Vintage Half Apron

Q: Love your newsletter and have followed it for years. Your article on aprons grabbed my attention and prompted me to send you a picture of this most unusual apron. This vintage half apron dates from the 1950s–early ’60s, when smoking didn’t give you lung cancer and married couples slept in twin beds! It features a pocket fitted for a pack of cigarettes and a burn hole. Yup! Check out the little square cutout where an ash burned a hole in the apron. I put the cardboard cigarette pack cutout shown in the square pleated pocket to illustrate its use. Have you seen aprons like this before? Value? Thanks for continuing to educate me and keep me informed.

A: Thank you for sharing this glimpse into another (and sadly common) time in our culture when most people smoked, even panelists on TV game shows! It reminds us how coats and workout clothes have evolved to include special pockets specifically to hold cell phones. We found another apron with a cigarette pack pocket for sale at an online shop for $25. It had just one pocket, the smaller one, with a picture of a lit cigarette on it. Not as many people smoke cigarettes today, but the little pocket might be the right size to hold (much less dangerous) cell phones.