grandma’s apron

I’ve been wearing my great-grandmother’s apron for years now. My grandmother got a kick out of my mother calling and telling her that she caught me doing dishes in her mother’s old apron. Hey, some things are just that functional. The apron isn’t pretty, it’s a far cry from sexy, but it has saved my work clothes from cooking splashes and dishwater.

Yesterday the girls and I were at a wedding shower for my future sister-in-law and my grandmother gave my girls a couple of aprons that she had made for them herself. They are cute, so I wanted to show them off as a thank-you to Grandma. She also gave them a paper about the history of aprons, written as a short essay:

The principal use of Grandma’s apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons required less material to make. Along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was useful for drying children’s tears and cleaning dirty faces.

From the chicken coop, it was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks and half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids (not around here – when company comes, that thing is whipped off pretty darn fast and hidden behind the door).

Chips and kindling were brought into the kitchen in the apron, it carried vegetables from the garden, hulls out of the kitchen after shelling peas, and carried in fruit off of the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture it could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out on the porch, waved the apron, and the family knew it was time to come in for dinner.

Not many kitchen time-saving devices have been invented that can replace that old apron.

Linking to Frugally Sustainable, Homestead Simple, White Wolf Summit Farmgirl, Simple Lives Thursday

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