At the Dear Jane Alternate List there has recently been a lot of talk about strange creatures of the past... Aprons. Do you remember those dinosaurs? Well, I received one last summer from a friend, and it brought back a flood of treasured memories of my Mother and my Grandmothers wearing their aprons. So I now have mine hanging in plain view in my kitchen, and on occasion, I can be caught wearing it. And guess what, my granddaughter loves wearing it too :)
A wonderful lady from the Dear Jane Group passed on the following writing, and I want to share it with all of you. Maybe it will bring back some almost forgotten memories for you too. I'm not sure our children today know what an apron "really" is, so you might want to share this with the children in your life. Maybe we can bring this old dinosaur back to life!
THE HISTORY OF APRONS
The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, and it was easier to wash aprons than dresses. Aprons used less material, but along with that, they served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
They were wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion were even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and somtimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy children. When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds!
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. Wood chips and kindling were brought into the kitchen in that old apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas were shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the Fall, the apron was used to carry in apples that had fallen from the trees.
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.
*They would go crazy today trying to figure out how many germs were on that old apron. But I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron :)
Thank you so much, Leona, for passing this along.
