A Shower of Utility Aprons for Dorothy, 1922

Needlecraft Magazine
Published Monthly by the Needlecraft Publishing Company,
Augusta, Maine and New York, N.Y.
10 Cents per copy
May 1922

A Shower of Utility Aprons for Dorothy
Dorothy was going to be married. Her four very dearest friends, Maude and Marjorie, Molly and Madge, suspected this before even they were told, because was all at once so interested in cookbooks; she didn't study the fudge-receipts either, they discovered, so they were pretty sure it meant something.

And so, one afternoon, they presented themselves at Dorothy's home, each carrying a little package. Dorothy was in the kitchen, because this was the cook's afternoon off, and every opportunity must be improved; and straight to the kitchen went Dorothy's four dearest friends.

The packages were deposited on the table beside the mixing-bowl, without a word; and when they were opened, Dorothy owned right up. First she laughed, and then she cried a little, and then she hugged the girls all around and declared they were positively the best and dearest in all the world. As for the aprons, there was never anything half so lovely, useful and altogether desirable for a little new housekeeper-to-be. She tried them all on in turn, and there were "Oh's!" and "Ah's! to the heart's content of five girls.
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Checking in with the Hooked on Fridays Blog Party, hosted by Hooked on Houses, I have been going down the list of participants and have read many of the blogs (and left comments). When I found this old article about aprons, it reminded me of the post by Sustaining Creativity about sewing aprons and her Etsy store. It seems women need aprons in 2009 as much as they did in 1922. In reading this old article did anything strike you about it? What about this phrase, "for a little new housekeeper-to-be." This is a magazine written for women and marketed to women. Isn't that phrase condescending? The whole tone of the article is condescending. Thank goodness attitudes have changed. Anyone have a comment on this?

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