Collection of aprons has strong ties to the past

Aprons represent an era that ended when microwaves were introduced.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
SALT LAKE CITY -- A collection of aprons -- from "fussy" ones of made of organza and lace to utilitarian ones with deep, sturdy pockets and stains -- keeps Nancy Mathews tied to her past.
The collection, more than 80, includes her mother's beige apron with bright red ties and cowboy-themed pockets, a souvenir from an Arizona vacation in the 1960s. There is Aunt Elaine's dainty white wrap-around, with a pocket and trim made creatively from flowered handkerchiefs. And even grandmother's sheer, yellow organza apron remains well preserved after 70 years.
"I was raised with aprons," says Mathews, 58, of Salt Lake City, who remembers making her first apron in a school home economics class.
Women, she said, typically wore an apron when they were in the kitchen. They took the soiled one off and replaced it with a crisp, clean one to sit down to dinner.
While aprons are part of Mathews' everyday life, the apron collection began to take shape when the retired educator joined Salt Lake City's Westminster College Woman's Board five years ago.
In the past, at the board's annual "Silver Tea," handmade items of all kinds were sold to benefit the school. The aprons were the most popular item for a time and were reintroduced at this year's spring event.
Through the years, Mathews has collected aprons made of everything from shiny, polished cotton to dish towels. She has long aprons that go over the head and half aprons that tie around the waist. There are children's aprons, barbecue aprons, holiday aprons, garden aprons and even a mama-san, a brightly-colored apron worn in Japan.
There are cocktail aprons to throw on when entertaining friends, aprons that look like pinafores and aprons that fold four different ways. Mathews' collection also includes work aprons worn throughout the years by butchers and bakers, carpenters and painters.
Most regular kitchen aprons were handmade from the scraps lying around the house, said Mathews. Rick-rack was a popular decoration; so was a scalloped trim and big pockets.
The apron collection represents a different era that ended, says Mathews, "as soon as there was microwave cooking and women went back to work."
Running commentary
Which is why aprons have become a sort of pop culture icon and evoke a sense of nostalgia in the baby boomer generation, explains author Joyce Cheney in her book "Aprons: Icons of the American Home." (Running Press, $24.95).
"The power of aprons lies in how they make us feel and what they help us to remember," Cheney writes
Cheney has an apron collection of more than 300. Several years ago, it traveled to museums throughout the country and ultimately inspired the publication of the book that includes quotes and expressions about aprons.
One person panned the exhibit, likening the apron to a "uniform of oppression."
Cheney says she accepts that view, but sees aprons more as a symbol of resourcefulness, important work and the creativity of the women who made and wore the aprons.
Renewed interest
Others seem to feel the same as vintage aprons are becoming a popular -- and affordable -- collector item. Dozens are available on eBay, and collectors find them all the time at estate sales, yard sales and antique stores, says Joann Lay, who manages and antiques and collectibles store in Salt Lake City.
Lay says she has a pink-and-blue checkered vintage apron, with a smocked top, hanging from the antique Hoosier cupboard in her kitchen.
"People want what grandma had and what their mother had and what they remember as children," she says. "It's the nostalgia they enjoy."