National Apron Day

Of course there's a National Apron Day! Ahem. You DO have an apron, right? Some folks may think aprons are silly but for those of us who wear them, we know they are as necessary a tool as the stove to the kitchen. I've been collecting and wearing aprons for decades. I well remember Grandmother Hattie Gaye Hamrick Bennett wearing her apron, morning to late night. She was never without her apron and it was always the pinafore kind. None of those silly little half aprons for her! She kept home on a homestead farm in Webster County, WV, was born in the late 1800's and knew a woman was only as good as the work her two hands produced.

You see, that was back in the time when survival, quite literally Survival, depended upon knowing how to fix a fire in the cook stove, butcher a hog or chicken, put up food the hard way - by canning on the wood stove and a slew of other tasks that were, simply, hard work. Clothes were washed on a scrub board or, later Glory Hallelujah! in a wringer washer. Sheep were kept for wool to be spun into yarn to be woven into cloth; cows were kept to raise a calf for meat and then to milk for cream, milk, butter and buttermilk; hogs were kept for slaughter and to have hams, bacon, middlins and such in the winter and chickens for pot, chicks and eggs.

Many the time I've watched Grandmother or Aunt Bonnie catch a chicken, wring its neck off and toss it to the ground while they swept up another. Or, if the chicken was near the chopping block, they would catch it up, place its head on the block and hold it while, with their other hand, they would use the ax to cut off the head. Watching a headless chicken run around while it bleeds out is an unusual sight, indeed!

I don't rightly recall Aunt Bonnie wearing aprons, I need to call Aunt Esther and ask her. Come to think of it, I don't recall Aunt Esther wearing aprons either but I do have an old Brownie photo of Grandmother and she's in her apron, sitting on the front porch with Granddaddy. A million dollars couldn't buy that photo!

This apron was purchased in Alaska when Dave and I visited last September. It's a great apron, very useful - the bodice is of heavy duty cotton with a fishing print while the bottom is a towel. The neck has a velcro piece so it can be, somewhat, adjusted and the ties go 'round the waist. I use this apron when I've got heavy duty work - making apple butter in the kettle outside, gardening or dyeing wool. It's a great apron...but I've already mentioned that, eh? -smile-

The Apronista is having a nice little contest to celebrate National Apron Day and I've decided to play along. I think I have only one apron that doesn't look well loved nor well worn. It could be because that's the one I was given as a gift this past November or because I've yet to wear it. It's so lovely and I'm not one who can wear an apron for looks alone. I wear aprons because they are Useful with a capital U. They are used for wiping hands, wiping sweat from my brow, gathering veggies or fruit, carrying a kitten, wiping a dogs' paw, as pockets when I have none on my dress or pants, carrying the mail or flowers and yes, even in the kitchen to retrieve something from the oven or stove. Aprons have myriad uses and each day brings another use.

This is the gift apron. Someone at the nursing home made a few hand embroidered things for their fund raiser and this apron was bought by someone who knows me fairly well. She knows I have a "thing" for aprons and had admired this one. At the end of the day, she surprised me with it and it's a gift I cherish. I'd probably wear it at Christmas, after the work was done, so I could look nice while carrying dishes from stove to table.


This is a close-up of the hand embroidered work at the hem. Absolutely Lovely!I've had this apron for decades, probably forty years or so. It's so cute...One cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs...and all hand embroidered. It's a half apron.

This is one of the first aprons I ever bought and my, then, boyfriend didn't think it so funny. It says "A fool and his money are some party"...I thought it a cute play on words even if he didn't.

So, there you have it. Some of my aprons that see daily use. I've several dozen more that are vintage and well loved well worn that I'll show you later. I enjoy looking at them, wondering about who used them for what purpose. Some are old shirts made into useful aprons with just a bit of life left.

Just like us, eh? A bit old but still useful -smile-.

Blessings ~ aprons ~ vintage ~ family ~ fun ~ heritage ~