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. It was also
because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and
aprons used 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 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 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.