The History of "Aprons"

Mothers' Day is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March, April or May as a day to honour motherhood and maternal bonds, as well as the contribution that they make to society. In Canada and United States, it is celebrated the second Sunday of May. Actually, observances began in the early 1870's and 1880's. Carnations have come to represent Mother's Day since Anna Jarvis delivered 500 of them to the church in Philadelphia, 1908 (two years after mother's death), where she had been a Sunday School teacher. Carnations, her mother's favourite flower, signified the recognition and honour Anna wished to bestow upon her mother.

Today, husbands and children honour mothers and grandmothers for all that they do in raising family children. In Canada, cards, flowers and even chocolates, are the most commonly used methods of expressing their love and appreciation for Moms. It has been commercialized to a great extent by compelling advertising strategies to commemorate this special day.

Renderings of my blog writings have related that I was born and raised on a farm in rural southern Ontario. I recall my mother, daily, wearing an apron...an absolute necessity- garment for a woman living on a farm with an extremely limited wardrobe...the apron, an integral item to her “house uniform”. I recall that my first sewing project in Home Economics classes in High School was to make an apron! I recall looking in the Pattern Book of Miss Proudfoot's in the Home Ec Room to select an apron pattern, which she would order for us, her students! This project taught many techniques: how to read a pattern, whether it was “Advance #5288” or “McCall 1169”; how to choose a washable and sturdy cotton fabric; how to make seams; how to bind the edges; how to decorate the bib part (if one was sufficiently creative). Upon completion, the apron was submitted to the teacher and assessed a mark for its appearance and workmanship.

Nothing to me, is more appropriate for Mother's Day , 2011 than the following article sent to me by a
Bridge enthusiast friend. Enjoy!

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 because she only had a few
and because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses
and aprons required less material.

But along with that, it served as a pot holder
for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears,
and on occasions used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coup,
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 when cooking.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen
in the 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 minutes.

When dinner was ready,
Grandma would shoo the flies out the open screen door
with her apron...and then go out onto the porch,
wave 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.

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!
Let me remind you that an apron is easier to iron than a dress!


The above refers to “Grandma”...my mother's apron had
many similar uses...which I now vividly recall.

Merle Baird-Kerr
May 1, 2011