Thank you for dropping by my Raising Jane Journal to participate in my giveaways! We’ve chosen a winner for this giveaway already (click here for details), but don’t be afraid to leave a comment anyway. I love reading them. And stay tuned for more great MaryJanesFarm giveaways.
For a chance to win 20 FREE beautiful, handmade clothespins from All American Clothespins, tell me your favorite memory about hanging laundry on the line in the comments below. I’ll toss your name into a hat and draw a lucky winner sometime mid-June.
Albert Crooks and his 15-year-old son, Al, craft beautiful, sturdy clothespins from ash (the perfect hardwood for clothespins) and heavy-duty, stainless-steel springs manufactured in the U.S. “No more using four or five cheap clothespins to hang a wet towel to line dry. Our clothespins are tumble sanded and are finished with tung oil, which will not leach out and stain your laundry.” For beautiful clothespins that will last a lifetime, visit AllAmericanClothespins.com.
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Remembering the little bag that hung on the line, to hold the clothespins in. Also, I had a doll clothesline, of red and white twine, and little tiny plastic clothespins of various colors that I used to hang my dolly’s clothes on.
I’ve hung clothes on the clothesline countless times, with my mother and both grandmothers! My favorite memory was hanging out my granny’s quilts to air in the sunshine. They smelled DIVINE when we folded and put them away in her quilt closet. Nothing ever smelled better than lying down between sun-soaked sheets and breathing in that fresh air and sunshine from my pillowcase! MAGIC!! 🙂
Loved hanging laundry to dry in the desert southwest where I grew up. Those clothes were dry as a bone in no time!
My favorite memory was playing under the sheets in the back yard, running and playing hide and seek. It was a perfect hiding place. Also the smell of that clean fresh fabric against your skin just eased you into peaceful sleep.
My favorite memory of hanging clothes on the line is the winter of 1969. It came in a bit early and we had jeans hanging out. When I left for school the weather was fine, but a cold front came through and I ran out to get our pants and they were frozen stiff! It took a while to defrost them, dry out and iron. Stilll makes me laugh to think about icecicle Levi’s.
My memory is of my Mamaw (Grandmother). She would hang the clothes out
on the line everyday. The wind would come up in the early evening just in time to bring the clothes is. I loved playing in the clothes basket feeling the warmth of the sun on the fresh washed clothes and my Grandmother yelling “Get out of that basket, you’ll get the clothes dirty”!
Hanging blue jeans and bedding on the line knowing they will have that fresh clean smell when I take them off the line.
My Grandma would always hang all the clothes out on the line to dry. She had some of the wood clothespins without springs. I remember how stiff the towels would be. She would always iron everything to make it just as it should be. I like to air dry things. They smell so fresh and it makes the clothes last longer. I especially love the smell of fresh air dried sheets!
Memories, oh so many memories of clothes being washed in the old wringer type washer with the big tub of rinse water next to it, the basket on the chair or floor waiting to be filled with wet but clean clothes and then out to the clothes line which always had to be tightened up before use (cotton rope always stretched out) and then reaching up, bending down, reaching up again for the clothes pins in the bag and then voila, the clothes pinned to the line. If a breeze was blowing it felt so good, but made it an adventure to get the clothes on the line safely without dropping them on the ground, and then feeling the hot sun beating down on you and knowing all that solar power was going to whiten your clothes like nothing else can and that fresh clean country air was going to make them smell so heavenly; and then when wash day was over you knew you had your exercise for the day because as the clothes dried you were back out there reaching up, unpinning them, dropping them, or folding them if possible before putting them in the basket, reaching up again, bending down, oh, yes, we did our exercises and felt so much better for it. And the clothes pins! they had to be good ones to hold those heavy pieces of clothing and if by chance you ran out of clothes line, and you had a bush or two around close, some piece of clothing would get laid on the top of them to whiten in the sun (if they didn’t blow away.) Oh, how I miss those days. Thank you for stirring up my memory bank. One more memory comes to mind! Birds! Oh how I hated it when my clothes would be spotted with bird poop. And then we had to empty the rinse tub and the washing machine, and our gardens, vegetable and flower, got their dose of soapy water to ward off the insects. So wonderful how we used it all beneficially.
I have been hanging clothes online since I was a kid. My parents were Midwest people who move to California before I was born and clothes lines are aware life in the Midwest. I remember having my daddy’s white dress shirts that he would work on a line and then taking them inside and my mom instead of me teaching me to iron without scorching the shirts.
Both my parents are passed on but I still iron something’s and I certainly use my line on my 42 acres of paradise in the southern cascade Mountains of true Northern California.
I still hang my clothes out on a line. I remember helping my mom hang out our laundry daily in Northeast Iowa when I was little and even into my teens. Now that my mom is no longer alive I feel like I bring back her memories whenever I am at the clothesline. Very peaceful and therapeutic not to mention the wonderful aroma of the great outdoors that our laundry brings inside!
Tara
SE IA
I remember in the spring when a dust storm was rolling into west Texas and running out to yank the clothes off the line before they got the dirt in them-or mud if it sprinkled.
I have to laugh when I remarried for the second time our first argument was about how to hang wash correctly. I would hang t-shirts from the bottom and he would hang them from the shoulders. I also would have them hang separately and he would connect them with a common clothes oin. To be fair we did have 8 kids combined and lots of wash. We’ve been married 24 years and just bought a house again after a short stint in a condo where we couldn’t hang outside! Color me happy! Love, love, love sheets on the line!
I’ve never had a clothesline and want one so bad. It is number 1 on my list of things to do in 2017, however, we got at least a foot of snow last night … UGH!! so, it might have to wait a little while. (Ya, I live in northern Idaho too!) But I like the fact that these are AMERICAN MADE and a father/son team made them, that is so sweet. Thank you for making me aware of these “on the list” items to buy and maybe a chance at winning! 🙂
Just going outside with my sweet mommy to hang and then fold( we always folded at the line) for some peaceful quiet time was so wonderful I still do it today.
My Mom always hung her clothes outside when the weather was nice and I remember the cloth bag that held them. When she passed away she still had some even though when she moved to town she did not used them. Today those same clothes pins are used to hang up skirts…jeans…and even potato chip bags. I am so glad I found them amongst her things and I think of her every time I used one. I hope to pass them down to my daughter.
I love the smell of sheets dried on the line. And always loved seeing all my boys’ jeans hanging out. When my husband’s grandmother passed, I wanted her old sturdy clothes pins.
I was 6 when our parakeet, Penny, decided to land on our clothesline while I was helping Mom hang the clothes to dry.Dad came out and she hopped right onto his hand, so she was given a cage and lived with us for several years before passing.
I have memories of hanging cloth diapers on the line and watching them blow in the wind. They would dry so quickly in the hot Texas sun. By the time I was finished hanging the last diaper the first one was almost dry.
I remember my grandma hanging laundry out. And my sister and I helped my mom hand laundry when we were little. My mom still hangs her laundry on a clothes line.
The fresh smell and crisp feel of cotton sheets that were dried on the clothes line is my favorite memory. Coming from a family of 7, a clothes line was a huge money saver for my parents. My husband and I still use a clothes line, even though there is only the two of us.
My favorite memory of using my sunshine dryer (clothes line) is when I was almost 42 weeks pregnant expecting our second baby girl, I was drying the last of her cloth diapers for a fresh tune up, sister stop using them several years earlier. I remember standing back and looking at the diapers all lined up and swaying in the breeze thinking life could not be better in that moment 🙂 Our second babygirl was born about a day later.
My grandmother Nora had the farm. I can still see the laundry flying in the breeze on the clothesline in her back yard — beside the well house, down from the chicken house, across from the pig pen, in view from the back porch. Oh…those were the days…scurrying to get the laundry in before a summer afternoon shower. I miss that. I miss her.
I used to love helping my mother and remember with delight when our ordinary white clothes pin bag was traded in for a multi-colored floral one. It was the late 60’s early 70’s and that brightness was starting to be seen in many ordinary objects. Still makes me smile.
I hang laundry out daily:) I would be extremely excited to try these handmade clothes pins!
Thank you for this opportunity.
Blessings-
When I was growing up in the early 60s in Memphis, the world was quite scary. But my backyard was peaceful. I spent time with friends on my swing set, or eating things dad grilled on the brick BBQ pit. While mom hung out our clothes and sheets on the clotheslines, we would sometimes pick flowers or play with kittens. One of my favorite photos is of my best friend and me sitting on the fence near to where the clothesline was. I have never had a clothesline of my own, but have a bag full of clothespins to use when crafting and more. Like an old fashioned apron, they are a comfort item to me.
I love to see all the laundry hanging on the clothesline in Lancaster county. It is out no matter what the weather. It takes me back to a simplier time.
I grew up hanging out clothes! Best memory – winter time when the clothes froze as soon as you hung them up to dry! My mom still doesn’t own a dryer – at 84 she is still hanging out clothes & so do I – love the fresh smell!!
Love the smell of clothes on the line
I collect Antique clothes pins
My favorite memory was helping my grandmother and providing her the clothespins from her basket as we moved along the line. She taught me the joy of fresh smelling sheets to snuggle in to after we line dried them. To this day I still hang out sheets when possible.
I have always loved the fragrance of the beach towels in the linen closet mid-winter, still smelling of summer and being line-dried! I had a used dryer when first married but when it broke, we never replaced it, instead drying clothes on the line during the spring and summer months (and by the wood stove autumn and winter).
When my youngest daughter went away to college, she called, all excited (and with a hint of sarcasm in her voice), to tell me about this wonder invention called the clothes dryer!! But a month into the semester, she confessed that she missed the fresh smell that her clothes always had from being dried outside on the line!!
Mom always washed in her wringer machine Monday and Wednesday’s. We daughters could help hang the clothes with wooden clothes pins either outside or in on the clotheslines in the basement during the winters in Wyoming. Of course there was a certain way and order we had to hang the clothes. Like underwear between two other rows of garments or sheets and towels. I have moms clothes pin cloth hanger to this day and the memories of laundry day
The best was how wonderful your bed sheets would smell! Also using the clothesline to make tents in the summer.
Mother hung clothes on the line even when the weather was freezing outside. It took a day or two or three for them to dry and if it was still freezing, Daddy’s overalls would stand up all by themselves! 🤗
Mom and I hung laundry in our apartment building basement on rainy days and one day she was completely fed up with the dirty floor and walls. She hooked up a hose to the sink and began washing the entire basement down with it. The janitor came in to the basement when she was about half way through. The caretaker began yelling at my mother saying she could not do that. Quit spraying the room down. My mom raked him over the coals about how he kept the place in filthiness and she was gong to wash it down whether he liked it or not. He went huffing out of the basement and mom finished the job. We were then able to hang our clothes in a clean place when it was necessary to use the basement clothes lines. My mom was a feisty one.
My dad came out for a visit after several years of not seeing him. I was outside hanging the laundry on the line when he joined me on the lawn. We sat and talked about his childhood and his memories of his mother hanging the laundry out to dry. It was priceless!
Fresh line dryed sheets!!!
When we lived in Illinois my mom had a clothesline that went from the house down to the garage..I used to help her pull in unload then load up again..the smell of those clothes were heavenly..especially sheets and pillowcases..would love to win..thank you
I recall hanging my children’s diapers on the clothesline even in very cold weather. They would freeze and it would be necessary to bring them in to dry out on the radiators in our apartment. Nevertheless, they still had that fresh air aroma.
What a fun contest! Thanks, MaryJane, for inspiring so many tender recollections. When my brother and I were still small enough to race underneath the pull-out breadboards in our “loop” through the house, we relished the chance to take our chase outside, weaving through the evaporative coolness in rows of still-damp laundry, hanging on the clothesline. Like others who’ve commented, the sweet fragrance and sun-baked crispness of line-dried linens still take me back to those days!
I love clothes pins. Ever since I watched my mom hang wet clothes on the line, I have loved helping and watching her. I collect clothes pins and would love to have more.
Thank you,
Terri G.
I don’t recall my mother ever hanging our clothes but when we would travel to South Dakota to visit the family my grandmother always had clothes hanging. It was wonderful to visit on laundry day. Grandma did her wash in a 3 tub wringer washer and hung the laundry to dry. It was hung in the house in winter. She used that wringer washer right up until the end. She passed away about 10 years ago and always said an electric machine couldn’t do as good of a job as the wringer washer and the wind.
One of my best memories, is doing laundry on Tuesdays with my Grandmother. I spent the summers with my grandparents when my Mom worked. Tuesday was always laundry day. We would strip the beds and hang all the laundry and before Grandpa came home from work we had to get it all down and put away and make the beds. I still have my Grandmothers laundry basket in my living room, holding blankets now. Love and miss her.
The wonder of this little and powerful resource goes back to my childhood when I helped my mother hang clothes outside. Even today the clothespin is used inside my laundry room for hanging those clothes that are necessary not to put into the dryer. I even use this valuable invention and craftmanship of which we call “clothespin” to snap my chip bags or to aid a hanger no longer working to hold my pants. Such a valuable little but powerful invention. I applaud the mighty little clothespin.
Like most families in the South, we hung the laundry outside. The sun crispness of the sheets, the smell of fresh air in the clothing, the click of clothes pins coming off the line and placed in a cloth bag over a hanger will never leave my mind.
The aroma of the sheets when I took them off of the line!😃
You can never have enough pegs for putting out the washing.(Pins for you but Pegs for Aussies)
Wooden with a srurdy spring are a must!
I’d help my Mother hang the clothes on the line, we’d snap them to get out the wrinkles, then hang them up. I remember on some days they’d gently blow in the breeze. If it was sheets hanging my younger brother and I would lay under them and watch the sky as the sheets blew back and forth in front of our faces. When we’d remove the laundry from the line, we’d snap it again to get some of the stiffness out. Some days it might start to rain and we’d run out to gather the clothes as fast as we could. We’d run to the house with armloads of sweet smelling clothes. I can almost still smell it! Where I live now we have a clothes line, I’m looking forward to putting up sheets come summer, once dried and back on the bed, the smell will be like going back, lying under those sheets looking up at the sky and dreaming of all those childhood days!
I remember coming home from school and seeing my old (almost) tattered Snoopy hanging from his ears on the line after my Mom washed him.
That wonderful smell of crisp sheets taken down from the clothesline it was summertime at last. I would lug them into the wash house as Camilla started to fold them and carry them up the back stairs to the naked beds