot of fun
You have to be a certain age to appreciate this. 

(if you don't know what clotheslines are, better skip this) 

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! 

:mrgreen:


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## cougartex (Jan 2, 2010)

A POEM 

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.


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## ScottChapin (Jul 7, 2010)

Ah yes.....and grandma's wash board and wringer. Good times watching grandma....LOL. Sitting out back in the breeze watching the laundry flap iin the wind, thoose were the days. I remember grandma telling that high levels of world wide terrorism would be a sign ot The Second Coming while watching the laundry on the clothes line. Funny what we remember.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

Anybody remember starched blue jeans?


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

Bisley said:


> Anybody remember starched blue jeans?


Sure do and they had to be ironed with a crease in them if you wanted to be one of the really cool guys.:smt033


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## ScottChapin (Jul 7, 2010)

Bisley said:


> Anybody remember starched blue jeans?


My neighbor always starched and ironed his, and I had to wait on him to do it before we left to raise hell. Not me...LOL.


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## Brevard13 (Nov 28, 2010)

My wife and I just got a new house. In the back yard is a clothes line. Now I'm only 32 but I remember my mom used one for the sheets. Well needless to say I am so going to start this up again...nothing like fresh air dried sheets


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