Apron Memories: Sharing Stories from our Community
by Lindsey Gilbert Hinnrichs
Aprons are a garment of utility. They keep our clothes clean while we work, cook, and play. From welders to artists, blacksmiths to housewives, the apron is a symbol most everyone can connect with.
Those connections are the (apron) strings that tie us to our past. Museum staff encouraged community members and locals to share their special aprons and apron stories with us. Our latest program, Lunch and Learn: The Amazing History of Aprons (Click Here to View Recording), with Marnie Ward and Sue Collins, from the UF Extension Office and the local 4-H Club, brought over thirty people together to learn the history of aprons. After, guests did a show-and-tell with some of their favorite aprons. It was incredibly moving to listen to these people share the special memories and meaning behind these common household objects. We’d like to share some of these great apron stories with you!
Passed Down Through Generations
This delicate white apron was made in 1912 and worn by three generations of women. First worn in Germany by Anna Schwartz Drachenberg to wear over her dress during her confirmation. Her daughter, Irma wore it to her confirmation in Illinois in 1933. Her granddaughter Judith wore it to her confirmation in St. Petersburg, FL in 1955. With only grandsons, Judy had no one to pass this special piece of family history to. The Citrus County Historical Society and the museum are so grateful we were able to be the next link in this chain and have added this confirmation apron to our permanent collection. It will now be preserved for future generations to enjoy.
Donated to the Permanent Museum Collection by Judy Lohr
Tic – Tac – Toe
This hand-sewn apron is one of seven made for her seven granddaughters by Mabel Genevieve (Munger) McKinney. Each had a different design and hung in the hallway of the home. The girls would don their aprons before everyone sat down for family dinner together. This apron belongs to Geraldine, the youngest of the seven girls, and is one of her most treasured keepsakes from her grandmother.
On Loan from Geraldine Duryea
“This is a little smock that my grandmother sewed by hand. She sewed everything by hand. She said she didn’t know how to work a sewing machine! I have six older sisters so this was one of seven that hung in the hallway, and we would have put on before we sat down for a meal. And mine has a little tic-tac-toe set on it. They were all seven a little different. I’m fifty-seven now so I’ve had it for a long time, and I just absolutely love it. She passed when I was a toddler, so it means a lot to me. It’s one of the few things I have from her. And I have the hanger that she put it on.
I like to tell the story that my own mother used to say that with seven girls she used to find green beans floating in the washing machine because that’s what we would all put in the pockets of our aprons, whatever we didn’t want!
My grandmother’s name was Mabel, and she left a nice legacy for everyone. It’s more than a memory, it’s a way of life. It’s preserving a completely different time that we’ve lost now. I mean, it was family dinner. It was tradition. It was just what we did.” – Geraldine Duryea
In Honor of Those Who Serve
This apron comes from the personal collection of Brenda Davis. Davis is known as the “apron teacher” as she has worn a different apron each year since she started teaching. This apron is special to her because it represents and pays respect to service members.
“I started at an inner-city school in Jacksonville, and we all know Mr. Rogers. When he would come in, he would put on that sweater, and I wanted those children to know that this old lady was going to show up everyday with this apron on. You can count on her. You might not be able to count on the people outside, but you can count on me. So, for about thirty years I made everyone one of my aprons and every year they’d change, except for one year. One year I was walking in a little shop in North Carolina, and I found this apron with all these military symbols on it. It’s the only apron I’ve repeated in thirty years. I’ve worn it twice. And I wore it every day and the children took it home and if they had someone in the service they signed it. And I retired here. I’m now working two days a week at Rock Crusher Elementary so I repeated it and wore it a year up there so the kids at that school could also take it home. I’m proud of all the signatures on it. It even went to Afghanistan and came back. But I took it to Pearl Harbor, and I sat there and there was someone there, a witness. He was in the Navy; Robert Lee was his name. And he signed my apron in Pearl Harbor. And my next goal is I want to get the Commander in Chief to sign it at some point! I’ve worn an apron every year and every year I change the apron, but this is the one I’m really proudest of.”- Brenda Davis, “The Apron Teacher”
On Loan from Brenda Davis
Your Story Goes Here!
Have an apron story or memory you would like to share? Contact museum staff at 352-341-6428 or email lindsey.gilbert@citrusbocc.com to find out more!