Monday, April 21, 2008

Aprons

I doubt that some of my younger readers have ever seen aprons like these but here in Mexico they are very common. Senora Cervantes, who lives across the street from us, already has on her apron about 7:15 every morning when she scrubs down the sidewalk in front of her house. Carmela puts on her apron first thing in the morning when she arrives to help with the housework.

I remember my grandmother wearing an apron like these and I think that I remember my mother wearing one too but I know she did because I have a picture of her hanging out the laundry wearing one when I would have been a very young little girl. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between actual memories and old snapshots that you have seen.

Here in Mexico you will see aprons for sale in the Mexican markets. The nicest ones have embroidery, big pockets and deep pleats. The women need them because there are not a lot of labor-saving appliances and cooking and cleaning is dirty work.

4 comments:

Babs said...

This was on my list of ideas for a blog.....I'm so glad you did it! I LOVE the satin aprons the women from Ochomichu wear........they are sooooo cool.
I actually have an apron like those that I USED to wear and then was in a photo spread in the Houston Chronicle about 10 years ago with my granddaughterbaking Christmas cookies. Boy, did I get a lot of teasing about that........

Billie Mercer said...

Ahh, but the satin aprons from Ochomichu are different. So go ahead and write about aprons.

Anonymous said...

Several years ago, an Estadounidense put together an exhibition, perhaps accompanied by a book, about what aprons represented. Signifying a transition into a certain role, status and respect, the concept of an apron went far beyond simply protecting the wearer’s clothing. There’s even a hierarchy of aprons – whether it’s full coverage, front- or back-opening, a bib or a half-apron. There are dirty-work aprons and more ceremonial ones. Somewhere, and I’d guess around June Cleaver’s time, the apron lost its status and became a sign of oppression for women. Among the Estadounidense women of my generation, I can’t name a single one who would be caught dead wearing an apron. And in my kitchen hangs, only as a decoration, a white chef’s apron with my name embroidered upon it, that I received at a cooking school team-building corporate event. I put it on, because I had to at the event, and haven’t donned it since.

Gin said...

Don't knock those aprons. Recently I've been tucking a tea towel under my chin when I eat as I hate to drop something on a clean, white shirt. Hubby teases me. Maybe I should just get a high cut apron<:).

My Mom was the best darn southern cook around and she always donned the apron.