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Archiver > PADUTCH-LIFE > 2008-04 > 1207658483


From: "Mary Sayman" <>
Subject: Re: [PD-LIFE] The Clothes line
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 08:41:23 -0400
References: <020b01c89951$afe06aa0$0400a8c0@joebuff>
In-Reply-To: <020b01c89951$afe06aa0$0400a8c0@joebuff>


I remember those good ol' days. A clothes line certainly was the diary of
the family.
I guess one could even call it 'The Original Soap Opera'.

I remember the ironing, too. It never really made sense to me that I had to
iron
everything; and I do mean EVERY THING.... except for my Father's work pants
which
were hung to dry on the line on pant pressers. Those nasty little beggars
pinched
one's fingers, leaving lovely blood blisters behind; and God help you if you
didn't
get the seams of the pants lined up properly!!! But I also think that
people, as a
general rule, took more pride in their appearances.

As tough as those good ol' days were, I sort of miss them. People cared
more about
their families and looked out for their neighbors. We knew nearly every
family the
entire length of the road I grew up on and all of the side dirt roads, too.
Yep!
I do really miss those days. There was some thing to be said for the
simplicity.

Hugs,
Mary from her Aerie



-----Original Message-----
From:
[mailto:] On Behalf Of Joe Buffington
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2008 4:22 AM
To:
Subject: [PD-LIFE] Fw: For Gloria: The Clothes line

Message
List, do you remember!!!





Subject: The Clothes Line. Do you remember?

The clothes line....a dead giveaway. Do the kids today even know what
a clothes line is? For all of us who are older, this will bring back the
memories.


THE BASIC RULES
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?

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.

6. It didn't matter if it was subzero weather.............clothes would
'freeze dry.'

7. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes. Pins
left on the line was 'tacky'.

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 POEM

A clothes line 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 design.

The line announced a baby's birth
To 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 to ld when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.

It 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 gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way.

But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work 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!


Brenda S. Radke, CPS
Pastor's Secretary
First Baptist Church
Rome, GA




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