Aprons

Not long ago, a friend sent me an email which contained this article


The History of Aprons

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, 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 dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in th 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 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.

Author Unknown.

If you are much younger than me, you will not remember any of this and, perhaps, have never worn an apron. We don't use them in the United States much any more. I think that is because we now have so many clothes we don't have to worry about not getting them dirty and our clothes can be easily washed.

I have noticed that many, many women in Honduras wear aprons. All the time. Of course, they don't have many clothes and they cannot easily be washed. There is no street cleaning machines here. The streets are swept clean by people. All of the women street cleaners wear aprons. All of the women at the fruit market wear aprons. I see all kinds of women doing all kinds of things wearing aprons. Pretty aprons, with ruffles and frills. I think they wipe their hands and dry their children's tears and maybe clean some dirty ears and who knows what else.

Today at the market, the girl I buy cheese from had on a pretty orange apron. It was festive. She was dipping cheese all day long. Today I noticed her mood was festive as well. It matched her apron.

Someone suggested we sell aprons in the store. Karen and I tried to explain that Americans would not buy aprons. She did not understand and was confused.

I know there are practical reason why so many women here wear aprons, but I have found it is kind of fun to see the pretty aprons they wear while working. And even reminds me of days gone by, as both of my grandmothers and my mother often wore an apron.

Terri