Apron Stories

My grandmother always wore an apron. When we would visit, I can remember waking up at 4 am to the smell of coffee and hot grease as she made our requested homemade donuts. I can remember the look of her hands wiping across her apron. Often made from recycled fabric, I would recognize my dad's bicycle pajamas or a top of my mom's from long ago. Now, I watch my daughter rock in a rocking chair with a homemade chair cushion with some of those same fabrics. My grandmother passed away a year ago. I inherited two aprons that were left behind when other family gathered her stuff. They are transparent and lined with pink. My mom is wearing one of them in a 1969 yearbook picture. I am happy to have them and love the story of how my grandmother aquired them. My grandfather picked them out for buying a certain amount of feed. I don't think she ever wore them.

Kelli Doubledee
Topeka, Kansas

My three-old grand daughter was helping me bake cookies one day and I let her wear one of my aprons. The next time we baked she was trying to remember what it was called and was getting frustrated---finally she said, " You know, Grandma, your 'cooking dress' !

Mrs. Jackie Remer
Homer, NE

'Tying Together — A Celebration of Aprons jumped off a page and into my heart as I read the December 2006 AARP Bulletin. It brought back warm memories of my mother, seamstress extraordinarie, who was known throughout her little town as the 'Apron Lady."

Whenever a friend was to be married, and my mother was invited to attend a bridal shower, the ladies in attendance patiently awaited the opening of Marion's gift…always a big box filled with an assortment of her handmade aprons: a clothespin apron, a barbecue apron, a couple of bib aprons and always a very frilly, party apron. There were even aprons for the major holidays - a Christmas apron (red and green), an Easter apron (flowered, in spring colors), a Thanksgiving apron (red, gold and rust hues)and several in simple, 'everyday" patterns.

I have only one remaining threadbare apron that I wear when I roll cookie or pie dough. I have often thought that I might like to go to the store, buy some material, get out the little old, black Singer machine my mother once used, and make an apron or two for myself. I have never followed through on that whim. Perhaps now I will.

One thing I do know is that I will be purchasing The Apron Book. It may awaken me enough to pick up where Mom left off. Thanks for the memories."

—Donna Schilling, Brookfield, CT

'Here is my favorite family apron photo. On a 1962 camping trip to Death Valley, California, my mom prepared our meal over a campfire — but not without her trusty apron!"

—Marsha Plucker, Castle Rock, CO

"My grandmother made me several aprons when I first got married back in 1974, and they have always been very special to me. They're made from different colored gingham check fabric, and each has cross stitching in a floral design, except for this one — my name is cross stitched.

To protect them, I framed some and proudly display them in my kitchen. They are a way for me to hold onto the special memories I have of my grandmother.

Thanks for keeping the apron memories alive."

—Debbie Lassiter, Reidsville, NC

"My husband and I are faithful viewers of Charles Osgood's Sunday Morning program. When I saw your segment on aprons, I knew then and there the gift I'd be giving to my girlfriends and my two sisters.

Sewing the aprons put me back in touch with my own growing up years, and remembering my mom in the kitchen. At 87, Mom now has dementia and she doesn't know me, my sisters or her husband of 65 years. Thank you for sending me to a place I remember as warm and safe and full of promise.

Here's a poem I wrote and wrapped up with each new apron and a copy of your book."

—Pam Bloom, Peoria, IL

The Apron by Pam Bloom

In days gone by,
When I watched my Mom bake an apple pie,
When my tears were dried by the corners of her skirt,
When I'd scrape my knee and she'd say
'It's okay, a hug will take away the hurt."

In days gone by,
When I was glued to the tube,
To Harriet Nelson or Lucy Arnez in the kitchen,
Teaching me more about family and laughing.

In days gone by,
When I dreamed of what I would become,
When I'd look to my Mom to help me see
The future and all it held.

In days gone by,
When all I wanted to do was to iron like her,
To be able to make that pretty ruffle crinkle,
To put that pleat just where it should be

In days gone by,
I never took a moment to slow down and ask,
Or have her tell me the stories I so now want to know,
Or hold close the aprons she years ago threw away,
Because of the stain or the tear or the wear.

In days gone by,
When I was too young to value the things that now are gone,

If only I could bring back some of those times,
To have a chance to ask again, or to listen better,
Or to see the wisdom in her face, or to appreciate her in a different way.

In days gone by.

"Grandma was a busy farm wife for over 60 years. Along with keeping a 2-story home spotless, cooking everything from scratch and spoiling the grandkids, she sewed, including making aprons out of dresses too worn out to wear. Sewing was relaxing to her, and she did it all on a Singer treadle machine. The first thing she taught me to sew was an apron. I still have it.

After her passing, we were going through her things, and there were Grandma's beloved aprons. My oldest daughter, who was then in her late teens or early twenties, said she would like to have them. I was surprised because I didn't know she thought of the aprons as home-made treasures. She cried when I gave them to her. My daughter is now 36, and she tells me that the aprons are stored, but she takes them out sometimes just to hold and to remember her beloved great-grandmother.

That is my apron story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed yours. Keep saving these wonderful treasurers."

—Brenda Berardelli, East Sparta. OH

"I love vintage 1/2 aprons, too, and used them as the theme for a Mother's Day celebration in 2005 for my now deceased Mommy. She was on Hospice and we tried to make every holiday a party for her. We named the party IN THE KITCHEN WITH RUTH. I made all her favorite recipes, and everyone - the grandchildren, children and even the men — wore vintage aprons. What fun we had!

In the photo, my Mommy is in the coral pants outfit, and I'm wearing one of her old party dresses!"

—Lenore Levine, Boynton Beach, FL

In 1899, my father was six years old, and his mother was pregnant with her sixth child.

"My grandmother went into labor at home, and the five children were sent to stay at the neighbor's. As they crossed the field, they passed the mid-wife, who was on her way to their house. As she walked by the children, she had her arms wrapped in her kitchen apron.

When my six-year-old father returned home later in the day, he had a brand new baby sister. He was convinced that the baby was brought to their home in the apron of the neighbor lady."

—La Veta R. Trezise, Golden, CO

"My great, great grandfather Samuel Good was the founder and builder of Goods Mill, one of many mills in the Harrisonburg, Virginia area. As the history buff of the family, I have all kinds of wonderful items, including feed sack aprons, which I have loaned to several societies and museums in the area for exhibitions.

One day I mentioned to my husband, Earl, that we should put together a small pamphlet on mills to go along with a feed sack exhibit that was put on by four area museums. To make a long story short, thru the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society, over a seven year period of time, we have published four volumes of information on Mills of Rockingham County. Volume III, contains over 200 pages on feed sack material and includes many photos of feed sack aprons.

When I start on one of my tangents, Earl knows there is no stopping! Inspired by your book, I went through a collection of aprons and pulled a beautiful purple apron with appliqué roses. It was a wedding gift – June 14, 1969 — and never used. Now I want to hang it somewhere in the house where I can see it every day. It was handmade by my Aunt Grace, the first wife of a brother of my daddy and a very dear person. Aprons bring back many, many memories for me."

—Janet Baugher Downs, Goods Mill, VA

"What a joy it was to visit your website today and realize that there are many of us with like minds on the subject of this useful and cherished homemaking 'necessity." I hope you enjoy reading my own version of Granny's apron, which I composed many years ago."

—Jane-Ann Heitmueller, Vinemont, Alabama

Why, Granny? By Jane-Ann Heitmueller

'Why do you wear aprons, Granny?" I asked her one day,
as I nestled on her lap, while resting from my play.

'Mercy child," she replied, 'it's just a part of life. It's as
valuable to me as Grandpa's pocketknife.

When I wrap it on each day it makes me feel complete. I'm
prepared to face the day… whatever I shall meet.

Sometimes it's a wiping rag to dry my dripping hands.
Sometimes it's a holding cloth to grasp the boiling pans.

Now and then it dries a tear or wipes a runny nose. It's a
part of all I do, wherever Granny goes.

Carrying potatoes or the hens' eggs from their nest.
Snuggling baby kittens close and warm against my breast.

Wiping up the drips and drops that splatter on the floor. Oft'
times used to dust the table and there's so much more.

On a rainy day it's used to shield my head from rain or to
take the horses lots of tasty, yellow grain.

Sometimes it's a help to open stubborn lids I grip. It can
hide a dirty spot or shield a jagged rip.

It's been known to shine a shoe or dry a puppy's fur or to
clear a mirror when the steam has caused a blur.

Best of all though, precious child sitting on my knee, it's
a place to nestle you and have you here with me!"

"As long as I can remember the women in my family have baked. I have the family cook book to prove it! From an early age I was always in the kitchen with my grandmothers, aprons on, while they were baking. They would give me leftover pie crust dough to play with and then would sprinkle my creations with sugar and bake them into cookies for me. The aprons I remember were colorful with 60's style prints on them and I always felt 'official" when I got to wear one.

Now in my late 20's, I make my own aprons (sewing was something also taught to me by my grandmothers) and wear them while making traditional baked goods such as Banket from the Dutch side of my family or English Trifle from the English side, my Great Grandmother's recipe. I still only feel 'official" in the kitchen with an apron on."

—Lindsay Bennett, Michigan

"I'm nearly 86 years old and still doing all my own cooking, but I can be pretty messy in the kitchen so usually just wear old clothes around the house. But one day I had dressed to leave the house and was making soup. I managed to splatter it all over everything, including my shirt, and thought, I really ought to have an apron–the kind that would cover everything up."

"The very next day, I was on my daily walk on a trail near home. As I passed some big rocks piled next to the trail I noticed a rolled-up piece of black cloth lying on top of them. Curious, I reached up, picked up the cloth, and began to laugh. It was an apron!

I am firmly convinced that I have been watched over all my life, but this was getting ridiculous. It was even a bib apron that would have covered exactly what should have been covered the day before when I made the mess in my kitchen. I took the apron home and washed it and since then have had fun telling family and friends about my apron miracle.

It really was like the answer to a prayer as instantaneous as you could be without being obvious. A flash of light and an apron suddenly appearing in the kitchen would have been more than an old man's heart could have stood!"

—John V. Thompson, Kansas City, MO

"My mother is now 100 years old and as she has aged, I realize the importance of her memories of the past. In fact, that is what she loves to reflect upon. I only have one of my mother's aprons, which I wore to your book signing at The Tattered Cover in Denver. Thank you for restoring this important symbol of the family.

I promised I would write my father's apron story, so here goes: My father was a mail carrier in Akron, Ohio from 1930-1970. One day he had a postage-due letter for a lady, so he rang the doorbell. She came to the door wearing a full length big apron, and when she turned around and walked away to get the money she owed him, he realized that the apron was ALL she had on!!"

—Sandy Hansen, Denver, CO

"My mother, Ines Gassino, wore aprons when she cooked, but never this apron. It was given to her as a wedding gift from her Aunt Josephine Oss. Because of their close relationship, the apron was extra special. My mother wore it only when she would serve an important meal. The apron is sewn of lame´ taffeta, and the pocket is accented with real fur…the only fur Ines ever owned!

I follow in my mother's tradition of wearing aprons over my work clothes when I'm preparing meals for my husband and me or just sitting down for a quick lunch, and I only wear her special apron for special occasions!

Since my mother passed away after a brief illness in December 2005, this apron is truly a treasure."

—Dian Montgomery, Pueblo, Colorado

The Victorian Tea held at the Southeastern Colorado Heritage Center was a delightful mixture of history, repast, favours and, of course, aprons! The annual event was a sell out…and for those in attendance, a lovely afternoon spent amongst generations.

(EllynAnne pictured with SCHC's Co-Director Heather Evanoff and Chris Ball, Director-Marketing & Development.)