Thursday, January 8, 2009

The History of Aprons

A friend of mine sent this to me in an email yesterday and it really made me smile. My grandma lived in the country on a little farm and I have wonderful memories of her and her all purpose apron. Maybe it's the memories that make me love my apron so much. I hope you enjoy it too.

The History of Aprons

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, 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.

4 comments:

gigi said...

Oh, I do love that! I need to make myself wear an apron more often. Both my grandmothers wore one but not so much my mom. That's a perfect email for you.

Susie said...

I love aprons. I wear one at work, I sew kooky ones for home, and I buy these old vintage ones that have a little history in their stains and wear.

Flibbertigibbet said...

That's fabulous.
Until I got back into cooking I didn't wear an apron at all, but now I get this real sense of home when I do. I can't even explain it but I think that post does.
My friend deals in vintage clothing and has so many wonderful vintage aprons that I am always coveting. I even have one hanging from my oven door, because I think they're so pretty!

toontz said...

I just love this. It brought back some nice memories for me, thank you. Found your blog on Leftover Queen. I will be sure to come by from time to time to visit!