Photography Challenge: We Open With Clotheslines

Update (6/6/11):

My-West posted "We Open with Clotheslines" as our inaugural post last January. Since then, readers have sent us a number of great images of clotheslines and we thought it was time to share them. If you have a favorite image send it to info@my-west.com, or upload it to the My-West Photography Challenge Pool on Flickr.

Slipping between sheets that have been blown dry by a sage filled breeze ranks up there with tomatoes fresh off the vine and hand knitted socks.  Sure the dryer is available and less work, but why would you deny yourself the pleasure? Post your memories of clothes drying on the line or send us your favorite picture.

Eyepopping Clothesline and Poppies, Tuscarora, Nevada c. 2005. Thanks to Merritt Stites.

Claire playing house in the Grasshopper Valley, Montana c. 1937.

 The next three pictures were taken by Cora Marchesseault in the early 1960s. She was interested in the work women do around the ranch.

Birch Creek, Montana, circa 1961. Hope the grass holds out! 

Grasshopper Valley, Montana, circa 1959. A blustery day.

Polaris, Montana, circa 1965. The day after Christmas!

This colorful photo is from Merritt Stites. From the artist's colony, Tuscarora, Nevada, circa 2005.

Salt Lake City, 1918 (2001 Utah State Historical Society. All rights reserved.)

Lee Greene Richards, Utah, c. 1936. Image courtesy of Diane and Sam Stewart.

Waldo Midgely, Utah, 1930s. Image courtesy of Diane and Sam Stewart.

Library of Congress image, Houston, Texas.

Library of Congress.

Hard Winter by George Handrahan. Image courtesy of the artist.

Monday's Wash by Howard Kearns. Image courtesy of Williams Fine Art.

Painting by Heidi Darley. Sent to us by Susan Horne

Washing Line. Courtesy of Gary Ernest Smith

Painting by Stephanie Deer. Sent to us by Stephanie Deer.

Taos County, NM. Credit: Library of Congress

Strings Attached

By Donna Poulton

“We Start With Clotheslines,” was the inaugural post on My-West.com.

Image courtesy of Merritt Stites

Hanging clothes is not only a fond memory, but an activity I enjoy today. For me, the experience can be summed up in a word—the smell. Wind-dried clothes take on the personality of the environment; absorbing foremost the aroma of sage, ozone and sunshine - but hints of yarrow, willow branches, Indian paint brush, wild lupine, mint and pine trees are infused in the clothes as well.  Clothes flapping in the Western breeze are like prayer flags signaling your arrival home.

Courtesy of the Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

When I thought nothing could get better—it did. APRONS hanging on a clothes line bring up a whole new set of memories, many of them explored in an exhibition hosted by The National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.

Courtesy of the Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

Titled Apron Chronicles: A Patchwork of American Recollections, the exhibition started on January 3^rd and ends soon…April 3^rd, 2011.  Diana Vela notes that aprons were not only the domain of women, but were found on “…chuckwagon cooks, blacksmiths and carpenters.”  The exhibition is told through the stories of three dozen men and women from Mali to America.

Courtesy of the Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame

Through the women, the exhibition explores “what [the aprons] represented to their family;…recipes; values and tradition from gentler, less complicated times;…survival; friendship…challenge…”  Not to be missed if you are in the neighbor hood of Fort Worth, Texas any time soon.

The function of an apron has always been to protect the clothes underneath it.  When clothes had to be hand washed, it was easier to wash and press an apron than a dress. Women usually owned at least one fancy apron with frills for special dinners with guests…

…and then there was the everyday apron. Often made from scraps of material, the everyday apron wasn’t so much a garment…as a tool.

10 Reasons Why My Grandmother Wore an Apron:

1.     It doubled as a pot holder for the hot handles on the wood stove and hot pans

2.     To dry wet hands

3.     The billow of the apron held chips and kindling for the fire, wild flowers from the meadow, mint from along the creek and onions and chard from the garden

4.     It held barley to feed the chickens and supported eggs found in the hen house

5.     The pockets held loose buttons, spare change, reading glasses and a hanky

6.     To wipe children’s noses, tears and dirt smudged hands

7.     To open jars, polish dull flatware and to catch the drip from a milk jar

8.     To hail the postman on the rural route when a letter hadn’t made it to the box on the road

9.     It held clothes pins in the pockets and shirts and socks from the line

10.   To wipe flour from hands that baked bread, soot from handling the fire and the sweat from her brow

Courtesy of www.sovintagepatterns.com

Washing Line. Courtesy of Gary Ernest Smith

Reader Contributions:

Painting by Heidi Darley. Sent to us by Susan Horne

Painting by Stephanie Deer. Sent to us by Stephanie Deer.