ckcowl

Yup, those were the rules i was taught, and also, the heaviest items were put on first, next to the poles to keep them from stretching the line in the middle.
i still adhere to these rules, and my daughter who isn't THAT old, still hangs clothes all summer long...winter time...not so much (and i did literally break a pair of pants one time that were (freeze dried) ...tried to fold them in half, broke them in half instead :) boy was my mom mad!

jemma

yes yes yes --the cloths prop--now i can go to sleep---do only aussies have 'the hills hoist'? seen all over the world at the sydney olympics

PuffinGin

What a fun thread. Thank you all for wonderful recollections and stories. My mother also hung clothes on the line prior to getting a dried and then continued to hang out in warmer weather even after getting one. I still have clotheslines and use them whenever weather permits. I didn't know there were rules but we followed most of ones listed. My dad made the clothes poles from skinny tree (probably poplar) with a branch crotch near the top holding the line. I don't recall worrying about hiding the undies but then we didn't have neighbors close by (and I still don't). A funny story: a friend had a old Polish woman who lived next to her who thought my friend was just awful because she hung her undies on the line right next to her husbands. Shame on her, what would others think!

ptquilts

I have only a clothesline, the rules were not taught to me, but being a bit OCD I have to hang like things together.
Mine is a single line so tall things go at the ends as they might hit the ground in the middle.

It's always a nice day when I do the wash, and as i hang the things out in the sunshine, and listen to the birds singing, I think,,,I would miss all this if I had a dryer. Plus my electric bills would be sky-high!

pojo

Well, I still use it every week. I just did two blankets and dark clothes and hung them out this morning.

I remember these rules clearly too and the pant stretches. My grand mother raised me. She even taught me to iron everything thing included socks and undies besides the all the other things. so I'm saying everything washed everything ironed.

Not today I don't do those things now.

LindaR

. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky!"


mine stay outside year around...too lazy to bring them in LOL

ptquilts

I have to bring mine in, they do get yucky and leave marks

grammyp

Yup, I remember them. And the pants stretchers, too. I do so love the smell of sheets dried on the line.

good_apple

In the winter my mom would hang the wash in our upstairs bedroom on lines stretched from corner to corner and through the middle. It didn't dry very fast and I remember trying to find my way to my bed through a maze of wet sheets and towels.

May in Jersey

Oh, those rules that my Mother made me follow. We lived in the city and our clothes lines went from our kitchen windows to a tall utility pole in the back yard. There were 3 apartments in the buildings on my block and you can imagine what the back yards looked line on Mondays. Believe me neighbors did check out your laundy, was it out on time, where the whites bright, do Mrs. So and So get a new blouse, no laundry out for Mrs. So an So was she sleeping all day again?

When I married and had my own apartment I broke most of those rules. I washed and hung my clothes out whenever I had the time, sometimes late a night. Had 2 kids in diapers so diapers went on the line no matter how cold it was. First they froze, then the main part dried so I brought them indoors to finish drying on the steam radiator. They were a little stiff but there were no pampers in those days.

I've had an indoor and outdoor dryer since I moved to Jersey 50 years ago. Over the years as the family got smaller I've used the outside one less and less. Mostly for jeans and knits, usually hung inside out so they didn't fade as I tended to leave them out there for a day or so. Haven't used the outdoor one at all the past year as I have a knee problem. Can't leave everything in the indoor dryer for a day or so, although undies and towels can hang out in there until I have time to fold them. May in Jersey