The History of Aprons

From Kristi L.

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

Send this to those who would know, and love, the story about Grandma's aprons. Or it can be a good history lesson for those that have no idea how the apron played a part in our lives.

REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.. I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron ..... but Love !!


That was a poem that was shared at the luncheon I attended on Saturday. The speaker gave a humorous presentation regarding her grandmother’s apron drawer. There are so many different aprons out there, both from the past and present.

I own my grandmother’s apron. It’s made of red cotton with blue-and white colored flowers on it. Very much the old patterns of fabric. There’s blue rickrack sewn all over the place to “dress it up.” It has two shoulder straps that button in the middle of the back and a tie around the back as well. And, of course, two pockets. I like to wear it because it reminds me of my grandma. I use it mainly when I’m canning and working with garden produce in the summer. Other than that, I don’t really wear it too much. I probably should, for as much flour as my shirt ends up wearing when I’m baking. I really do like aprons and should wear them more often, simply to keep me clean. Plus, it gives our members something to chuckle over when they see me wearing it. I do have a new apron, but have I used it? No. Don’t ask me why. It’s just sitting there, begging to get dirty.

Joanna has an apron, too. It’s one of my grandma’s smaller ones. She used to wrap it all the way around her back and tie it at the front. Alas, she has grown, so now she ties it at the back. She knows that canning requires an apron, and she runs to the drawer to get hers and mine. That’s a memory in the making.

How about you? Do you wear an apron?