Ode to Mom (and/or Grandma)...

The History of Aprons    

 

Anonymous, but sent to you all from  

Linda Kohn Sherwood and her friend Dina         

 

Remember making an apron in Home Ec? Remember Home Ec? If we have to explain "Home Ec" you may delete this. I just don't have the energy anymore. Read on.

 

 

I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few and because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons required less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven. A "Medium" was size 14-16.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron. From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the autumn, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

REMEMBER:
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

The Government would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron. I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron - but love...
 

Photos:
Top - Linda Kohn Sherwood with her mother, June, 1951.
Bottom - Joseph with his mother, Syvia, August 1961

Larry Peck 

 

Red Steagall to be Honored with The Boss of the Plains Award in June

by Jayne Skeff  

Each year, The National Ranching Center in Lubbock, TX, selects one individual to receive the coveted Boss of the Plains Award and this year's award will be given to a man who has enriched all of our lives with his music, his storytelling, and his ongoing contributions to the Western way of life. "I am truly honored by the recognition from the National Ranching Heritage Center and the Ranching Heritage Association," said Red Steagall winner of this year's award. "I have great respect for those that have preceded me in receiving this award and I feel privileged to have my name listed with them. Preserving our rich ranching history is very important to me, and the National Ranching Heritage Center does a marvelous job preserving and perpetuating that history."

Steagall, who was born in Gainesville, Texas in 1938, began bull riding as a teenager but music would eventually become his true passion as a songwriter and performer whose music crossed all cultures. He is best known for his Texas Swing dance music, which has been well known internationally for some 40 years. He has performed for heads of state including a special party for President Ronald Reagan at the White House in 1983. Steagall made three overseas tours for the United States Information Agency to the Middle East, the Far East and South America. Those of us who are old enough will remember him from TV shows including Hee Haw as well as many of the movies he produced including Big Bad John. Steagall also spent many years in Hollywood as a music industry executive where he discovered the likes of Reba McEntire and we all know what that did for her career! Today, many of us enjoy his show on RFD-TV In The Bunkhouse with Red Steagall.

He has spent a lifetime promoting and helping to preserve the western lifestyle and we at High Noon would like to extend our personal congratulations to Red for being honored with this year's Boss of the Plains award. The award, which was created by the National Ranching Center in 1999, recognizes those individuals who have provided outstanding support of the Center. On Saturday, June 1, 2012, at the event befittingly called Texas Wines and Rhymes, Red Steagall will be presented with a bronze sculpture of a rancher astride his cowhorse created by award-winning artist Don Ray of Channing, Texas. The Stetson Hat Co., creator of the original Boss of the Plains hat, has contributed the use of their hat and name to further honor these individuals who have lead the way in supporting The National Ranching Center.

The National Ranching Center is the country's only institution dedicated to preserving the history of ranching in this country. As part of Texas Tech University, the museum spans some 14 acres and displays the evolution of ranch architecture and culture from the late 1700s through the early 1900s. (www.depts.ttu.edu/ranchhc/home.htm)

Steagall's work has been honored in the past with 8 Wrangler awards for his music and induction into both the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City and the Texas Trail of Fame in Ft. Worth.

Congratulations again to Mr. Red Steagall! His long-time friend and supporter, Mrs. Anne Marion, owner of the 6666 Ranch in Guthrie, Texas, is sponsoring this year's award event. For information on attending the June 1, 2012 award gala Wines and Rhymes to honor Red Steagall, please call (806) 742-2498.

______________________________________________________________________


On April 19-20, 2012, the Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio just outside of Los Angeles came alive with the annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival. The western streets were filled with thousands of visitors wanting to experience the West as it used to be while listening to live music on three different stages and shopping from purveyors of everything Western.

For those of you headed to Denver for the Denver Old West Show and Auction, make sure to check out local performing artist Jon Chandler (www.jonchandler.com). His music is a deep reflection of his Western heritage and is wonderfully captivating. He performs monthly at the Olde Town Pickin' Parlor in Arvada (CO).


Top Photo: High Noon's own "T" joins Al Shelton on stage to sing "You Are My Sunshine."

Bottom Photo: The wild wonderful Western world of the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival which was held April 19-20 just outside of Los Angeles.

This month, we present a cowboy song
submitted by our resident poet, author,
carver, classic guitarist, among other
fine traits...Ron Soodalter...



The Buckskin Nag is a Canadian Cowboy song from the beginning of the last century - for those who forgot that the Canadians made cowboys, too!
 
Now, I been twistin' broncos ever since I hit the trail,
And I guess I know a cayuse from his nostrils to his tail.
It was down on the old Bow River, in the year nineteen and one,
That I was twistin' broncos for F.A. McCue and Son.
 
McCue, he had a buckskin nag, not worth two bits to keep.
He had a black stripe down his back, and wool just like a sheep.
He wasn't much for saddles, and it damn near kills the boss
To have to pay ten dollars, just to bust that two-bit hoss.
 
When I climbs aboard him, he so naturally takes to the air
That every time we go aloft, he tries to leave me there....
Until at least we went so high, the lights in Gleichen* shone,
And there we parted comp'ny, and he came down alone.
 
Now, I been twistin' broncos ever since I hit the trail,
And I guess I know a cayuse from his nostrils to his tail;
But I'll sell my chaps and saddle, set my long-shank spurs to rust,
'Cause now and then you'll find a horse yours truly cannot bust.
 
[*Gleichen (pronounced "Glee-shun") is a tiny hamlet of some 400 souls 90 km east of Calgary, Alberta. It used to be bigger, until its second fire, in 1912, convinced most of the locals to move to Calgary.]



Ron Soodalter
ronsoo@mindspring.com