Thursday, August 19, 2010

Simple Pleasure-August 19

simple pleasure Today I am participating in the Simple Pleasures Meme, feel free to join us at A Collection of This and That.

My simple pleasure is sheets on the clothesline.  Is there anything that smells better than clean sheets smelling like the fresh air. 

CLOTHESLINE1 country living

“It's not hard to tell we was poor - when you saw the toilet paper dryin' on the clothesline.”

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:
Did you know that there were rules for the clothesline, well here they are for you just in case you missed them.
1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes- walk the whole length 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, OH MY for Heaven's sake, NO!
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 and placed in the clothespin bag when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky!"
8. If you were efficient, which my Mother was, 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 the intricate design.

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!

Author Unknown

1 John 5:12“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

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11 comments:

Whispers of Grace said...

Oh, I love that laundry photo! The motion of the wind, and the little girl.... love it.

And the photos in the header. Your home looks so cozy. I'm going to peek around at the rest of your blog.

Christine said...

What a great post!
I guess the clothes line was similar to the telephone line... loved the poem.

Dayle said...

I simply love this! And the photo is stunning. You don't see a lot of clothes on the line these days, but I remember playing hide-and-seek with my sisters, among the sheets and such, while my mother hung the clothes on the line.

Thanks so much for linking up today.

AntiqueChase said...

Unmentionables in the middle... that made me laugh! Thanks for sharing!

Jennie said...

Cleaning off the clotheslines first!? I've never thought about it...but it makes so much sense! When I was a child, we hung everything, and I mean EVERYTHING on the line. We only used our dryer if there was a snowstorm. I have many, many memories out at the clothesline. Thanks so much for helping me remember those!

And how I wish we had one now. If for no other reason than for the sheets!

Debbie said...

Oh how this brings back memories! I remember being taught how to hang clothes correctly and how to "technically" use only one pin per item by sharing them.

I wish that I had a clothes line now. Our neighborhood won't allow it. (We've "progressed" to that point???) I do hang them on racks on my deck, but it's just not the same.

I wonder if anyone else here ran through the sheets to feel and smell them as they brushed against the face.

I LOVED THIS!!

Mevely317 said...

Ahhhhh .... forget the candles and faux air fresheners -- this just took me back to my mountainside hometown and mama's clothesline. How I enjoyed these "rules" and that cute poem ... thank you! :)

Chatty Crone said...

Great Posts - sheets on a clothes line - I can smell and feel there freshness. sandie

Gayle said...

Great pleasure, and loved the poem, too.

Ms.Daisy said...

HI Cindy,
I remember clotheslines very well...summertime okay and the sheets did smell wonderful as you climbed between the sheets that night but wintertime was another matter! The clothes froze solid on the line and we would bring them in and prop them up around the kitchen to dry! Loved your Simple Pleasures post!

~Jean

sarah said...

this is great. I live in the city...no one hangs laundry outside here. but this picture looks like a carefree easier life.

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