For all of us that are older, this will really bring memories.
The Basic Rules
For those of you who are younger, it will add some thoughts.
1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes. Walk the length of each line with a damp cloth around the line.
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 tail. What would the neighbors think.
Clothes Lines
A clothesline was a news forecast
It also was a friendly link
For then you'd see the fancy sheets
The line announced a baby's birth
The ages of the children could
It also told when illness struck,
It said, "Gone on vacation now"
New folks in town were scorned upon
But clotheslines now are of the past
I really miss that way of life.
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the company table cloths
With intricate design.
To folks who lived inside
As brand new infant clothes were hung
So carefully with pride.
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare.
If wash was dingy gray,
As neighbors raised their brows,
And looked the other way..
For dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line!
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