I'm convinced our kids don't 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.
I'm curious: Do you wear an apron? What do you love about it?
12 comments:
I actually have several aprons. I have an apron that belonged to my grandmother that has a cow on it. It is very sentimental to me. I only wear it on holiday cooking sprees. I even found one of her old kleenex in it. That might sound gross to some but it made me cry. It was so her. Always had a kleenex stuffed somewhere.
I also have a more modern apron. It was one that I got while volunteering on a cookbook committee of women't Junior League in Salt Lake City. I wear it often while cooking and even while doing craft projects with the kids. It has been great to 'save' my clothes from food or finger paints.
I do wear an apron(s) though not all of the time. The two that I wear are from my husband's grandmother and I love both of them. When I wear them I feel like I am wearing a piece of history.
Aprons use seems to be fading like handwritten letters.
It's time to revive them!
YES! I wear an apron often! Partly because I like the way it "jump starts" me into action - baking, tidying up etc. And partly because without it I can't seem to last 15 minutes without having flour all over me, or the baby's snot all down my shoulder!
In fact, I went a step further and made aprons for all my daycare kids and for my daughter's loot bags at her birthday.
I do sometimes if it's relaly messy and I'm wearing a shirtmy kids haven't trashed yet. :):)
I love not having to scrub stains out of clothing. :)
Very sweet story, Kelley! And I do the same thing w/ craft projects. We all wear our aprons inside-out for crafty stuff, so any paint stains won't be on the front of the aprons. (All the kids have aprons.)
Lee, I am exactly the same way. Putting on my apron is like pushing my start button. Somehow it keeps me focused on my domestic tasks.
I LOVE my aprons. I have started to collect them up. The girls and I make a new one quite often too. The say I am feminine. I like that. They just make you feel good. And I agree they do put you in the ready to work and get it done mode. Above Rubies is who got me started on them. Some of my aprons are nicer than my clothes!
I love the idea of an apron, but I just forget to put them on! If I really had my favorite apron, it would look like Katy's Pocket Apron--from the Kangaroo story! I haven't found an apron that I love yet, but some day I will.
The kids love wearing aprons when they are painting!
I LOVE aprons but hardly remember to put one on. I think it is because I don't have one I really like and is pretty. I have been looking for a pattern for the perfect apron for awhil now and just need to find the perfect fabric to make it. By the time I get around to it my kids will be out of the house, so I better get on it!
My Gramma gave me two aprons she had made and worn upon my moving out on my own and I wish I knew what I did with them!! They were so nostalgic and encoraged me to keep cleaning!
hillbillyhousewife has an article called apron evangelism, that just inspired me.
I just was gifted a sewing machine and my first project is to make as many aprons as I have fabric for! (for me AND my 2 1/2 yr old daughter. :))
If I ever wear an apron, my kids want one too if they are with me in the kitchen. I was the same way with my mom.
I should wear an apron, I always wipe my hands on my jeans!!
I like the idea that it is my uniform. I garner respect from children and am inspired to fulfill my duties. PLUS, they're so pretty!!
;)
Ginger, can I take a look at your apron so I can make one like it?! :)
OH, my abuelita wore one all the time. We always gave her new ones for her birthday or Christmas!! When I was a little girl she would let me wear her aprons to make mud pies while she rolled out the tortillas. I pray I am half the woman she is. I love aprons!!!
I don't wear an apron, and when I've heard homeschoolers talk about them I've always thought, "What's the deal with aprons?"
You've pretty much summed it up nicely, and now I'm thinking I want one. What lovely memories to hand down to children and grandchildren! But I guess it's not really the apron who is memorable, but the person who is wearing it.
Do you wear an apron?
YES - mostly on Sundays. I come home quickly on Sundays and instead of changing into play clothes like everyone else -- I throw on my apron and get a jump start on dinner.
What do you love about it?
I love that it protects my clothes. I have a top and bottom one, and a 1/2 one. I love my "full" apron best... sometimes I'll *wink* forget *wink* I have it on and leave it on for dinner... then it doubles as a bib. :giggle:
I have made mine out of very light material -- so it isn't hot in the summer. But I may make some "winter" ones as well. Mine are getting worn.
Post a Comment