Some of the most poignant posts in the class Facebook group come from Shaya Gardner-Hayum. In September, she found an [unsigned] article on the history of aprons from SocialPulse and when she shared it in the class Facebook group, it struck a sentimental nerve for several of us.
Shaya said, “aprons were a significant part of my growing up,” and you can see from a few classmates’ comments following the piece that she wasn’t the only one for whom that was true. It isn’t a true history but it’s an appealing reminiscence.
“I don’t think most kids today know what an apron is. The principal use of Mom’s or Grandma’s apron was to protect the dress underneath because she had only a few. But that apron had so many other uses.
It was wonderful for drying children’s tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.
It served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
And when the weather was cold, Grandma or Mom wrapped it around her arms.
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, it was the ideal hiding place 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. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, it 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.
So, remember: Moms and Grandmas used to set hot baked apple pies on the windowsill to cool. Their granddaughters set theirs on the windowsill to thaw. They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on those old aprons, but I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron but love.”
After reading this, Bonnie Holzhauer Bean, known for her luscious pies, wrote “Still wear my mom’s aprons. She made them, of course. When I have one on while making a pie, I feel like I’m channeling her.”
Laurie MacFall Leinbach said, “I love this post. Brings back many memories of my Nanny Engle and Grandma MacFall.”
My own Grandma McArtor made never-to-be-duplicated Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies wearing her favorite apron, in a faded blue and red plaid, that hung from the back of her black rocking chair in the kitchen when it wasn’t around her waist.
Mim Streiff Poag said of aprons, “I wore one for years. I felt uncomfortable when I didn't have it on.”
The apron topic immediately stirred up memories of Home Ec. classes. Barbara DeHart Eadie said an apron was her first Home Ec. project and John Cooch knew right away what that meant, “Mrs. Taylor’s Home Ec.?”. Mim chimed in, “We didn't even have a choice. It had to be a bib apron.”
I still have the one I made in class but I have to confess that I’m horribly lazy about putting on an apron when I cook, even though there are at least six candidates on hooks in the pantry. My husband will sometimes get one out and tie it on me if he just can’t stand to watch me making something messy (marinara sauce!) while I’m wearing good clothes.
Scott Johnson may belong in the same lazy-about-aprons camp. He told us, “I still have a terrycloth apron (over the neck style) emblazoned with magic marker: “T.H.E. Chef”. Well, ‘emblazoned’ was back in the day. It’s rather faded now. But it still comes into use for grilling”—and here’s the giveaway—"when I remember it.”
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