My emailing pal Niner pointed out to me recently that it seems very few people hang up their clothes to dry outside anymore. She's right. Dryers are more convenient, plus they keep the electric companies happy.
Hanging laundry on the wires strung in our backyard was one of the few household chores that I truly enjoyed as a kid. Even before I could reach the lines, I helped out by handing Mom each item. She had her own little system going, grouping together similar items. We'd start with the sheets and bath towels, working our way down to the socks and undies. They'd flutter themselves dry in an hour or so, then we'd be back to take them down, fold them, and put them away. Best of all: they always smelled sooooooo fresh.
As I got into my teens, though, I became less enthusiastic about hanging up clothes, concerned about my bras flying in the wind for everyone to see. We lived on a busy corner, across from the football field, and I was certain that the guys checked out my bust measurement when they went to and from practices. "Hmmm. Sure looks like a 34B to me. What do you think?" It became mandatory that my bras be hung as far away from the street as possible, on the middle line, hiding them from wayward eyes.
As an adult, I've never had a clothesline, but I think Mom sometimes still hangs out her laundry on warm, breezy days. The two iron T-bars, supporting three lines, were set in cement, permanent fixtures. There's one big change in her yard, however. A high school was built adjacent to the football field a number of years ago. Mom said she got tired of finding condoms on her lawn, so she had a guy build her a privacy fence stretching the entire south side of her property. Now, anyone who wants to see unmentionables hung on the clothesline has to work mighty hard to figure out a bra size!
4 comments:
I have a clothesline and I use it when the weather is nice. But I always forget about my clothes. Lastnight I sent Jeremy out in the dark to get our blanket. ;)
Ha ha. I do the same thing Sarah. I always forget them outside. Then it rains, and I have to wash them over. In Toronto, the just lifted a ban on clotheslines. They had said they were "outlawed" because they were too ugly to be seen in the downtown area. Finally, they realized its saving the earth more than nightmares we get from Big Bertha's undies.
Wow!! When hanging clothes outside is illegal!! Goodness, what evil abounds in the world!!
My Mother still hangs her clothes outside. She needs a wheelborrow to get the basket out there but she insists and it does save money. I put heavy things out on the porch furniture on my rear patio to dry, especially heavy or think things, and they are dry in a flash in this lack of humidity. My Mother now has asthma though and I think hanging the clothes outside is the worst for seasonal allergies and cement dust on clean clothes is not a treat. When my Grandmother used to hang her clothes out on brick row, they would come in a light green--alfalfa dust! I always have to have some sort of line, where ever we live, even if it is just a little wooden rack in the tub! I had an Indian student teacher once who taught me to always sun my bedpillows to kill the mites in them. It works!
People in my neighborhood always had clothes up on the line when I was growing up. You don't see that anymore. My folks don't even do it anymore - maybe because I'm not there to hang and bring the laundry in!? Maybe they've become bigger fans of the dryer than they used to be. Maybe clothes on the line are only cute when they're young kids clothes. I dunno...
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