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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

History of Grandma's Apron

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; 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 for the chickens. 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 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.