Tea Aprons: Extinct Kitchen Essentials

I recently came across a drawer full of aprons - they used to be an essential part of any woman's wardrobe. Before the advent of instant food, kitchens were equipped with an apron drawer (after all, like tea towels, aprons did get dirty).

Little girls also had aprons, just like their mothers.













This one was hand-made and embroidered for me by my Aunt Elsie. I probably wore it at tea parties with my dolls. Like many of the dresses at the time, it had pleats along the bottom that could be let out when you grew!

I remember when Chef Boyardee pizza first came on the market. I was so excited. Even a child like me could follow the easy instructions! But I had to wear an apron so as not to get dirty mixing the dough. In those days, you wouldn't think of doing housework without wearing an apron.













You even wore a dainty one to serve afternoon tea. I think this one was also made by my Aunt Elsie.

The aprons I use in my kitchen nowadays don't resemble those dainty ones. They are meant to cover as much of my clothing as possible on the rare occasion that I bake bread or cinnamon buns or fry food that splatters.














I made this one with a quilted bib and a Christmas motif. (I admit, I do most of my baking for Christmas...)

I also have a collection of my mother's aprons.














Though they were all well-used, the embroidery and lace details show how much pride women of their generation took in their aprons.













Eventually aprons became less frilly and more practical. Pockets were added to make them more useful. The white one has a plastic waist hugger instead of ties - which are annoying to iron. I think I bought the yellow one in Germany.













As I look at all these aprons now, I wonder how we ever thought that these tiny things would help us keep our clothing clean when we did serious cooking or housework. Maybe they reflected our hope that the new machines that were being created to revolutionize home and kitchen (washing machines, electric stoves, vacuum cleaners, mixers) would require us to only get symbolically dirty!