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Today I received an email that's been flung in and out of email boxes multiple times. It's interesting enough to pass along, but not enough to take the time to omit the many indents from all the forwards. The email content below, got me to thinking.
I have two friends each from a different group of buddies who take photos of clotheslines all over the world. I've been fascinated by their discussions. One perspective aligns with the list below and relates to them as insights into people's lives. They conger moments of freedom and fresh air our mother's must have felt between hours of cleaning, cooking, ironing inside. I remember once, from when I was in grade school, coming home from an after dinner swimming class and being told to get into stiff-as-a-board pajamas just off the line on a Michigan winter night. Brrrr.
One of my photographer friends views clothes on a line as flags, like the quilts hung to signal slaves of safety or danger. That photographer also sees clotheslines as art, the colors, shapes and sizes against a backdrop of blue skies or dirty grey city buildings. She's taken photos of lines high above the ground on high rises in New York, from building to building in Cuba, back yards of Minnesota.and ranches in Wyoming.
Clotheslines are practically extict now, even outlawed in some suburbs, but will be back as we become more aware of the harm to the earth caused by dryers. I bet future clothes lines will include fluffers and send dampness alerts to our iPads.
One of my photographer friends views clothes on a line as flags, like the quilts hung to signal slaves of safety or danger. That photographer also sees clotheslines as art, the colors, shapes and sizes against a backdrop of blue skies or dirty grey city buildings. She's taken photos of lines high above the ground on high rises in New York, from building to building in Cuba, back yards of Minnesota.and ranches in Wyoming.
Clotheslines are practically extict now, even outlawed in some suburbs, but will be back as we become more aware of the harm to the earth caused by dryers. I bet future clothes lines will include fluffers and send dampness alerts to our iPads.
Please leave your clothesline stories in the comments below. Seems like lots of people have them.
THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:
(If you don't even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)
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 the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.
From today's email:
THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:
(If you don't even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)
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 the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.
12. Use a long
wooden pole (clothes pole) to raise the clotheslines up so that longer items
(sheets/pants/etc.) didn't brush the ground and get dirty.
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