Grandma’s Apron
pre-1969 author Unknown
Do you recall Grandma’s big apron;
That covered her clear from her waist to her feet?
With long apron strings so convenient for tying
With waist large or small, it was ever so neat.
Oh, the multiple uses of Grandma’s big apron,
Wiping the tears or a boy’s “runny” nose;
How do we manage with these modern contraptions
With crocheted fol-do-rols and fluffy big bows?
How well I remember my Grandma’s big apron,
Of its many uses modern kids couldn’t guess;
For wiping the tears when one fell by the wayside,
Or held comfortably wrapped while we took a short rest.
How often I’d see her come in from the garden,
Her apron full of good things she had found;
Perhaps it was string beans or maybe some carrots,
Or a nice mess of radishes fresh from the ground.
She would gather the chicks so downy and yellow,
When the crafty old hen had hid out their nest,
And carry them safely in her roomy big apron,
To their new little home where they settled to rest.
How it made a nice wrap and kept so warm
Had we ventured out without a warm jacket,
Off came Grandma’s apron, to keep us from harm.
I could write on and on about Grandma’s big apron,
In my mind’s eye I can picture it yet;
Full of chips for the stove or apples from the orchard,
She watched out for her loved ones,
That I ne’er can forget.
If Grandma should see what we call an apron,
With no nine inch cross stitching, no voluminous folds,
She’d be just as surprised as the young folks are nowadays,
To learn of the things that her apron could hold.
Or along toward evening I’d see her out looking,
Around near the wood pile or the old cider kegs,
And when she came in with apron a-bulging,
She had busily and happily gathered the eggs.
Many is the day when we were out walking.
Grandma's Apron
more recent by Tina Trivet
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, 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.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, 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.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in 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 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-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 never caught anything from an apron…But Love.
