Saturday, June 13, 2009

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?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

How interesting!! I love it! Thanks so much for writing it and for linking up to my blog!!

Jess said...

I think it's a comment on the world of advertising. Advertising has never really been about reality. It's always about what people "should be" and what life "should be" like. I'm sure this wasn't the experience of the average woman in 1922, just like being a size 2 isn't the experience of the average woman in 2009.

Controlling My Chaos said...

I love aprons. I'm into making them right now, but I'm really bad about remembering to put them on. I think a lot of women of my Grandmother's generation might have made a comment such as the one in the advertisement.

Diana@DevineDesigns said...

What is it with aprons? They are a touchstone to our past but gaining popularity with today's busy women. I just blogged about my favorite new aprons from The Sassy Chef: http://thedevinehome.com/sassy-so-not-your-grandmas-apron/
Thanks for visitng my blog and for the link ;o)