A Little Apron History

Do you remember your grandmother wearing an apron ? Perhaps a great grandmother. I bet if you asked any  one under the age of 10 or so they probably wouldn’t even know what an apron is. I am old enough to remember my grandmothers aprons. To me an apron is the epitome of femininity. I suppose that is probably why no one wears them any more. We all want to be strong and not show our weaker feminine side but I think women who wore aprons were probably some of the strongest women ever. They cooked on wood stoves, washed clothes in tubs, churned their own butter and canned pretty much all their food for the year. Anyway I found this little History of Aprons and wanted to share it with you. For anyone else who has a nostalgic longing to see grandmas apron.  If you garden you might like to make this Gathering Apron for bringing veggies, fruits or eggs.

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 also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons 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 folk 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.

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…

 The history above is a version that I do not know the author of but I know the original poem is below and it was written by Tina Trivett and you can read more of her poetry here >> 

The strings were tied, it was freshly washed, and maybe even pressed.
For Grandma, it was everyday to choose one when she dressed.
The simple apron that it was, you would never think about;
the things she used it for, that made it look worn out.
She may have used it to hold some wildflowers that she’d found.
Or to hide a crying child’s face when a stranger came around.
Imagine all the little tears that were wiped with just that cloth.
Or it became a potholder to serve some chicken broth.
She probably carried kindling to stoke the kitchen fire.
To hold a load of laundry, or to wipe the clothesline wire.
When canning all her vegetables, it was used to wipe her brow.
You never know, she might have used it to shoo flies from the cow.
She might have carried eggs in from the chicken coop outside.
Whatever chore she used it for, she did them all with pride.
When Grandma went to heaven, God said she now could rest.
I’m sure the apron that she chose, was her Sunday best.

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