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Senior
Scribes...
The
Basic
Rules for Clothesline
(If you
don’t even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)
Author unknown - submitted by Dan Harless
February
2, 2012
1. You had
to hang the socks by the toes ... NOT the top.
2. You hung
pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs ... NOT the waistbands.
3. You had
to WASH the clothesline(s) 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, and always hang “whites” with
“whites,”
and hang them first.
5. You
NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What would
the
neighbors think?
6. Wash day
on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday for
heaven’s sake!
7. Hang the
sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could hide your
“unmentionables”
in the middle (perverts & 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 dry clothes! Pins left on the
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 the clothes pins with the next
washed item.
11. Clothes
off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes
basket, and
ready to be ironed.
12.
IRONED???!! Well, that’s a whole OTHER subject!
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, “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 out on that line.
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