2011年12月5日星期一

Former educator shares collection of aprons

The apron was once a staple in every woman's wardrobe. The style and purpose varied greatly, but it was not uncommon to see some sort of apron tied around a woman's waist. It may have served as a tool for carrying produce from the garden into the kitchen or it may have been worn to protect one's dress clothes while preparing a meal. Whatever the purpose, aprons were a common garment in the past and can evoke nostalgia when seeing one today.

Sheila Craig of Preston,ceramic magic cube for the medical, a retired educator of the Minnesota Extension Service, has been collecting aprons for many years and has developed a program around her collection entitled "Remembering the Apron."

Craig explained that once she retired from her position at the Minnesota Extension Service, she was looking for something to do and had been collecting aprons on a smaller scale for many years. She had started simply with gathering her family's own aprons - special garments worn by her grandmother and mother - but soon branched out and found more to add to her collection through estate sales, auctions and online.

She and a friend traveled to a national presentation on aprons in Kansas City and she obtained a book on the history of aprons and her obsession began to grow.

Craig noted that while developing her program about these useful cloths, she began to get nostalgic and remembered her own grandmother, who wore an apron frequently.Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners. So, she began searching her family photos to find one of her in an apron to add to her presentation. It was not an easy search, however, as Craig soon surmised that her grandmother must have removed her apron when photos were being taken.

Soon, however, she found a treasured image of her grandmother, in an apron, holding Craig's mother - a baby at the time. This image now serves as the title board of her presentation and immediately takes audience members back to a simpler time when most women worked at home, raising their families and maintaining their homes and gardens.

Craig recently shared her special program at a Christmas tea in Harmony, hosted by the Harmony Area Historical Society. She entered the room carrying baskets of aprons, ready for "wash day" and she shared her treasures one-by-one as she hung her aprons on the drying racks.

The collection of aprons in Craig's home includes about 300 examples, but she noted that she was sharing only about one-third during her program. She has found many examples of aprons with different styles, fabrics and function and selected her favorites to share with those gathered at the tea.

As she introduced her program, she asked the ladies present if they remembered the proper way to iron an apron and many nodded with a smile. Washing and drying were the first steps, but then one needed to "sprinkle" them and roll them up to make them damp in preparation for the ironing.

"It always seemed a bit odd to me that we dried them completely and then got them damp again when we went to iron them," Craig joked.

As she began pulling her aprons out of her basket, Craig began by showing some of the interesting fabrics these aprons were made of, including feed sacks, cotton, seersucker, terry cloth, lace and even plastic.

She shared how many wives would direct their husbands to purchase multiple feed sacks of the same fabric pattern so they could be used to construct garments. Today, feed sacks can be found at some antique stores or online, but are becoming more and more rare.

Craig also noted that when women were constructing their aprons, many became creative and added special elements to their design to make them even more special. She shared examples that featured ribbons, organdy flowers, woven bands and handkerchiefs.

"Sometimes the decoration was simply the shape it was in," Craig said as she shared several aprons in a tulip shape.

Women also utilized the opportunity to adorn their aprons when putting on pockets - using special fabrics, appliqué shapes or complementary patterns.

"My thought is that any proper apron needs to have a pocket," Craig added. "I find quite often that aprons will utilize two fabrics - one plain and one patterned."

She also showed several aprons that had a special construction that formed pockets. Some had "hidden pockets" while others utilized a design element for the pocket. Others could be folded or configured in a way that formed a special pocket for carrying items from the garden or eggs from the chicken coop.

Craig shared that her favorite type of aprons are those that were worn on "dress-up occasions." These aprons tend to be made out of fine fabrics and have intricate embroidery or designs added to them.

She had many examples of a crocheted apron - made with the same pattern but with different colors and weights of thread.

The aprons in Craig's collection come in all sizes, from adult to child,Polycore oil paintings for sale are manufactured as a single sheet, and she shared several aprons that were constructed especially for the young girl. These included a coloring apron, which had pockets for one's crayons as well as a larger one for a book.

Perhaps one of her most precious aprons was one for a child, constructed in the pinafore style that was evidently made with love for a young girl.

One of the more interesting aprons Craig has found is one that can be transformed from an apron into a bonnet by snapping a few snaps. She shared that she has guessed that these examples were made for some kind of historic celebration.

Men should not feel left out as Craig did have several aprons that are commonly worn by the male gender. These aprons tend to be more functional than decorative, but she pulled out examples of lumberyard aprons, a welder's apron, a butcher's apron and even a ceremonial apron that would be worn at a Mason's event.

The audience all remembered the special aprons given at weddings to the girls who helped serve the meals at the receptions, usually held in the church basements. These aprons, made from chiffon or netting or lace, were more decorative than functional, but were a special gift from the bride - given as a thank you for being a waitress at the wedding.

Craig enlisted the help of several audience members and distributed aprons made out of gingham for them to hold up. Even though the basic fabric was the same, the examples varied in the adornments and patterns. She showed a number of teal and white checked aprons, then red and white checked aprons, followed by black and white checked aprons.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, The final group showcased aprons made in pastel-colored gingham, from pink to purple and light green.

"The gingham aprons were very popular in the '50s and '60s," Craig explained. "And while you could find the gingham in nearly every color, the most popular seemed to be the teal, red and black.Your source for re-usable Plastic moulds of strong latex rubber."

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