"Of Good Workmanship"

Aprons from 1865 to 1965

Master Mason Apron, 1896. Probably North Adams, Massachusetts. Gift of Mrs. Mabel Roberts, 84.70.2

After the war they sought new markets. Some of them turned their expertise to manufacturing Masonic aprons and regalia. Companies manufacturing regalia found a ready market for their products; the post-war era coincided with growing participation in Freemasonry. By one estimate in 1896 there were over 750,000 American Masons. Each of them needed an apron.

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Right: Funeral Procession, 1916. Taunton, Massachusetts. Special Acquisitions Fund, 83.18

The Civil War (1861–1865) profoundly affected American life and culture and even had an influence on fashion, including Masonic aprons. From the mid-1860s through the end of the 1800s, Masonic aprons and other regalia—as well as the style of men’s and women’s clothing—took many fashion cues from military uniforms. As well, spurred by wartime demand, the garment companies that had provided thousands of uniforms for soldiers had developed impressive production capacity.

Advertisement for Abner W. Pollard, 1857. [E.E.] E. Worcester, engraver. From The Masonic Review, Vol. 17, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Standardization

Manufacturers devoted to Masonic regalia established their businesses in a number of American cities, including Boston. Many of these regalia entrepreneurs presented their products at retail shops. Other ambitious firms sold nationally, using sales representatives and catalogs to let their customers know about their products.

Following the taste of the times, by the late 1800s, regalia companies offered printed and embroidered aprons in standard shapes and restrained designs. The materials aprons were made from, as well as their colors and styles, were similar throughout the country.

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Left: Merchant tailor Abner W. Pollard (1808-1886) lists a variety of fraternal supplies and regalia, some of which are pictured on this representation of his shop’s window.

Compared to the Masonic aprons of the early 1800s, these aprons were comparatively plain. These simple, standardized aprons reflected the thinking in Freemasonry of the day, which valued aprons that helped wearers focus on the garment’s symbolic meaning.

As one Masonic authority wrote of aprons in 1886, “All extraneous ornaments and devices are in bad taste, and detract from the symbolic character of the investiture….” The preference for standardized aprons in simple designs continued throughout the 1900s.

Treasurer’s Apron, 1870–1890Edgar M. Platt (ca. 1833–1895)Boston, Massachusetts Gift of Harold F. Lindergreen, 78.71

Scottish Rite Apron, 1911Probably New York.Museum Purchase, 2014.049

Organist Apron, 1924.Rose Lipp Regalia CompanyBoston, MassachusettsGift of Russell Lodge, Arlington, Massachusetts, 94.012.5m

Past Master Apron, ca. 1964The Masonic Supply CompanyBloomington, Illinois.Gift of Marilyn A. May, 99.059.3

Ihling Bros. Everard Company

Founded in 1869 as a stationary and printing business, Ihling Bros. Everard Co. grew to serve a national market with Masonic supplies, including costumes and aprons. Like other firms that sold their products across the country, Ihling Bros. relied on catalogs to inform customers about their products.

Ihling Bros. Everard Co., Catalog No. 82, early 1900s. Kalamazoo, Michigan. Museum Purchase, A2000/38/05.

Uniquely Made

In the era of factory-produced aprons of standard designs, some apron makers forged their own path. This apron features an arrangement of Masonic symbols stitched on suede leather with colored glass beads, a decorative technique practiced in many Native American communities. The early history of this apron is not known, but it demonstrates the influence that Native American culture and Freemasonry had on each other in some parts of the country.

Masonic Apron, 1880–1900United StatesGift of Eileen Anderson Shira, 93.028.1

Prince Hall

A plain white leather apron, like this one, marks a man’s initiation into Freemasonry. This apron belonged to an unknown member of James W. Telfair Lodge No. 510 in Wilmington, North Carolina, a lodge under the jurisdiction of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of North Carolina. Prince Hall Freemasonry is named after Prince Hall (1738-1807), a leader in the African American community who established a Masonic lodge after being denied membership in a Boston lodge in the early 1770s.

Prince Hall Master Mason Apron, 1915United StatesMuseum Purchase, 99.044.7

Harry A. Williamson (1875–1965) and Five Fellow Members of Carthaginian Lodge No. 47 (Prince Hall), 1907. Harry A. Williamson, New York, New York. Harry A. Williamson Photograph Collection, Photographs and Print Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

The men pictured here are members of Carthaginian Lodge No. 47, a Prince Hall lodge in New York. Based on the emblems on some of their aprons, it appears these men were the lodge’s officers in the year the photograph was taken.

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