Aprons and appliances

My father kept a thick file of household manuals and instruction booklets for everything from flashlights to major appliances. I flipped through them looking at illustrations to see if there was anything worth writing about. Oh yeah. It became a game of Find the Apron.

During the 1950's and '60's women wore dresses with very full skirts and half-aprons to do housework. They had perfectly styled hair and freshly applied lipstick. And they always smiled.

Mother-daughter aprons.

Behold the sparkle!

Is that a foot pedal on the dryer?

Years ago refrigerators had tiny freezer compartments. My parents kept a well stocked upright freezer in the basement. The aprons here look like they were drawn as an afterthought.

My dad loved to cook. And he had a apron. It was the sort that butchers wear- plain, practical and indestructible. When I was a child Dad bought a new Mixmaster and I remember watching as he tried all the spiffy new attachments.
The instruction book seems to lack aprons, possibly because this wasn't strictly a woman's appliance.

  Aha! Found one above a ridiculously complicated recipe for mashed potatoes.

Added for my friend Thea. :) Basic parts for a Mixmaster.

No aprons but a nice example of a vintage kitchen with metal cabinets. The linoleum flooring pattern is unlike anything I've seen before- a giant eagle? phoenix? goose? surrounded by stars which also appear above the cabinets. How... um... novel.