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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My memory is with my grandmother, hanging clothes, sheets, and, of course, her pretty clothespin bag. Would love to have an outside line but living in an apartment, I’m limited. I have one to use when I take out my vintage trailer. Simple life memories.
My favorite memory was how wonderful the towels smelled after taking them down from the line!
There is nothing that compares softness with “wind whipped” dried laundry. But my favorite memory is hanging cloth diapers in the winter which would freeze immediately and as the wind would whip, I would need to avoid being hit by one of those frozen diapers. If you are hit once, you know the sting!!!!
When I had rented a place 5 mile from my folks, there was an old tiny cabin and had a nice little porch where I put my old wringer washing machine, I would do my laundry and then sit on an old rocking chair on that porch, there was old heirloom flowers planted beside the porch so after hanging out the laundry on the line I would sit in the old rocking chair with a cup of tea and the aroma of fresh laundry, and heirloom flowers with a gentle breeze was a wonderful thing.
I hate doing laundry, washing and drying in the machine. Then folding it, the worst! But when the weather warms, I don’t mind using the washing machine because then I can hang the clothes out on the line. It is my favorite chore to do. I love seeing sheets moving with the breeze. Even folding laundry isn’t bad. And the sweet smell of clothes that have been hung outside to dry is the best! Each time I hang out my laundry is my favorite memory!
I have always loved hanging laundry on the line. My favorite memory though is hanging laundry when my kids were little and playing nearby in the back yard. I especially love hanging sheets. There is nothing like fresh sheets off the line on a warm summer day.
I remember my grandma hanging out the laundry with her umbrella type of clothesline. Her house was in the Bronx by the bay, so it was wonderful to smell the aroma of the sea on her laundry. When it was winter, she had clothes lines stretched across her large basement, which essentially was like a first floor with a kitchen, bathroom and a back door! Grandma didn’t have a dryer. My sister and I loved helping her hand her the clothespins. Afterwards, we might have enjoyed a cool cucumber from her vegetable garden. My grandma grew everything from seeds she had saved. She even started seedlings in her cold frame. Such fond memories! She taught us lots!
As a young mama in 1987 my husband and I had little money but loads of love. He built me a large clothesline and I came to enjoy that part of my day.. also helped with losing the baby weight too. Lol..
My sister and I always had the chore of hanging he laundry on the line in a Phoenix. Unfortunately wasps liked to hang out on the clothes pins. It was always an adventure to keep from getting stung. Now my clothesline in Virginia is wasp free but I still double check the pins b fore I grab them.
It’s amazing that I think of so many senses when thinking back on my mom hanging up the laundry.
First, there’s hearing the snap. She would shake those towels and sheets so hard before hanging them they snapped loudly.
Second, there’s how they looked. Pure white sheets gently billowing in a light summer breeze. They appeared to be a magical temporary backdrop just waiting for our imagination.
And third…the scent. Is there anything that stirs up memories like a scent from our childhood. Is it possible for something to smell crisp? Pure, fresh, and ready for sweet dreams when your head is lowered to the pillow that night.
My favorite memory about hanging laundry is spending time with my Mother outside in the sunshine and fresh air.
My favorite memory is of hanging clothes on our clothesline when our Buff Orpington rooster suddenly jumped on my leg. That hurt! It happened so often after that, that I resorted to taking my broom with me any time I went out to the clotheslines to defend myself. Later that summer he became a stewed rooster.
We once hung our little boy up on the line with the clothes, of course, my husband stood behind him, and held on! But he thought he was hanging there under his own ability, he could fly that day! I miss him being little sometimes, now h is taller than me.
One winter while visiting my grandmother in south Georgia, she called us out to the clothesline to see our first snow. We lived in Florida, and these anomalous flakes were magical. I also remember standing at the clothesline and sniffing the wonderful smell of clean white sheets. That does it. I’m getting husband dear on this clothesline building project right away.
I always helped my mom hang clothes growing up. Everything looked so straight and smelled so good. So much easier to fold from the line than a dryer – and the smell…..
My Russian grandmother always hung the laundry outside… I plan to install a laundry line at my new 1918 TN farmhouse to continue the tradition!
Laundry hanging on the clothesline brings back wonderful memories from my childhood! It was so much fun and magical to run thru the sheets as they hung on the line and the fresh air smell on the sheets lulled me to sleep at night. I remember laying in bed for my daily nap and watching the clothes blow in the breeze out my open bedroom window. It was so comforting. Now as an adult, my favorite part of the day is hanging out the wash!
It felt pretty special when I was old enough to be able to stand on the stool, with the basket of laundry on the ledge of the porch, and to hang the laundry myself, but the best part was on warm, sunny Saturday afternoons, taking the laundry off the lines in the backyard. The crispness and wonderfully fresh, clean smell of everything as it was folded to be put in the baskets. Oh, how those were the days!!!
Every time I hang my laundry on the clothesline I think about my Grandma Robare and Aunty Ida (her sister). They would always have me and my sister,Debby, “helping”. The smell of clean cotton on the fresh north breeze, the weather worn,crotched stick that held up the line, and sound created as cotton and wood tightened together around the clothesline are sweet sensory simple pleasures that have always been home to this girl!
One miserable day when I was in high school, I wrote a hopeful poem about my future self; I was standing under my own clothesline in a clearing in a woodsy setting, my own home behind me, looking up into a blue sky full of fluffy clouds to watch a flock of Canada geese. I was so immersed in the fantasy I could almost hear the honking, and I felt much, much better. Sixteen years later–I was hanging clothes on the line my husband and I had put up not long before, when I heard geese. I looked up and with a deja vu shiver I remembered that long ago poem and realized my dream had come true.
I have always loved the smell of laundry fresh from a clothes line on the prairie and thought nothing could beat that. I spent 2 summers at Grand Canyon and had a sort of makeshift clothes line strung between piñons and junipers near my quarters. What a heavenly combination of scent to enjoy while putting out my laundry and a totally delightful lingering smell with the folded laundry.
My grandmother had a wringer washer, then we would hang the laundry to dry. I loved the embroidered clothespins bag and the clothesline on a pulley that went from the porch to a tree. To this day I still think of her when I hang my laundry out.
The smell of fresh hung sheets! Still an awesome smell! Even if the neighbors stare at me!
I helped my mother and grandmother hang clothes because I loved the way they smelled when you took them down. I still have both of their clothespin bags.
My favorite clothesline memory is making tents with blankets on the wash-line! My siblings and I would have picnics and read books all day! And of course taking naps in the great outdoors in our make believe safari tents!
Helping my mom hang the laundry, and actually enjoying it. This task is one that I find relaxing, and the smell of fresh hung cloths is the best.
I remember my grandmother and I hanging everything on the line. I miss spending this time with her. I hope my husband puts up a line soon. Our dryer actually just broke a week ago and I hate the laundry mat.
Oh how I display the clothes pins! I made a hanging bag from my grandmother clothespin bag from the 50’s and fabric from a friends grandmother s. I would hang bag with clothepins in my laundry room in plain site!
I didn’t live in an era where we had to hang laundry on the line, but I certainly remember my Mom doing just that. Some of my most treasured memories are centered around her hanging the sheets, clothes and, heaven forbid, even our underwear! My brothers and sisters and I were outside most of the time and when Mom was hanging laundry, we would circle the clothesline, just waiting for the moment when she was done. Then we would run in and out of the flapping sheets and clothes, laughing as we disappeared from sight momentarily from each other. Good times!
I am 76 years old, raised on the farm, hung out my first load of clothes today even with a sprained ankle, have health issues but am determined to not give up and keep on going. Nothing smells as good as country dried clothes so I would love the clothespins. I am also going to raise a small garden if I have to crawl on my hands and knees. Hanging out clothes and working in the garden is good for my soul!!!!!!
Love Mary Janes Farm Magazine, can’t get enough of it!!!!!!!!!!!
My memory is when I had my sheets, blankets, and other bedding hung on the line and the neighbor boy decided to decorate them with his paintgun.
My mother always baked bread on the same day she washed with the wringer washer. Her clothes had to be immaculate and she taught me that you always put same colors together in a row and shake everything out good before you hang them up. I still carry that pride with my washing and thank her every time I wash for her teachings, she is in heaven enjoying life completely. Then if she didn’t get the bread baked, she would punch it down and pinch off small pieces, flatten them and fry them golden brown in butter in the cast iron frying pan. Then taking the clothes down was another matter of pride and you always, always put the clothes pin away out of the weather. Those memories are better than being left a million dollars. Thank you for the chance to enter on this Mother’s Day!!!!
Favorite memory is hanging cloth white bleached baby diapers online to Dry! Enjoyed being a stay at home mom, wife to my hard working husband, always trying to save $ and loved the crispness to my newly dried clothes and nothing like sleeping on fresh smelling sheets
We had a wire line that spread about 50 feet to another pulley. Dad built a concrete platform just for the clothesline. It was almost overdone, to tell the truth. But with four daughters, the line got lots of use. However, it was very heavy to pull in a large load of sheets and towels on the pulleys.
My mom always used to hang laundry on the line and I loved how it smelled afterwards–especially the sheets. I still hang laundry out and I still love the smell.
I have fond memories of my mom and grandmother hanging the clothes out but I have been dryer free for twenty years and hang mine out every day!
Our area had been hit by a hurricane. Power was out and had been for days. Thanks to our generator I could run a load of wash, but how do I dry it? My husband strung clothes line (I’m so glad I had some on hand!) and I hung the clothes out in the backyard. I enjoyed it so much, despite what we were going through, that I kept that line up long after our power (and dryer) were working again.
I still hang my clothes on the line, nothing beats fresh smelling sheets!!!
My job when I was a small girl was to spray rose water on the sheets after my mother hung them on the line after washing . They always smelled so sweet after we brought them in and made the beds up. I will always remember that scent and spring time in Colorado.
When I was a little girl my mother used to hang her clothes on the line in the backyard with wood clothespins. I loved to watch them blow in the breeze and imagine that they were people flying through the air. It reminds me of my mother’s dedication to her family and the joy of being a child growing up in the 1950s.
It was in 1993 , I choreographed a dance piece ; ” Threads”.
I collected clothing from friends and family who had died. Part of the dance was hanging their clothes while sound collage, movement and images were projected.
I still look forward to hanging out laundry, bringing it in, folding it up and enjoying the fresh scent of it. Nothing like crawling into bed after a long day to sheets that had been hung up outside. I have many memories of my grandmothers and my mother hanging up the laundry. I still laugh to myself of the memories of my mom hanging up laundry in the wintertime and bringing in stiff laundry to finish thawing in the house. Many thanks to the wonderful journey down memory lane.
Oh my gosh, when I was a little kid, my parents had a big laundry line in the backyard. Back in the days when everyone had one! My sisters and I used to love helping mom hang the sheets, then running through them chasing each other!, and be sad when it was time to take them down. But I have a lot of fond memories of those days. I hang laundry now myself, but it’s not the same, though I love the feel and scent of crisp sun dried sheets!
Oh my gosh, when I was a little kid, my parents had a big laundry line in the backyard. Back in the days when everyone had one! My sisters and I used to love helping mom hang the sheets, then running through them chasing each other!, and be sad when it was time to take them down. But I have a lot of fond memories of those days. I hang laundry now myself, but it’s not the same, though I love the feel and scent of crisp sun dried sheets!
While visiting my cousin, I had hung some clothes out to dry. When I brought them in I found out that, in Florida, you have to check your clothes before you bring them inside. That way you avoid chasing little lizards all over the house.
Nothing like sliding into stiff, clean, sun dried sheets at the end of a summer day.
Of course a few mishaps, the wasp that comes in (ouch), the basset hound that decided to slobber on and eventually pull down the low hanging sheets and blankets, dragging them through the mud.
As a small child I used to run through the “tunnels” of fresh laundry hanging on the line. I still can see the white sheets flapping in the wind. There is nothing like crawling into bed with fresh clean crisp sheets that have been dried outside!!
Laundry with my grandmother. Hand washed in the kitchen sink, rung through a ringer in the garage and then on the line to dry.
When those sheets came off the line I knew I would be “sleeping on sunshine!” Thank you for the generous give-away and trip down memory lane!
I have fond memories of hanging baskets of laundry for our family of 12 with my sisters closest to me in age. The memory of my brother’s stiff work jeans isn’t something I’ll soon forget!
Hanging the laundry was my chore. To make it less burdensome, I would always time myself and attempt to beat my previous record. Looking back, it really made this chore a short one.