ON THE LINE
The drying wash on the
line here is a little more complicated or, as my daughter would say, WOWSA!
I wonder if the one towel
being blue and the other, pink, meant anything?
Looks like folks were out enjoying
the water in lifejackets with beach towels to dry off on.
Laundry day here included
hanging sheets out to dry. I used to
love the fresh smell of sheets dried in the open air. Unfortunately, where we live now, hanging
clothes out to dry on a line is not allowed.
If you live out in the
country, however . . .
. . . or by the water’s
edge, perhaps you could still enjoy that fresh ozone scent on your sheets &
pillowcases.
Or maybe on the Isle of
Iona in Scotland, walking toward the Abbey, you might catch sight of
pillowcases, a sheet, and even a mattress pad drying on the line.
Everyday clothes soaking
up the sunshine and fresh air.
Day of the white wash.
A clever way to dry masks
during the pandemic.
Teddy bears need washing
and drying, too. I remember when I had
to wash and dry my kids’ favorite stuffed bears and bunnies and ducklings
they’d park themselves in front of the dryer window keeping worried eyes on
their beloveds until the cycle ended. It
was a traumatic time!
Hanging clothes out on the
line in nice weather wasn’t so bad. I
used to help Mom do that and thought it was fun, actually.
In colder weather,
however, not so fun. A jacket could keep
your body warm, but your fingers, trying to hang those wet clothes on the line,
would go numb. I remember one winter
when our dryer went out and I had to hang the wash on lines my husband rigged
up under our patio roof. It was so cold
my fingers were frozen! Meanwhile our
3 kiddos were standing at the sliding glass door laughing and pointing as I
hung up their wet clothes. They thought
it was great fun. Mom, not so much! Fortunately the dryer was fixed before the
next wash day came round.
Back in the day when the
dry clothes came off the line many items needed ironing. Some folks ironed their sheets. I never did that, nor did I iron anyone’s
underwear. But I did iron tablecloths
and sometimes pillowcases depending on how rumpled they were. But ironing dress shirts for my Dad when I
was living at home and helping Mom, or my husband’s uniform shirts when I was
married were absolute necessities.
That’s my 4-year-old self and my little brother playing at ironing and I remember the color of the handkerchief I was pretending to iron was red, white, & blue. J
By 1976, however, we had
permanent press and not so much needed ironing anymore. Most things came out of the dryer pretty much
wrinkle free.
I have a sign hanging up
in my laundry that lists a laundry schedule:
“Sort today. Wash
later. Fold eventually. Iron - Ha
Ha Ha!”
My youngest daughter at age 2 is helping to unload the dryer. She thought it was great fun then. Not sure she feels the same way about it today? J
:->
La Nightingail
Yes, I learned to iron to help Mom, first Dad's handkerchiefs, then eventually his shirts! She had to hang laundry in the basement during the winter in St. Louis. Whew! Right where a coal furnace was. Though I had a drier, I did like hanging out sheets. Towels, not so much as the drier fluffed them while the sun left them stiff. Such fun memories! And then there were diapers! Before the wonderful age of disposables!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah - the old cloth diapers. Even though disposables were available when I had my kids, I never used them. The cloth diapers, back then were so much softer on their little bottoms so I remember rinsing them in clean toilet water & wringing them out before they could go in the washing machine. Oh, the fun! :)
DeleteI used to like hanging out clothes. Our lot now is too shaded and hilly so I haven't done it since we moved here. During the winter I had clothes lines strung across the kitchen where they dried nicely with the wood stove. Later I would hang them in the basement. Ah, the good ol' days.
ReplyDeleteWow! I never expected anyone could find so many images and even family photos of hanging out the laundry. My wife is a committed solar dryer and rarely goes electric unless forced to by the weather. Both my grandmothers were committed ironers for everything like shirts, sheets, towels, napkins, etc. And as farm girls both grew up using those heavy old iron irons heated on a stove.
ReplyDelete