History of the Apron
 

The History of 'APRONS' 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 and because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons required 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 autumn, 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.
The Govt. 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...

This is all so true! Remember them well. One of my daughters still loves aprons!

I remember someone on the QB was involved in a historical exhibit of aprons. Very, very interesting!!!

Thank you for great memories.

Thank you for sharing that story. I love using aprons.

I have made several aprons for friends in the past few weeks. This will be nice to give to them and put in the pocket of any aprons I make in the future. Think aprons are coming back.

Aprons were not just for women. Many of the men's professions had aprons. The blacksmith, the carpenter, the ironmonger, the glassblower, etc. Almost all professions that got the clothes dirty had an apron to protect the clothing. Now the only three I can think of are the carpenter's which has evolved to a utility belt and the lead apron you wear at the dentist to protect from radiation exposure during x-rays and the butcher's. Mass produced cheap clothing and washing machines reduced the need for aprons and they became old fashioned. And we all know how we hate to be old fashioned. Does anyone dial their telephone? I use an apron for a clothes pin bag on the rare occasions when I hang out clothes to dry, and I wear an apron when I paint. Once in a while I wear an apron to cook in. I used to have an apron that said "Bitch, Bitch, Bitch" on the front that I wore when I wanted the family to leave me alone for awhile. I don't have it anymore, but during menopause it got a lot of usage! LOL