While waiting for my learning-in-retirement class to begin the other day, the subject of aprons came up. The discussants of this highly intellectual topic were my high-school friend Ruth, who by coincidence is a member of my learning-in-retirement program, and me.

Our class is studying 1908 and 1928, two important years in American culture. Baseball, Henry Ford, and Orville and Wilbur Wright have been among the subjects we’ve discussed.

I’m not sure how Ruth and I got on the topic of aprons, but we were reminiscing about our high school Home Economics class (long after 1928) and wondering whether such a class exists in high schools today.  

Both of us distinctly remembered the aprons we sewed in class. They had a wide pocket below the waist and some rickrack stitched across the top part across our chests. Mine was a happy fabric, 100% cotton, a cream-colored background with a tiny-multi-colored-flowers pattern. I can picture it as if it was yesterday.

We also “learned” to cook. I think the first thing we made was oatmeal, but maybe it was tuna fish casserole. I am sure it was something beige-colored. I know that the best thing we made was peanut brittle.

We’re not sure what the boys in our class did in their Home Economics class (which was called “Shop”) but we think they made bookends.

Not sure how well making an apron prepared me for life, but I know I haven’t thought about it for sixty-five years.