The History of the Apron=December 1722=Goermans/Taskin

Double-manual French harpsichord
Jean Goermans/Pascal Taskin, Paris, 1764/83
Russell Collection,Edinburgh.
Catalogue No HD5-JG1763.29

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

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress
underneath,because she didn't have many and 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, shooed flies away from sleeping babies and fanning it
provided a bit of breeze on a hot summer day.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, runny noses 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 or around the shoulders of the nearest child.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow bent over the
hot wood stove, dried work worn hands and more than a few tears.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that
apron. Crumbs were brushed from the dining table onto 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, pears and
nuts 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 for dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that
will replace that ' old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
Send this to those who will remember Grandma's aprons and to
those who can't even imagine today's women wearing one!
REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her apple pies on the cabinet to cool after
she baked them.
Her granddaughters set theirs on the cabinet to thaw before they
bake them.

Scientists would go crazy now trying to figure out exactly how
many and what kind of germs were on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything serious from an apron.