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Sweetie Pies Presents Vintage Apron Style Show

For the fifth time since 2008, the Vintage Apron Style Show will return to the grounds of the Settlement Shops in Fish Creek on July 15, inviting apron collectors to share the sweet memories of their favorite kitchen garb.

Sweetie Pies co-owner Renny Lea is once again organizing the nostalgic affair, which this year will take a more personal tone than the “Historical Aprons through the Ages” theme of years past with a simple but poignant focus on memories.

Lea herself will showcase some of the aprons and memories from her mother, the late Frances Miller.

“Between the last show and this show, my mother passed away,” Lea said. “I have some aprons from her and I just thought to myself that it would be really nice to showcase some of the memories associated with aprons with the persons that wore them, the persons that may have made them, or some events or stories that are associated with the aprons.”

Like most people of her generation, Lea recalls aprons being a regular part of her grandmothers’ wardrobes. They were often reused and recycled from the material of tattered old clothing, a sign of the times when fabric was expensive and the Great Depression loomed large.

Although she grew up in Milwaukee, her summers were spent vacationing in Door County, where her aunt and uncle (Elsie and Andy Redmann) bought the Lakewood Lodge in Fish Creek and renamed it The White Gull Inn. Within the walls of the historic bed and breakfast, Lea’s most cherished apron memories were made.

“My mother was very involved in creating the look that they still have in the dining room, that early American look with the wrought iron and the nice wood,” Lea said. “The curtains were kind of dark red and my mother made the curtains, my mother made the aprons for the waitresses. They were like a pinafore apron with a ruffle along the edges. They were really cute.”

Lea herself donned the aprons when she waitressed at The White Gull Inn during summers and over the years has seen their shift from functionality as “the first line of defense” between women and the kitchen and children to being worn today for a more throwback effect.

“I think they’re coming back,” Lea said. “The usefulness of an apron is different than it used to be. People wore aprons because they didn’t have a whole lot of clothes to change into and I’m not meaning just people that were poor. When you used to wash clothes, it was a big operation – you just didn’t throw them in an automatic wash machine. It was a lot of work and then you’d have to iron everything after you washed it.

“When it got into the 1950s, people would wear dressy aprons for when they’d have company over,” she added. “They’d get off the kitchen apron and put on a fancy apron and that was just for serving guests. It’s continued; you still see people wearing aprons but it’s changed. It used to be a very functional thing and now it’s more of a curiosity and an interesting thing to see.”

The 5th Biennial Vintage Apron Style Show will be held from 1 – 3pm on Friday, July 15 on the grounds of the Settlement Shops, just south of Fish Creek on Highway 42. The event is free and open to the public.

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