The apron – gentle reminder of ‘how it used to be’ by HELEN LEDFORD This article was previously published in our June 26, 2014 issue. You can find them in antique stores – vintage aprons, old and worn, their value measured by the silent stories they tell. There are those of soft, embroidered muslin, and many made from coarsely woven bleached flour sacks. Though the use of aprons in our culture has dwindled, they were once deemed a necessity for women in eras when money was not so plentiful. Then, they were a “must” for protecting ladies’ garments while working around the house. Decades ago, when wool and cotton had to be spun at home,
aprons were more than likely just squares of cloth tied around the middle. Sitcom stars Lucy Ricardo (“I Love Lucy”), Barbara Billingsly (“Leave It To Beaver”) and Donna Reed (“The Donna Reed Show”) popularized aprons in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Real housewives relied on them for countless purposes other than a cover-up – for use as potholders, dust cloths, or a handy “handkerchief” to dry a child’s tears. Folks who have lived through the Depression and postDepression era remember well their mama’s and grandma’s aprons. Their “tie-ons” were a way of life back then; moms donned them early in the morning with the rest of their daily apparel, scrambling for a clean
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one when unexpected company arrived at the door. Aprons were a regular part of my own mama’s wardrobe, but they did not stay immaculate for long! A busy widowed mother with a farm and a houseful of children to tend, hers quickly became stained with berry juice, bacon spatterings or soot from our wood-fired stove. However, she kept a store of clean replacements readily accessible and changed them more than once a day. Mama’s hand-sewn aprons were fashioned in a very simple style, using a hodge-podge of fabrics. Mostly, they were scraps left over from her dressmaking, or colorful feed sacks, washed
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