regional clotheslines?

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I thought of this in response to the recent clothes line post. I have lived in PA, OH, GA, TX, NY, and now Ontario. I have noticed that not every place has the same type of clothes line. In Texas, most people used wire strung between two T-posts. These were quite durable and the lines did not sag. In Georgia, the sub-division we lived in bordered a wooded area; most people strung lines through the trees. This made for buggy clothes which I had to shake and fold outside. I am not sure what was common in Ohio, but when Tom made T-posts strung with regular clothes rope, my friends remarked on how ingenius he was. This type of line is common in the northern NY area, although as a child living in Cooperstown I remember a pulley line. Pulley lines are the preferred method here in this part of Ontario. The only annoying thing about this is going into town and seeing a line of underwear rising high up out of someone's fenced yard! When we first moved here, there was a little platform with steps by the house where one could set a basket of laundry and reach the line. This way the clothes don't drag on the ground like they do when you lower the line. Unfortunately, the steps were somewhat rotted and the thing had to be taken down. I would like to have a new one built.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), November 16, 2001

Answers

All the clotheslines I see in our part of Ohio are metal T-posts with clothesline rope. Ours are T-posts with three long ropes.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), November 16, 2001.

I did not care for the T type, as they seem to eventually fall over if you continually hang 2 TONS of laundry on them!! So when Cale built mine, I asked that he build an upside down U shape on each end (2 posts with one across the top) Then we strung 6 lines with tighteners between them He used railroad ties, that he put in the ground 3 feet (every post has to be 3 ft deep around here!!) They are about 10 inches square and should last for decades!!! They absolutely do not budge...

-- Melissa (me@home.net), November 16, 2001.

I live in IL and my clotheslines are hooks on the house and shed with saggy ropes strung between, which I prop up with poles! I'm going to build myself a t-post clothesline next year and use coated wire. One of my favorite childhood memories is helping my grandma hang the laundry out. She would clean off the lines with a rag first- maybe to get rid of the spider webs or soot?

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), November 17, 2001.

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