GIVEAWAY: “All American Clothespins, Blue Moon”

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.

clothespins_1836

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.

Stay tuned for more magazine-related giveaways. If you’re not yet a subscriber to my magazine, MaryJanesFarm, subscribe here for $19.95/year.

  1. Donna Lohre says:

    My fondest memory of hanging clothes on the line is how Fresh everything smelled when I helped Mom fold them. To this Day that is my favorite thing about clothes hung on a clothesline.

  2. Judy Rutledge says:

    My favorite memory of hanging clothes is when my kids were babies and I hung out their diapers. I used to love seeing row after row of clean, white diapers blowing in the wind and then smelling their freshness as I took them down.

  3. Mary Trzebny says:

    It’s one of many favorite memories. I still hang wash today! As a child, when my mom would hang out the laundry, it was especially fun when the sheets would go up on the line. We’d run all through them as the wind would catch each one and lift them up to the sky. All the while you capture the fresh scent and take it all in. Then when those same sheets are placed on your bed, as we lay our heads down to sleep, we can still take in the intoxicating scent from the outdoors as we drift off to sleep. It was the best and still is today. Thanks mom for the memories.

  4. Patricia Miner says:

    I met my partner in life, Michael, nine years ago on a dating site. I was in Eureka, South Dakota and he drove out from Richmond, Virginia to meet me. His arrival time caught me in the back yard hanging the bed sheets on the line to dry … he was quite the gentleman and helped me to hang the rest of the wash, so our first visual meeting was hanging laundry with clothespins. I also have purchased these clothespins and love them ..,

  5. Marion O'Neill says:

    My Mom always hung laundry out in the summer even though she had a dryer. I have a clothesline now and hang laundry out whenever I can. I love the fresh smell of sheets dried outside in the summer sun.

  6. Marvella Shatter says:

    My favorite memory is from 38 years ago. I had washed my daughter Nicole ‘s favorite blanket and hung it on the line to dry. She found it and sat down beneath it and said “Mama, I can’t leave blankie alone because it is scared.” That little girl is now 42.

  7. Kim Baxter says:

    I hang laundry every fine day here in Siskiyou County California. Nothing beats the fresh smell and I love the hanging out and the taking in of it all. I admire the handiwork on these wonderful clothespins so hope my name is pulled out of the hat!

  8. Virginia Hoover says:

    When I was a young girl, my mother always hung our wet laundry on the clothes line made of rope. We did not have any other method for drying clothes. Ringer washers were the rave then, if you could afford them. The clothes pins were one piece solid wood, and not the handy spring action ones I see today. A clothes pin bag hung at the end of the line and many a bird made its nest inside if we did not retrieve it and bring it inside. My mother is home in heaven now but I still have fond memories of those special days. I own a modern day washer and dryer today and when the weather permits, I hang my laundry on my clothes lines of rope with modern day clothes pins. I just love that fresh outdoor smell.

  9. Josie Davis says:

    The great smell of the sheets hung on the line is always what I remember.

  10. Anna Jane Hudock says:

    I love the wonderful outdoor aroma of air dried clothes. Laying g my head on a fresh washed and dried pillow is heaven.

  11. I have many memories of hanging clothes on the line such as the dogs playing with the pants and pulling them off so we had to wash them again! Discussing the merits of using 1 or 2 clothes pins for underwear but the best and why I hang clothes out today is the fresh smell of the clothes when you bring them inside after drying in the sun!

  12. Joan Dias says:

    I’ve hung my clothes all my life. My sweetest memory is when I think about all my babies clothes lined up, so tiny and so sweet, on the line waving in the breeze, along with their cloth diapers. Those were the best days of my life.

  13. Barbara Aycock says:

    Love sunshine dried laundry!

  14. Joy says:

    I love the smell of laundry dried outside. It’s so nice to watch the laundry in a breeze.Wooden clothespins are the best.

  15. Bev Hansen says:

    I’ve had a clothesline practically all of my married life (37 years) so have many fond memories but probably my favorite is hanging our babies’ diapers to out dry in the sun. I loved the uniformity of hanging items all the same size, and how bright and white the diapers appeared after hanging out in the sunshine all day. Those babies are all grown up now but the memories of having a little one nearby in their stroller or in a backpack as I worked to hang the wash, will be with me always. ♥

  16. Gina Harlan says:

    Coming up with only one favorite memory about handing out laundry is very difficult, because I come from a line of “laundry hanger-outers!” When I was an infant, my mom had to launder my cloth diapers daily and hang them out to dry–MANY diapers a day. My father photographed that full, multi-stringed clothesline and had it developed into a slide that I have viewed many times on our old home screen. I inherited that same clothesline and used at my first house to dry laundry. The sun was often so hot that the clothes were dry before the washer finished. At that home, a Carolina wren tried to build a nest in one of the pockets of drying clothes! Not only humans enjoy fresh, sun and wind dried laundry! That old clothesline had to be left when I moved to another state, and that loss still saddens me to this day. In its place, I have a round line on my deck where I am still able to hang out clothes and get that one-of-a-kind scent!

  17. Mary Pitman says:

    I remember well, helping my mom hang laundry on the line, just handing her pins, till she trusted me ‘hang them right’. I still hang clothes on the line to dry, and enjoy that so much. I remember well hanging my son’s diapers on the line in the winter and them freezing before I even got them pinned on.

  18. Jennifer says:

    my daughter runs through sheets drying on the line

  19. Oh those breezy days with the sheets hanging on the line………..
    those cold wintry days where they hung until they froze, and could practically walk in by themselves to be hung by the radiator. The baby diapers (my youngest sibling is 50) blowing in the breeze. These are all memories from my childhood, and I can go back there with my own clothesline!

  20. Sandi O'Connor says:

    The best memory I have of clothes on the line is a picture I took of several of my vintage table clothes, all in different colors and patterns, flapping in the breeze in my back yard. I did sell several of the beautiful clothes but now still have them in picture form and memory!

  21. Nicole says:

    I love to crawl into sheets that smell fresh and crisp from drying on the line. What better way to get out and enjoy the day, then to hang up freshly washed clothes early in the morning?!

  22. Arlene Gallegos says:

    I remember as a young girl both my sister’s were in school and my mom made a special chore out of hanging the clothes on our lines. When we got to the sheets we would hang them like a tent and play we were having tea party inside. We both would laugh and giggle we made memories.

  23. Deanna says:

    It’s hard to believe my mother didn’t have a dryer with five children. I don’t remember how many years after my youngest sister was out of diapers that she finally got a dryer but we still used the clothes line even then. Clothes just don’t smell the same unless they hand in the sun and air dry.

  24. Alex Ross says:

    It had to be when we as a family were all ready to pack up for a camping trip and we noticed what appeared to be a pile of butterscotch pudding on one of the sleeping bags that were unrolled to air out. Turned out our tiger tabby cat at the time, “Tigger” had an accident on that sleeping bag…or maybe he was ticked he wasn’t going with us camping. Well, we hosed off the sleeping bag and hung it on the line to dry overnight prior to our departure.

  25. Sandy says:

    My favorite clothesline memory has to be the smell the first time I hung my sheets out to dry. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed them when I went to bed that night. I still hang them out and enjoy it.

  26. Anita Knighton says:

    As a child there was something comforting to see clothes swaying in the sweet fresh Summer breeze especially sheets. Nothing can quite compare to climbing between those fresh sheets smelling of the great outdoors. As a young girl I loved to help by handing the next item to to hung on the line to my mom. And of course they had to be hung in a specific order from larger to small sequence. I still do it the same way today. Any well respected homemaker would never just hang her clothes out for the world to see in just any ole kind of way on her clothesline. Thanks for turning me on to the American Made pins as I have struggled to fine good quality clothes pins.

  27. Linda Williams says:

    Growing up we had a wringer washer. In the dead of winter we would hang clothes in the house on lines strung from doorway to doorway.

  28. JoAnn Feligno says:

    I still live my favorite memory, almost all year long. I hang my laundry outside whenever I can. My husband jokes about needing to snowblow a path for me in the winter! My favorite memory, though, is helping my grandmother when I spent weeks with her in the summer.

  29. cherie adams says:

    I remember mama would hang the laundry with the wood clothes pins and I would hand her the laundry, as long as they were small enough. I loved the smell and catching our dog later jumping up and trying to tear down the sheets. Hehe.

  30. Loni McDonald says:

    I used to stay with my Aunt Helen while Mom worked. She had an old Maytag ringer washer. She & I would do the laundry then hang the clothes on the line with all the socks together, all the shirts together, etc… I loved helping her & still love doing laundry and especially hanging clothes on the line, even in the winter…

  31. Michelle Turner says:

    My very favorite memory is ongoing! I love the scent and feel of line dried sheets, especially when I hang them in the wintertime. They freeze and then dry and feel so wonderful to sleep on!

  32. Maggie Morrison says:

    I loved propping up the heavy lines strung across our small city yard with the long bamboo poles. We only hung the clothes after pulling them through the mangle to get out most of the water. Running through and around the poles was fun. But the best part was when we could take them down, readying them for ironing. Then, the smell of the sheets and shirts after they dried is a scent memory I treasure.

  33. Carol Chesley says:

    My fondest memory was with my grandmother hanging out clothes because first we had to wash them in the wringer washer! We are so spoiled now! She did finally get a dryer, but always used the wringer washer. To this day I use a clothes line to dry my clothes. In the winter I use a drying rack.

  34. Sue Scheribel says:

    I’ve lived in many different states and love hanging clothes outside–nothing compares to the fresh smell! My favorite time was when we lived in Az. and as I was shaking out my son’s shirt a $100 fell out of a pocket! 👍🏼

  35. Marilyn Brown says:

    doing laundry with Mom at cow camp and hanging on line, the quality time together.
    Then bringing in the fresh laundry and the smell

  36. Tammy says:

    Loved to help hang laundry as a kid and run back and forth through the sheets. Just looking at a clothespin makes me think of that and how wonderful everything smelled when it was dry.

  37. Colleen Maki says:

    My Mom, her Mom, and all other family, have always had a clothesline in the back yard. The aroma was always so fresh and wonderful, when the clothing was brought into the house for folding. Sheets, fresh from the line, cannot be improved upon, and brought about many sweet dreams. Even the smell of lilacs growing next to the clothesline, seemed to infuse everything with a natural sweet smell. And, so, of course, my clothesline will be going up soon, next to my home.

  38. Susan simons says:

    My most favorite memory of clothespins brings me back to my childhood, at our home in rural northwest washington. We lived in Skagit county, the home of the tulip festival, and our home was amongst farmlands and barns and animals.
    Our mom never had a modern washer or dryer. She had a “laundry shed” and in it she used a wringer washer to wash the clothes. She used this system up until the early 1970’s when they sold their farm and moved closer to the nearest tiwn. She hung out our clothesline that my dad made for her. He had made the clothesline for her himself and it had a concrete base with four long lines for hanging clothes.
    My sister and I used to check the clothes to see if they were dry so we could tell mom to gather them up. When it rained we would help her quickly pluck the clothes off the line as the rain started.
    We put the clean sheets on our beds and they smelled of fresh air and sunshine. No wonder we had such vivid dreams of all of nature’s bounty, being outside, running free, laying on the lawn looking up at clouds and feeding chickens!!
    Things are different now. But I have dreamed throughout my life in the backyard and the clothes flapping in the breeze

  39. Lorraine says:

    Just seeing my laundry hanging outside put a smile on my face. Especially the diapers.

  40. Marjie says:

    I love hanging clothes on the line – especially the linens from all the beds – nothing smells better than line-dried laundry. I have 2 homemade clothes pin bags that hang on the line – one is made from an OLD clothes pin bag pattern. Thank you for the opportunity to win some of these beautiful handmade/crafted pins.

  41. Carleen says:

    My favorite chore- hanging laundry! Love the sundried fragrance.

  42. Jaylyn Morehouse says:

    When I think about hanging laundry on the line, I remember living at our old rental house and displaying all my colorful cloth diapers for all to see blowing in the wind. I was awfully proud of my rainbow in our backyard.

  43. Bridget Santos says:

    Some years ago I was hanging the laundry on the line when I heard a flapping sound behind me and when I turned around so see what was making the sound, it was a hummingbird. I was wearing a brightly colored, floral blouse, and I guess that’s what attracted the hummer.

  44. Karen says:

    Mine is the fresh smell of sheets line dried. It just smells like heaven! I sleep so good on fresh sheets.

  45. Barbara Johnson says:

    I grew up and lived in Brooklyn, NY, but we always had a clothesline and I remember how frustrated my mom would get when some piece of clothing would fall off the line and I was sent down 3 flights of stairs, had to knock on the land lady’s door to go to her backyard to retrieve the clothing…usually on her tomato plants, etc. When I moved out on my own at age 17, my very first apartment had a clothesline over the backyard. I was so nervous that my clothes would fall off of the line, that I sort of overdid it with the clothes pins. Three pins on each pant leg of my jeans; five pins for each tee shirt, etc. Of course I found myself owning about 200 clothes pins! A bit overkill, but, hey, I was young!

  46. Claudia Wheeler says:

    Well I am 62 but it wasn’t my mom who hung out clothes it was my great Aunt Isabel. I remember staying there summers and being able to work on the farm with her, feeding chickens, horses, cattle milking. She did her laundry from rain water that went into a cistern….I dont even know how to spell it and it was an old hand ringer washer. I’ll never forget on Sunday night she said for me to give me my drawers? Because she did laundry on Monday? She had me stumped. I didnt know she meant underwear.

  47. SHELLI L MILLER says:

    I live in a small town on a corner directly behind a bank, a bit like living in a fish bowl. I have hens in my yard and a regular sight is the billowing of sparkling white sheets on my clothesline. People tell me that seeing them brings back good memories of their growing up and the delightful fresh smell of linens dried in the sun and Kansas breeze. I can’t think why anyone here would dry in a clothes dryer when nature will do the job quickly and so much better. Line dried items last longer, too!!

  48. teresa cochran says:

    I loveD climbing up the clothesline poke and perching like a bird while my grandma pinned on the laundry items. She always wore her bandana handkerchief backwards, Rosie the Riveter style and we sang whatever she liked that day, usually Springtime in the Rockies or something similar. The best laundry duty ever!

  49. jo Wray says:

    These clothespins look great. It would be nice to have some clothes pins fall apart.
    Walmart’s are awful.

  50. Lynne Marie says:

    Like many, my parents grew up during the depression-era. Resourcefulness and many DIY techniques and philosophies were passed down to me. I was the go-to kid to hang the family laundry in the California sunshine. Between swim and flute practice and school activities, there was something very anchoring and meditative about hanging that weekly laundry. Knowing that my mom, grandparents and great-grandparents all participated in this ritual gives me strength to this day.

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