Fun Monday #28, Aprons

Ms Cellania (ChrisB) is hosting today's Fun Monday. Her quest: I would like you to 'show your aprons' it can be your favourite or an unusual one or more than one. Be creative as you like; and secondly if, like me, you have lots of 'tea towels' that are brand new (or could be an old favourite) I would like to see those as well and hear the story behind the picture- was it a gift from a holiday, a present from auntie that you only use when she visits etc...........

I forget to wear an apron. I have a few hidden somewhere.

Usually I splash spaghetti sauce on my favorite white blouse before I remember. Or, while adding mustard to the potato salad, the container burps a dollop on my tan slacks. After those type of events you would think that grabbing an apron would be my first course of business upon entering the kitchen. My mom was more concerned and always donned hers.

Mom’s apron was forever damp from leaning over the sink or the stove. Beneath the waistband, it was soon threadbare.

In the early years, she wore a bib apron that required strings tied around her neck as well as in the back. However, as she aged and put on some extra weight around the middle she only wore half aprons.

Money was always scarce and a new apron was not a priority. In the event that a house dress wore out or became too small, mom would salvage the least worn material, cut a pattern, and sew it into an apron. When the apron wore out she cut the usable pieces into squares to be used as cleaning rags.

She was the original recycler.

The picture below right is me and my mom in her apron on the slope above our house. On the left, Grace, my mom's mom, looks just as I always remember her... in her apron. I couldn't find a picture of the hubby's Gram Jennie in her apron. But, I kept one of her aprons when she died. It looks like something she purchased in the seventies.



Grandma Grace had a half-brother who ranched somewhere in Idaho. He and his wife Eliza, in her apron, are in this amazing photo from the late 1800's. I hope Ree from Confessions of a Pioneer Woman stops by to see this one.



Grandma Grace's mother was Augusta.She wasn't camping in the picture at the left taken around 1900.
This was a way of life as the family followed the crops and greener pastures.
She's wearing her apron.





Great Grandma Bessie, on the hubby's side, didn't take her apron off when she posed with her family.

Most likely she was busy puttering around in the kitchen in 1944 when she was summoned.

There were so many great ladies in our family that wore aprons. I may go shopping for a special one just for me.
In the meantime, grab your apron and get cookin' over to Ms. Cellania and visit all the other participants in today's Apron FUN.







Comments

Susie said…
You have some wonderful vintage photos of the apron wearing ladies of your family. I still wear one most of the time. I have some of those vintage type tucked away that belonged to Mom and Grandma..
Great post!
xo
Anonymous said…
Only you could successfully turn a Fun Monday apron post into a history lesson. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just saying not everyone could pull it off.
Anonymous said…
Pamela, I love it. The stories and the pictures are wonderful. :)
Beckie said…
This was a nice post - I like it! What is really cool is how you have those pictures ready to go on the blog. That would have taken me a week to prepare...
Molly said…
Your Grandma Grace could be my Grandma Gray. I love the old pictures. Maybe I did not look hard enough for apron pictures. As usual, your Fun Monday post is superb, Pamela.
Gattina said…
Interestin photos, I love old pictures ! I am in at the english coast now and it's such a beautiful place ! All these old english houses and castles. Today we are doing some more sightseeing. BTW my great grandma's name was also Augusta ! lol
ChrisB said…
This brough back so many memories, and reminded me of my granny. Back then when I was a child no one could afford to mess up clothes and a lot of the women would wear their aprons to pop to the shops. Not that my granny did that she was the headmaster's wife and had certain standards to keep up- you should have heard her remarks about those who did!! Thank you for the memories :)
Beccy said…
Pamela, it's great to see the photos of your family in their aprons. I vaguely remember my granny in one of those arpons that are more like a dress.
AngelConradie said…
what an incredible post! i woulda never thought of using all those old pictures!
katy said…
that was truly wonderful
Anonymous said…
Of all the apron posts, yours is my favorite.

a beatiful tribute, my friend.
Dallas said…
Wow, those are great old photos. I particularly like the "camping" shot.
Walker said…
Heavens Pamela, you have some precious photos there!
Anonymous said…
I LOVE old photos like that, very cool. The stories to go with them are priceless. Lots of wonderful women in your family :o)
Anonymous said…
I'm agreeing with WT.

And I love you for it.
Jenni said…
This is my favorite entry for this week. I love all the old photos and family history. I almost feel inspired to dig through some family photos of my own.
Debs said…
The perfect post! :) I love the old pictures with the stories behind them. I don't have any pics of my relatives wearing an apron.

Beautifully done. :)
Anonymous said…
Why am I not surprised to find Fun Monday turned into a beautiful History Lesson? This is a wonderful post, as usual. Not only am I impressed with the post, but that you found all those photos. I have pics of my grandma's with their aprons on, but it would take me a week to find them.
Thanks PamelaJamela for once again adding culture to my world.
Anonymous said…
I wear an apron when I cook and clean house. My Mom made aprons for all the girls in my family and we love them.
Amanda said…
Cool post Mom... I love the old pictures. Can you imagine what your grandmother would have said if, in 1900, someone had told her that the photo she posed for would be copied by a machine and then digitally broadcast for the whole world to see? Aside from not understanding the terms, it would've seemed impossible. Though times have changed, wearing aprons haven't.
Shelby said…
I don't even have an apron - but my mom makes me wear one of hers at her house when we're cooking.

I should so get one.
Kaytabug said…
Oh Pamela, you are blessed with those photos. I love this post. I wish I had old photos of past generations of women in my family, and wearing aprons too!
Lovely post!
Robinella said…
Beautirific!! I love those photos and the stories behind them. Thanks for sharing them.
Great photos!! I guess it's easy to forget that women used to wear aprons most of the time whether cooking or not.
Goodness. What a great family history: Aprons & Ancestors.

I don't really use an apron. But then again... I don't really cook, either.
MommaBoo said…
My Gram still wears her apron that looks an awful lot like the one in the bottom pic.

I always love how you display vintage photos on Fun Monday. I look forward to your entry every week!

Thanks for sharing.

Happy Fun Monday!
Tiggerlane said…
You know, I had never thought about seeing aprons on ladies in older photos - but now that you mention it, you have a good theory as to why.

GREAT blast from the past.
Ms. Kathleen said…
What fabulous photos and aprons. I never where one at home but at the camp I always do. We get pretty messy at times.

Interesting post! Hugs!
Anonymous said…
Wonderful pictures and stories to go with them. I love Amanda's comment. I think even my mom, who would have been in her eighties, would never have imagined the possibilities of today's technology.
Anonymous said…
Wow, great Fun Monday with so many historical aprons. I love the old ones. My mom has some styled like Gram Jennie's. Great photos.
Anonymous said…
It seems like today people don't wear aprons as much as they used to. I can find tons of apron photos of my Mother and Grandmother. Yet, I hardly ever wear one.
Christy Woolum said…
I finally learned the hard way to be an apron wearer because I ruined so many clothes! All the women of my family are apron wearers and apron collectors. Interesting post.
Kila said…
I've never worn an apron, yet I can imagine how useful it would be, as noted in your previous post. I did post a recipe for today, though, since we were in the kitchen.

Thanks for the photos and lessons :)
theotherbear said…
Wow, lovely post Pamela. Great photos - you have quite a collection.
Anonymous said…
Pamela, another beautifully done post.
Your Grandma Grace, looks so much like my Great-Grandmother's sister, we called her Great Aunt Elva, I'll see if my grandmother has any photos of her with her apron. She always wore her apron too, except to church and special occasions.
Loved your story and all your wonderful vintage photos.
And I thought I was the only one getting spaghetti sauce on my white blouse, or mustard on my tan capris.
Anonymous said…
Wow that was really a fun post. I love all your photos. Aprons are one of my favorite things. They are getting to be more and more a thing to collect.

Take care,
Connie
Carole Burant said…
I sooo enjoyed these old photos!! I remember my gran and my mom always wearing an apron too but that's something I never wear! Like you, I need to splatter something on my clothes before I do think of it! lol xox
Anonymous said…
This was just wonderful. I love the photos and how it fit so perfectly in the theme of aprons. I even feel connected to the women in some strange way. Wearing an apron, going about your chores and being called over to snap a picture.

How great it is that you have these pictures.
Anonymous said…
wow you went all the way on this post... wow... that was cool!!
Anonymous said…
After all that was commented here, I giggled when I read Karmyn's.

I love how your mom used and re-used just about everything she came into contact with. She could teach "my generation" a thing or two.

I'm with you--why don't I wear an apron??? If my clothes were clean when I began dinner, they never are after :/...I might be a good cook, but I sure am messy along the way.

Love your take on this theme...:).

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