THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:

[larrymeyer]

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:

(If you don't know what clotheslines are, better skip this).
You have to be a certain age to appreciate this. I can hear my mother now.....


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 tails!
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!) (Being PC now apologies to perverts and Busy Bodies )
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.

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

[1861]

Neat poem and fond memories .

[RaisedByWolves]

Never, EVER use the clothesline like a giant bow to shoot the clothespins across your neighbors yard no matter how much fun it is to have their dog fetch them so you can do it again.


Friggin dog told on me when he chewed down on one and it clipped its self to the flubbery part of his top lip in the back. He Howled like he was being Kilt!

.

[Dave in PA]

If you have wee ones in the house, you will need many many more clothes pins with which to hand the laundry. The last time I used one, my son (now 21) was JUST out of diapers........

[AxiTech]

When I was a little boy in Texas, I had a real live ,honest to goodness Injun Chief for a Sunday School teacher. He took us boys out fishin' once a month. We had bottle rocket wars and learned all kinds of cool stuff a boy in Texas needs to know before he becomes a man. Stuff like, how to fling a Bowie knife and make it stick in a tree, or how to tell a Western Diamondback Rattler from a eastern one, or where to grab a snappin' turtle so you got to keep all your digits, oh, yeah, and how to make a 'match shooter' out of two clothepins. (The kind with the spring). Done right, it would launch and light a 'strike anywhere' match at least fifteen feet.
Back in '71, MartyFarty Honeycutt burnt up his mother's new drapes with the one I gave him. Marty was a hell of a guy, didn't rat me out to his mom. You don't find friends like that very often, and when you do, if you're havin' a bb gun war, ya only shoot at his lower legs.
Anybody know where I can buy some 'strike anywhere' matches? I got a 'men's retreat' coming up at Church in a few weeks and we invited some young 'uns along. Might need to scrounge up some clothespins too. Sort of 'pass the torch' if you will.

[Dredly]

where is the part that says clotheslines must be exactly high enough to take a kid standing up on his bike (after told not to) right across the neck?


you'd think we would have learned the first 2 - 3 times.... NAH