FOLKLORE PAGE 2 (CANE HILL, ARKANSAS)
GRANDMA'S APRON
Author: Unknown

There's so many modern gadgets,
They're numbered by the score,
But still there's none so handy
As the apron Grandma wore.

It had so many uses
I just can't name them all,
But I will try to tell you about a few
Of the ones I can recall.

It was no dainty little thing
Made of ribbons, frills, and lace.
It was a whopping big one.
It covered every place.

It really covered all her dress,
So it helped to keep it clean.
It made a swell pot holder
To lift the pot of beans.

It did duty as a hanky
To wipe away kids' tears.
On occasion it was even known
To dig dirt from out their ears.

It made the nicest basket
To gather beans and big brown eggs
Or to carry in the baby chicks
That were wobbly in the legs.

When the preacher came to call,
Bashful kids found refuge in its folds.
You'd be surprised how many kids
Those big old aprons hold.

It was nice to wipe the perspiration
When Grandma was too warm,
And when she got too chilly,
She would wrap it around her arms.

It served to carry apples in
That the wind blew off the trees.
It carried out the pile of hulls
When Grandma shelled a mess of peas.

When city folks came unannounced
To pay a friendly call,
She used it as a duster
On her way out to the hall.

When Grandma stepped out on the porch
And waved it in the air,
The menfolks came in from the field
'Cause they knew dinner time was there.

There will be lots of modern gadgets,
Oh, many thousand more,
But none will ever take the place
Of the apron Grandma wore.