Aprons

[LinksToThePast]

Aprons

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was
even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot
wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas
had been shelled, it carried out the hulls

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen
from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her
apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will
replace that "old-time apron" that served so many purposes!

Do you remember if any of the women in your family wore an apron? Did she use it for any other uses?

[Kris10]

My husband and I both have aprons that I sewed and we wear them when we cook. It makes much more sense to wear an apron than it does to splatter food on your clothes!

[AlumniClub]

My wife and I have one also for cooking...use on rafting trips too..
I can custom make aprons with personal photos on them.
Friends just love them.
I have done them in awile now...

[pk]

Aprons. Wow what a huge part of my 'mom' comes to my mind when thinking about her 'aprons'. When I think about my mom at home, I would have to say that I would think of her with one of her little aprons on.

She always had a 1/2 apron. The type that wrapped around her waist. I think because she was very short (maybe 4' 10") so a short apron worked just fine.

All her aprons had to have a pocket which she would call her 'file'. An article ripped out of a magazine would be slipped into her 'file' until she had time to put it away. A reminder note for herself, maybe a phone number or address she needed to add to her address book would first go into her 'file'. I know if I 'borrowed' money from her I would be put on a little slip of paper that went into her 'file' pocket! lol And she always knew just where these things were stored away without much fuss to find them when she needed to look at whatever went in there.

She always had a special way of taking it off and folding it before she would lay it in her kitchen. When she got back home she would put her purse away and walk into the kitchen to put her 'apron' back on.

My oldest sister made many of our mom's aprons because she knew exactly how my mom liked hers, exactly what length, how big the side pocket had to be, what type of fabric to use etc.

When she passed away each one of us lovingly accepted a few aprons to keep for the many memories of seeing our mom wearing her apron.

pk

[pk]

We stopped at a really nice antique store downtown Milwaukee a few weeks ago and I found the cutest apron. It was all hand crocheted and the the owner figured it to be from the early 40's. It looked really good in near perfect condition for it's age. I just never had a crocheted one before so I had to have it.

pk

[keith]

Both of my grandmothers are gone for some time now. This thread made me think of them. I never saw them in anything but a mid-calf length dress for my whole life, into my twenties. And I never saw them doing housework, working in the kitchen or in the garden without an apron on - it was a given part of the ensemble.

You're quite right about the utility of the apron. They carried a lot of vegetables in those aprons. There were separate ones for gardening, and slightly fancier than daily aprons for Sunday dinners.

Thanks for the post/thread that prompted those memories.

Regards,
Keith

[AJE]

I love what Links wrote, yes I have to agree the only time I see an Apron now is a man BBQ or a grandmother baking. So many uses for a wonderful piece of faberic. lol