Apron

1943

The homemaker on the pocket of this white apron also stars in a coordinating days-of-the-week tablecloth and towel set (2008.0002.0006a-f). She wears the same yellow dress and red gingham apron on Tuesday’s “ironing” towel. A half apron like this one can be seen on her partner in domesticity, who brings her tea while she is resting per Sunday’s towel. Rather than plain white, however, this apron is adorned with red piping around the pocket and skirt of the apron. A single line of red cross stitching runs parallel to the apron’s bottom edge. The apron also carries a blue floral motif present on Thursday’s towel; each piece in the needlecraft kit features flowers, plants, or trees. Needlecraft kits were a popular creative endeavor in the 1940s, when smaller, single-family homes and new appliances eased the burden of housework for middle-class women. Mary Thompson Ford (1861-1960) was both college-educated and a proud homemaker in Jersey City, NJ. Her daughter Blanche Ford Hart (1897-1992) likely embroidered the apron along with the towels and tablecloth.