Maxine's Story ~ Minnie Johns

Maxine's Story

Minnie Johns

It is the apron I see first in my mind's eye---always the apron. She had one on, my Grandma Johns, if she was at home. And it was the process of putting it on that got my attention. How does she get all those buttons buttoned? I had trouble, with my inexperienced fingers, getting the ones in front buttoned---and hers were in the back! As I matured my question became WHY does she button all those buttons? Even her dresses had buttons in the back. Since I didn't ask I have to assume she just liked buttons---and since she sewed all her clothes---she did have a choice!

Grandma was a hard worker---as was most of her generation---and I suppose those aprons were primarily for protection. They weren't made for beauty---just for practical reasons. They wiped up that southern Idaho dust---or my grubby fingers---probably even my nose if the truth were known. They made a handy pot holder---the tool that lifted the lid on the wood stove could be very hot---or a mop-up for my spills---or tears. An ever handy towel!

A large woman, grown heavy in her body, she didn't move quickly, but rather plodded. In her garden she worked with a hoe---sometimes chopping and sometimes leaning on it---always mindful of her water rights! With the hoe she could direct the flow, starting or stopping the streams as they covered each row, nurturing the growing plants.

Her garden was important, not only for the immediate gratification of fresh vegetables but also for the filling of the jars for their winters needs. The canning process in that Idaho heat, was done simply with sheer grit. Since the wood stove was the only way she knew, she and most of her peers, just did it and without complaint.

She chopped the wood and kindling and built the fire---pumped the water, carrying it in buckets to large double boilers where it was heated to boiling, and filled with packed jars. There it was kept boiling for hours and hours---not a procedure we would consider practical, desirable or even safe, but somehow it worked for them. These were hard times, the 1930's. Frugality wasn't a choice---it was a necessity.

I suppose the apron was meant to save the dress from soiling---but in fact it was just another article of clothing that had to be washed---by hand and on the scrub board---then rinsed and starched and hung to dry. Gathered from the clothes line, she would sprinkle each article carefully, roll them into tight cylinders and place them into a basket to await ironing.

On ironing day, usually Tuesday, the fire had to be hot again to heat the heavy black irons, fittingly named 'sad irons'. These came in pairs, to be used alternately, assuring the proper heat, while she watched carefully to avoid scorching. Sometimes I would be allowed to iron a handkerchief or two! I felt so proud!

The buttoned apron may well have been her idea of beauty. She liked pretty fabric---and she chose trims that were in appropriate colors. There was little of beauty in my Grandmothers' life---if a bit of red rick-rack gave her pleasure, or if the working of the button holes all down the back of those aprons gave her satisfaction, then they served their purpose.

They have become a reminder to me of my posterity---and I am ever grateful for the good people in my life who gave me so much---when they had so little. They worked so very hard! And expected almost nothing from me. The example they set has been a guiding force in my life.

Pages 71 - 72

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