The "A Little Bit Of Frilly, A Little Bit Of Chili" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Walking the aisles of our local supermarket pushing my shopping cart while trying to keep up with my wife who has the shopping list in her hand.  A few of the aisles had young men and women who were stocking the shelves with all sorts of products.  It was back in the early 1960s that I did the exact same thing while working for the Acme Supermarket chain.  I can still remember working alongside a few guys who became some of my best friends in the half-dozen years I worked at the supermarket.  How did I know who was working and who was shopping?  Well, those that were wearing the white aprons were the employees.  Strapping on the apron and having to tie it behind my back was all new to me when I began working, but as the years passed I could do it without any help.  We were told that wearing that apron had two purposes; it told the shoppers who to ask if they had a question and it made us look more professional.  Yeah, right!  A professional shelf stocker!  We were glad to have them since we got pretty dirty by the end of a shift.  So, when did people start to wear aprons?  Do children in today's society know what an apron looks like?  I can still see both of my grandmothers wearing aprons every time my family visited.  It was the "in" thing to wear at the time.  Seems it was easier to wash aprons than it was to wash a frilly dress.  It also served as a pot holder while cooking and a good item to wipe tears from their grandchildren's eyes or for cleaning out the dirty ears of the same children.  I can remember helping my grandmother husk corn for chicken corn soup and she would carry the corn from the backyard to the kitchen in her apron.  Also carried the tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden into the kitchen.  And, on a hot day the apron served as a napkin to wipe the sweat from my face.  It seems that the all-purpose apron was a piece of her daily wear.  There's never been a piece of clothing that was as useful as the apron.  The apron was, after all, a means to protect her beautiful dress she wore under it.  Did your grandmother or mother wear an apron? 

One of my wife's favorite aprons.  It features
both people and and animals in a big collage.

Do you wear an apron?   I watch food shows on television and most wear aprons.  I know it may be a colored apron to tell the team they may be on, but it still keeps their clothes clean.  The apron was first worn in the early 1700s to help protect their clothing.  They at one time were known as a "Pinny" since they were pinned on your clothing with straight pins.  Many aprons had lace, ruffles, pockets, ribbon and even rick-rack on them.  I can remember my mom wearing an apron most times she cooked to stay clean. 

A favorite apron from my wife's collection
It was made for her by her friend Marg.

Today my wife has kept up the same tradition in our home with a variety of aprons.  I recently asked her if she had a favorite and she mentioned two such aprons.  One was given as a gift to her by one of her best friends, Margaret.  Marg made one that Carol could use to bake her famous variety of Christmas cookies.  It is shaped like a tree and has a green tree sewn on it with small decorations on it.  At the bottom of the apron is a pocket that she can use to hold items she might need for baking.  During the holiday season I very rarely see her without the apron covering her clothes.  At the end of the season, the apron is put away until the following year.  Her second favorite is one which she bought at a craft fair and features a menagerie of people and animals.  If you cook and bake, do you have a favorite apron?  Does it have a story behind it?  The apron will live on forever in history as a piece of clothing both useful and dressy.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.