I received a cute e-mail from a friend today. I just had to sit down and reminisce about doing laundry during my lifetime. I was about 7 years old when we got an automatic washing machine. Before that time, we had a wringer washer and hung clothes on the line. But later in my teenage years, I had forgotten about those old machines. So when I got married, I just thought everyone had automatic washers and dryers. But I was in for a rude awaking. My mother-in-law politely told me that Saturday was her wash day because she worked everyday through the week. And then she showed me the wringer washer. DUH. I thought that time of my life was over but to my surprise, I used one of the relics until I went to work in 1977. I had married in 1962 so you can guess what my hands looked like. YEP, old leather. So every Saturday, it was drag up the water hose, fill up the machine and 2 rinse tubs. Clothes had to be rinsed twice and all the whites washed first. Then you washed the light colored, afterward the dark colored. And last of all, the blue jeans and overhauls. Oh yes, and heat water for starch. Clothes had to be soaked in starch after the last rinse and run through the wringer before hanging on the line. Now sometimes, the lines would sag and we had to prop them up with long sticks or boards. I was always hoping no one would knock down the props because the clothes would drag the ground. Especially the sheets.
After the startched clothes were dried, they were stiff as a board. The other clothes were soft and smelled so good. We didn't go to the store and buy spray starch, no sir ree, there was no such thing. We used Argo starch, disolved in hot water to soak the clothes. Then later after the clothes were dry, we would sprinkle them to dampen, then, iron with a flat iron and ironing board. Plus I never had disposable diapers, they were cloth so it was wash every few days. Rain or shine, winter or summer, it was wash diapers. I have 5 children and that was a lot of diapers. I can even remember them freezing on the line and trying to loosen them without breaking the pins just to bring them in the house and dry by the heater. I remember one time when it was snowing, that I took a hot iron to the line and tried to remove the diapers. I could even get a few off one at a time. When my children started to school, it was always drying clothes by the heater or ironing them to finish drying before the bus ran. Now what would these young girls do today if you showed them a wringer washing machine much less clothes pins. I would hate to hear some of their remarks. I have granddaughters so I know what they would do, laugh at me or make a face or better yet just say, "What ever!!!." And then roll their eyes at me. So this is the e-mail and I think it is cute and describes wash day. We lived on US Hwy 41 North and the trucks drove by everyday. This was before Interstate 75 was finished. My kids learned very fast how to get the drivers to honk their horns. Was very glad that the clothes line was behind the house because the next door neighbors was beside her house in plain view.
THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:
(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. You wouldn't believe how many times there would be bird poop on the line.
2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order , and always hang "whites" with "whites , " and hang them first. Sheets hung better if they were over the line instead of hanging by the corners.
3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders , always by the tail! What would the neighbors think? Always hang socks by mates, much less separating when folding.
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 & busybodies , 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!" I had a clothes pin apron.
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 CLOTHESLINE 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.
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