What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1457097
MARCH 6-12, 2022 WHAT'S UP! 7 'Function To Fad' Aprons more than cloth and utility BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette T he use of aprons has been important to humans since time immemorial," says Serena Barnett, director of the Rogers Historical Museum. "Aprons have served both function and fashion through the centuries [and] can often tell stories about the people that wore them and sometimes even reflect their personal style." The exhibit "Aprons: Function to Fad" debuted Feb. 5 at the museum in downtown Rogers and will remain open through April 9. "In it, you'll see everything from utilitarian aprons used by housewives and tradesmen to novelty aprons used just for show," Barnett says. Barnett has her own family memories of an apron playing an important part in holiday celebrations. "As a child, I remember my grandma wearing a red, green and white half apron at Christmas," she says. "She would only wear it at Christmas in the kitchen and then remove it before sitting down at the table for Christmas dinner." Barnett answered these three questions for What's Up! Q. What inspired an interest in aprons? A. In the late 1990s, RHM hosted a traveling exhibit about aprons from ExhibitsUSA titled "Apron Strings: Ties to the Past." We thought it would be interesting to use aprons from our collection and loans from individuals to create our own exhibit to focus on the function and fads of aprons as they represent not only a wide variety of aprons and their uses, but aprons owned and used by people from our local past. Q. Once the topic presented itself, what did you find in the RHM archives that surprised and delighted you? A. The quantity of aprons we have in the collection that had strong ties (pun intended) to early Rogers and Northwest Arkansas. In fact, we had so many aprons to choose from for this exhibit that we The postwar 1940s and 1950s were the heyday of aprons, seen as symbols of home and family. Practical bib aprons made of printed cotton were the everyday apron worn for performing household chores. In the economic boom of the 1950s, aprons became more fanciful and less functional. Hostess aprons became popular among American housewives, decorative aprons worn solely for entertaining in the home, says RHM Director Serena Barnett. (Courtesy Photo/RHM) ROGERS See Aprons Page 38 FAQ 'Aprons: Function to Fad' WHEN — 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, through April 9 WHERE — Rogers Histor- ical Museum, 313 S. Second St. COST — Free INFO — 621-1154 or roger- shistoricalmuseum.org