Clotheslines 6

Clotheslines 6

Today's photos of clotheslines were taken in Harbour Grace, Seal Cove and the Port de Grave Peninsula in Conception Bay and Bay Bulls, Calvert, and Bauline East along the Southern Shore.
Here are a couple of comments I received yesterday.

Loved the clothesline series Bruce...I still hang clothes out here and in Wisconsin. When we were on the farm, I would hang the clothes out early in the morning before I went to work and they would freeze as fast as I hung them up. Always a fresh scent when I took them off the line later in the day.

You reminded me of a lovely sight. When staying in a large B&B in Port Rexton they hung out their laundry. They had multiple lines a mile long.

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Clotheslines 5

Clotheslines 5

Today's photos of clotheslines were taken in Rocky Harbour, Bonne Bay, Fermeuse along the Southern Shore, as well as Riverhead and St. Mary's in St. Mary's Bay. You can tell the wind was blowing hard in Rocky Harbour in the first three images.

Here's an interesting comment I received yesterday.

No diapers!!! There was nothing like folding fresh, clean diapers.

And there is truth to that.  In all the clothesline photos I have, I don't remember any with diapers.  I will have to take a closer look.  I guess throw-away diapers are the norm these days - for obvious reasons.  Imagine all those diapers in land fills across North America!

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Clotheslines 4

Clotheslines 4

Todays photos of clotheslines Series were taken in St. Mary's and Gaskiers in St. Mary's Bay.  In the three photos I shared on the email list, the ocean is visible in the background. I imagine the breeze from the ocean helps clothes dry quickly.

In some areas of North America it is illegal to hang clothes out to dry.  Can anyone explain that law to me?

Another couple of comments from yesterday:

Love your clothes lines! My Mom could always pick a day that was "good on clothes". I don't know how to tell. Probable has to do with barometric pressures. I have a line on my balcony (17th floor) that I only use when there are no golfers on the golf course next door to snitch on me. 

I had a good giggle over this and that poem is actually so true. Sad to see how this old world is changing.

  

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Clotheslines 3

Clotheslines 3

Day 3 of the latest Clotheslines Series show images from Peter's River, St. Vincents, Cupids, and Bishop's Cove.

Years ago I used to have hens and a rooster like the ones under the clothesline in the first photo.  I was interested to see a clothesline with just 2 items, then another with just one.  It certainly is not the normal clotheslines I see.  Most have many items hanging out to dry.

Here's a comment I received from the USA yesterday:

Nothing smelled better than clothesline-dried clothes when was growing up. I miss that clean smell.

And another from Newfoundland:

 ... the clotheslines I always like...nothing better ! I think there are a few women besides myself who hang out laundry on cold sunny winter days ...

And this from the USA:

Remembering Mom's Clothesline 

There is one thing that's left out. We had a long wooden pole (clothes pole) that was used to push the clotheslines up so that longer items (sheets/pants/etc..) didn't brush the ground and get dirty. You have to be a "certain age" to appreciate this one.... I can hear my mother now..... 

THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES: (If you don't even know what clotheslines are, better skip this.)
1. You had to hang the socks by the toes.... NOT the top.
2. You hung pants by the BOTTOM/cuffs... NOT the waistbands.
3. You had to WASH the clothesline(s) before hanging any clothes - walk the entire length of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.
4. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites" with "whites," and hang them first.
5. You NEVER hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What would the neighbors think?
6. Wash day on a Monday! NEVER hang clothes on the weekend, or on Sunday, for Heaven's sake!
7. Hang the sheets and towels on the OUTSIDE lines so you could hide your "unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y'know!)
8. It didn't matter if it was sub-zero weather... clothes would "freeze-dry."
9. ALWAYS gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left on the lines were "tacky"!
10. 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.
11. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket, and ready to be ironed.
12. IRONED???!! Well, that's a whole OTHER subject!

And now a POEM

 A clothesline 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 designs.
The line announced a baby's birth,
From 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 told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe too,
Haphazardly were strung.
 It also said, "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 and gray,
As neighbors carefully raised their brows,
And looked the other way.
But clotheslines now are of the past,
For dryers make work much 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 out on that line.

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Clotheslines 2

Clotheslines 2

Day 2 of the latest Clotheslines Series show images from New Harbour, Trinity Bay, Broad Cove, Trinity Bay, Salvage, Bonavista Bay, Change Islands, Notre Dame Bay, Melrose, Trinity Bay, and Kingston, Conception Bay. 

I didn't see a house near the Clothesline on a Hill, the title I have given to the first image.  Someone had to walk a way to hang up clothes there.  Clothesline at Sunset is the name I've given to the second image.  I imagine if I had waited a while someone would have come out to take that clothes in before night fell. 


I photographed the clothes hanging near a fishing stage in Salvage from across the harbour and liked the resulting photograph.  I photographed the clothesline in Change Islands while walking along one of the main roads in the town.  There was quite a breeze in Melrose and I don't think it would have taken clothes long to dry the day I made the seventh and eighth photos.  

I think it would take clothes a lot longer to dry on a cold winter day.  The Clothesline and Iceberg image that was taken in Conception Bay in early spring.

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