Vintage Clotheslines

[kevinpreston8]

Sometime I want to add one of these to the collection.

Growing up, in two of our homes, Dad would put up a steel
"T" on the lawn in concrete. Across the the T, on the house under the eaves, he would install one of these. About two feet wide, ours was a steel, non-painted canister with a flip handle on the side, and a grab handle on the front. You would pull the handle on the front, and attached were 4 clotheslines. You simply extended this across the yard to the "T" and it would hook right on. Instant four line clothesline! (You could have it hook under another eve if you had a deck, or a U-shaped patio, etc.)

When you wanted to retract, you simply pulled down the locking handle on the front of it, which released the tension, then it would retract back into the cylinder. I often thought of what happened to my mom's. It must have been stainless steel, as it never had a hint of rust.

Now I could use one and could mount it in several places without needing a "T". Car covers, car towels, etc. Ok, looks like I got something to plan for.

Anyway, here is a slightly different, painted version. Anyone remember these?

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[nurdlinger]

They seem too close together. We had wooden posts and T-bars, and they had IIRC 3 or 4 lines, but all were no closer together than the two outside lines of the retractable device.

 

[gansky1]

I remember seeing these in catalogs, was shocked at what that one on ebay went for though! I found a newer, plastic version online but the lines are even closer together...

I bought a new folding clothes dryer this year and have been using it faithfully. The last two weeks, I've only dried two loads (towels) in the KitchenAid dryer. (that dryer is in the garage so the air temp starts out at 90-100 degrees, saving a little bit of heating energy and I'm also not pumping air-conditioned air out of the house) After my first electric bill of the a/c season, I decided to do whatever I can to conserve - even if it's only a little bit like not running the a/c in the car, drying clothes on the line, it all makes a difference. I do love clothes and linens dried on the line - there's no detergent or softener than can compare to that scent.

http://www.stacksandstacks.com/html/55039_clothesline-wall-mounted-5-line-retractable-drying-line-indoor-outdoor.htm

 

[foraloysius]

My mother always had wooden drying racks. She preferred them over clotheslines because when it started to rain you could drag the rack with the clothes still on it inside, into the huge mudroom we had. They are still made, here's a picture of one.

 

[brisnat81]

in the 1940's

A man called hills built his wife a new clothesline as her straight line version kept falling to the ground.

It has a height adjustment so you can increase or decrease the height, and a small child can still safely swing on the new ones.

It was called a Hills Hoist and has been a national institution since.

Pardon our interruption...

 

[polkanut]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that retractable clothesline from Montgomery Wards. My parents had box fan from them and it was a Wards "Signature" brand.

 

[Kenmore62]

GRANDMA,S LUNDRY

HI My grandmother thought it was awful to hang underware on the line. She lived in the city and had a pulley line from the second story window. Not knowing this I offered to hang a load on the line.Well I put the underware on the line there was a stiff wind that day and they were flapping in the breeze. She happened to look out the living room windowand see them!!! She jumped up ran to the window and quickly pulled the load inside.We laugh about this every so often.This was more than 20 years ago!!

 

[Cybrvanr]

my grandmother had one of those A-frame clothing racks like that. She always positioned it over her floor furnace in the middle of the wintertime. The heat radiating up from the furnace not only dried the clothes, but humidified the house.

I remember reading the zoning laws for the Levitt neighborhood here. One could only use those folding clothes lines in that neighborhood. No permanant clothesline structure could be used. It's not enforced nowadays though, as I see clotheslines in several backyards around there

 

[kevinpreston8]

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

They still make something similar. Maybe I don't have to go vintage (althought what would be the fun of that!)

Still digging...

http://www.eclothesdryers.com/images/ecd2006_photo.jpg

 

[48bencix]

Mine is similar to Greg's

I bought an umbrella style clothes line at Home Depot a few weeks ago. As you can see the lines go around not across like Greg's. I too love the smell of the laundry after it is dried in the sun. I believe that the ultraviolet light from the sun has anti-bacterial properties. It also removes a lot of the detergent perfume. I took this picture in the morning, that's why it looks so dark. We have a similar clothes line at our cabin, but is the old style, galvanized steel which will last forever. This one is aluminum and plastic, designed to last for about 3 years, I bet. Mfd in China of course. We put the plastic sleeve in a concrete footing about 1 foot deep and probably 8 inches in diameter.

 

[gansky1]

Nate, I've seen those Aus. clotheslines in movies before (several good shots of one in Muriel's Wedding) and I think we should start a business importing them to the states. We'd make millions as the prices of energy continue to soar!

Louis, that drying rack looks very sturdy - another one we need to import to the states.

Martin, I had the very same umbrella unit you just bought and it lasted about 4 years. Had it not been for one of the neighbor kids trying to climb it, it would still be here. I found my new one this year after scouring the city for any and all clotheslines I could find until I came across this one at Ace Hardware, around $50. The pole into the ground is much heavier and I like layout of the lines a little better. The plastic sleeve in concrete I put in 4-5 years ago has shifted a little so now the dryer lists a little to the south, but it should shift back again in time. I would still like to have the "T" shaped steel posts in the ground with 20' lines, I'll keep looking for someone who can make them.

In my opinion, there should be no laws or covenants allowed in this country that prohibit clotheslines or drying racks, etc. There is no reason that neighborhood associations, etc. can't place reasonable restrictions as to what days, times, etc. that clothes may be hung out (Levittown, NY didn't allow any clothes hung out on weekends) but with an ever-widening energy crisis on this planet, how is it possible that we force people to use vast amounts of energy to dry clothes when there are free and easy alternatives? Back to the politics of energy again, but it all seems crazy!

Project Laundry List | Archive

www.laundrylist.org

 

[DADoES]

I don't have a clothesline. Never did. Being as I'm typically washing at 3 AM just before heading to bed, hang-outside-to-dry just doesn't work for me.

I recall my mother telling the story that when they were building the first house in 1963/1964, my (paternal) grandfather planted a clothesline for them before the house was even finished. Homemade affair with heavy steel T-posts painted silver and three lines strung between

 

[maggie~hamilton]

Clothes Lines

In addition to making retractible cord reels for Electrolux (and Royal btw), the Cordomatic company also made retractible extension cords, dog leashes, and ... clotheslines!

I have two Cordomatic clotheslines in the back -- they stretch from the back of the building over to the garage. I like keeping them retracted when not in use.

I got both of them on eBay. There aren't any on there now (I just checked), but there is a dog lead. See link. Any doggie lovers want an Electrolux-style dog leash?!

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[48bencix]

We had a cordomatic

My mom had a cordomatic, we had a dryer, but as long as it wasn't rainging, everything was hung out. For a family of 6, it was amazing that that one line was adequate. Of course with an 8 pound load from the 48 Bendix, that wasn't a lot to hang out.

I just started hang stuff out, after reading the last thread about how do you dry your clothes. I will in the future tell you all how much you have influenced my life with what you do or have in your lives!!

And I agree with Greg, we have too many restrictions based on supposed appearances, like the restriction for clothes lines in yards. Many of these CCR's prohibit basketball hoops on your garage, thus encouraging fat children!!

Martin

 

[dalangdon]

Greg, Check this link out - it looks like it's just what you are looking for, and it has free shipping!

http://www.clotheslineshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=C&Product_Code=01000&Category_Code=OCI

 

[gansky1]

That's very cool, Dan. Hmmmm...

 

[brisnat81]

Have a look here at the clotheslines

Click through to the clothes lines.

If you want a line like that, and have limited room, if you can find something like the retracting clothes lines, you can mount one end on one pole, and the hook end on the other. Its then easy to wind it away when you're done.

We have limited space, and have two lines, a retracting one in the courtyard, which we wind away when done, and a folding frame one on the wall in the garage. More clothesline space than we know what to do with, all in a townhouse.

http://www.hills.com.au/arbitrage/pages/46

 

[48bencix]

best selection is in Australia

Nathan,
I love the selection of different types of lines. Some of the "fixed head hoists" are huge. I like the folding frame ones also.

I like one feature of my umbrella type similar to a fixed head hoist, it is removeable, for mowing the lawn, or when we want to use the area for other things. So you might keep that in mind. I would like to have a dedicated side yard to keep a long line, adjacent to the laundry area, that would be perfect.

Martin

 

[brisnat81]

The Folding head ones are removable also

For installation you concrete a base into the ground, and then the upright post locks in.

The downside of removal, is that folded down, its a huge thing to try and move. My Grandmother had two, a fixed head version, that was concreted into the ground. She had a removable one put on the other side of the house as it got better sun in winter. The new one was removable.

When you fold it down, you end up with about 4m of post and arms to try and move around. Its like trying to carry and manouver a 5m long fencepost