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.
REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot
baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on
the window sill to thaw.
They would go crazy now
trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.
I don't think I ever caught
anything from an apron, but love.
