Grandma's
Apron
Contributed by: Elaine Brown
The principle use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that,
- it served as a holder for removing hot pans from the oven;
- when company came those old aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids;
- 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, to say nothing about shooing away pesky birds. After the peas had been shelled it carried out the hulls.
- 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.
- in the fall it was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
- and when the weather was cold, grandma wrapped it around her arms.
- 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 on the porch and waved her apron, and the men knew it was time to come in from the fields for dinner.
- and what treasures could be found in that one small pocket! A clothespin or two just when they were needed; a pretty hanky to dry a tear or blow a little nose; a stubby pencil to write a note or draw a picture; a nickel or two (and how come they never jingled?); a hairpin to fasten up a stray lock of hair; a match to light a candle ...
It will be a long time before anyone invents something that will replace that old-time apron that served so many purposes.
A current observation about how life has changed:
"Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughter's set theirs on the window sill to thaw!"
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