History of the Apron

My mom sent this to me yesterday to read. It came to her via an email. I liked it so much that I thought I would post it here for others to enjoy. This bit of information that was shared with my mother, brought back many wonderful memories for her of her own grandmother and the aprons she use to wear. So sit back, grab a cup of something warm to enjoy and read a bit about the "history" of the apron.





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





The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress she wore underneath. Back in the day, ladies only had a few dresses to wear so it was easier to wash an apron than it was to wash the dresses and it took less material to make an apron than it did a dress. So the apron was worn to protect the dress underneath, but it evolved into so much more than 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.





It was used to carry eggs and fussy chicks from the chicken coop and sometimes half-hatched eggs from the nest to the warming oven in the house to finish hatching.





When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.





And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped the apron around her arms for warmth.





Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow from long hours of canning and cooking over the hot wood stove.





Wood chips and kindling 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 for dinner.





It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that "old-time apron" that served so many purposes.





Folks today would go crazy trying to figure out how many germs were on that old apron.....I don't think anybody ever caught anything from an apron.....but love!

As a side note: We had a wonderful time celebrating my Mother's birthday this past Tuesday. Look for a photo update this weekend and also that contest I mentioned last week.......Happy Friday.