Aprons, a reminder of ‘how it used to be’

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

HELEN LEDFORD aprons were more than likely one when unexpected company 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 ...continued on p. 12

and ironed. Always there were pockets, for simplicity and serviceability were of the greatest importance.

Ladies in our neighborhood were never seen without aprons, except at church. Some preferred a pinafore type, which fastened in the back, and others preferred a design that covered only from the waist down. An assortment of trims – rick-rack, buttons, ribbon, colorful binding tape for edging, or lace – were popular enhancements.

An elderly lady I once knew wore only white aprons, similar to the beautiful ones identified with Amish women. Crippled with arthritis, she welcomed visitors resplendent in her snow-white, crisp apron with no neck strap, but a bib attached to her print dress with two straight pins.

Old aprons are stitched with myriads of memories – of mothers substituting them as makeshift “carriers” of apples and pears from the orchard, or convenient holders for fresh-picked green beans ready to be “snapped.” A nursing mom in days gone by perhaps, at times, shielded herself and her baby at feeding time by discreetly using her apron as a covering. Sometimes an apron might even be transformed into an umbrella of sorts, thrown over one’s head when caught in a sudden shower!

Writer and apron curator EllynAnne Geisel is the publisher of “Apron Chronicles – A Patchwork of American Recollections,” in which photographer Kristina Loggia provides beautiful and nostalgic photographs of aprons, depicting their significance in our evolving society. It is a wonderful tribute to days when our lives were much less complicated. The book is a narrative about “wearing, making, and sharing a ‘bit of cloth and comfort,’” and is described as “more about life than fabric.” A cross-section of people from all walks of life contributed aprons, old photos, recipes, and haunting, heartfelt stories that are the heartbeat of Geisel’s work.

Since 2004, a traveling “Chronicles” display of aprons and other memorabilia gathered from many parts of our nation has moved across our land. I was privileged to view this unusual and striking collection when it was featured in a section of one of Greensboro’s now-defunct cotton mills. Deeply moving, this experience seemed to whisk me back in time to a distant place called “How It Used to Be.”

Handmade and beautiful aprons are for sale in profusion in this area – at farmers’ markets, gift shops, church bazaars and festivals. Many people collect them, old and new, and I myself have acquired quite a few of them. My favorites are the ones made by someone’s hands long ago, for they exude a lingering, faint, musty smell – a whisper of yesterday.

I can recall as a child running to my mother crying, when hurt or scared, and if I could just latch my small hands onto her apron and hold on, I felt loved and secure (and besides, sometimes she carried peppermints in her pocket!). For me, that familiar swatch of cloth was truly a “piece of comfort.”

The Bible itself proves aprons have been around for thousands of years. After sinning, Adam and Eve sewed leaves together to form “aprons” for themselves. (I don’t think those would work when frying bacon over a hot stove, though!) …

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