Clothes Line Rules

This is for all individuals who remember the day the clothes line dotted the country side. Have a good laugh as you read.

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:

You have to be a certain age to appreciate
this. I can hear my mother now.....grin!

(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 & busy bodies,
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
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.

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
with l 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!