I remember the clothesline very well. Ours went from the corner of the back porch (about the height of a second floor of a house) to a tree at the end of the yard. It was on a pully mechanism. We also had a clothes pole to help hold the clothes up when we got the real heavy towels and such on them.
When my sister was little (before I was born) my parents lived in a town and my sister liked to wander away from home and down the street. My parents attached her to a leash and attached the leash to the clothes line! It was the stationary square clothes line type (I think). BUT Sis was able to wander and play in the yard, but could not wander down the street!
I wish I had a clothes line now! Miss those days.