The History of Aprons...

My mother-in-law just gave me one of the beautiful aprons that she made for each of the gals in our family. Along with it she gave us the "history of aprons." This reminded me of Beverly's addition to my list of g**** that was posted a week or so ago and I decided to share it!

"The principle use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that.........

...it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying 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 a hot wood stove, chips and kindling 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 menfolks 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."

To be honest I forget to wear one all the time and am then left with yet another outfit to add to our never ending pile of laundry. BUT, two of the reasons that I love aprons are.....

~First, and foremost, they make me feel cute...yup that's right, I consider it the lipstick of the cook.

~And second, as aforementioned, they save me an outfit. Especially if our son #1 wants to cook with me...which means I have the cutest helper and the biggest mess :)

So I would like to know, what is the purpose for your apron? 

That is, if you remember to wear one....