For years I've wanted to take a photo of this little house on the edge of our town when the lady of the house has hung out her wash to dry. Late yesterday afternoon I went to the post office and since it was a Sunday and little traffic I thought I might just get an opportunity to stop on the narrow two-lane road as I approached the house to snap a shot. I actually was rather surprised to see clothes hanging on the line on a Sunday but they were there and so was I. There's usually somebody pulling up behind me or someone rushing toward me but it was quiet and I got the chance. This was a scene that was so prevalent in my childhood and one that we rarely see anymore. I don't remember when my mother finally got a clothes dryer but I'm sure I was at least in college by that time. I never minded hanging out the clothes, although I detested bringing them in because if you were the one to bring them in, you were the one to fold them and put them away or get them ready for ironing the next day. I learned from my mother just how to hang clothes meticulously just like this lady does. You always started with sheets and then pillow cases; next came towels, the biggest first, then the hand towels and finally wash cloths; then came dish towels and dish rags; then Dad's pants and shirts; then Mom's dresses, pants and shirts and then mine, everything diminishing in size down the line; after the outer clothes came the undergarments and the whole thing ended with socks. There's nothing that smells quite like a clean fresh towel that's been left outside to dry!
11 comments:
I do love seeing a clothesline in use. They make great photo ops. I don't have a clothesline anymore. The birds pooped berries and stained my clothes so I got frustrated and gave up.
mother did not get a clothes dryer until after i moved out and got married, in 1962. i did not get washer or dryer until 1969 and boy did i hate the laundromat.
2 babies in diapers and hanging out all those cloth diapers, i had to use the laundromat to wash, and then go home and hang out because i could not afford the dryer except on rainy days. the dryers were 10 cents for 30 minutes and i could not afford that. i hated hanging out the clothes as a child and bringing them in, especially when they were frozen, then sprinkling and ironing them. my job was ironing all the flat things and back then everything had to be ironed, i bought my washer/dryer and never ever hung out another thing. they do smell good though
LOVE this photo; brings back memories of a certain age. Laundry was my job and I usually wore a bathing suit while hanging out clothes in the summer. Getting a good tan was important! Long after I was married I used a clothesline. Eventually the pole deteriorated outside and was never replaced. I should have ordered one of those circular poles long ago. Now so many condos and housing units do NOT allow outside clothes lines. What a shame!
Wow, that brought back some memories for me. I have some very similar memories of helping mom hang out the laundry, pulling clothes pins out of the bag and deciding whether to use the old fashioned plain ones or the new fangled spring-loaded ones. I also remember these pant-stretcher contraptions that helped you dry men's pants so they wouldn't need ironing. And, in the winter, Mom would hang some things in the basement and many others over the backs of chairs that were set over the warm air registers. Laundry day in the winter always left the house looking like it was draped in clothing.
Always hang the underwear behind other clothes so as not to be seen from the road. After I Got married I rebelled and hung them right out in the open. Cooked lots of starch too.
Love this image! I loved the smell of laundry hung up to dry on the line. Unfortunately, we have a bylaw here. No clotheslines are permitted on ones property.
This is a nice homey image that brings back memories. (the same ones as Sharon talked about, naturally) I still hang out towels and sheets just because I enjoy the fresh aroma. I don't see this much these days though.
A clothesline, brings back good memories. You are right in that the person who picks the clothes up has to fold them up for ironing. Wonderful thoughts, thanks for sharing!
LOVE this shot!
She ain't proud... or shy for that matter. Hang for all to see.
i helped my mother every saturday hang out the wash. :)
I love the aroma of clothes hung outdoors! How crazy that some places have bylaws forbidding clotheslines. We live in such silly times.
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