Mae Hearn's apron

For Christmas this year I was given a red-striped apron with a bib and long apron strings that can be pulled around and tied in front. When I put on my new apron for the first time I was reminded of a story which Lois sometimes tells about her mother's apron. Mae Hearn, had a reputation for being a hard-working and meticulous housekeeper who always wore a white apron. Here is a picture taken about 1932 showing Mae in her apron. Whenever visitors dropped in unexpectedly, Mae would greet them at the door in an apron that looked as clean and fresh as if she had just put it on. The apron was so suspiciously white that someone once suggested that Mae must keep an unused, clean apron hanging by the kitchen door to be used whenever visitors appeared unexpectedly. Lois, however, says that there never was a fresh, "visitor-ready" apron hanging by the side door. The explanation is even more simple. Unlike some of her descendants, Mae was not a messy spiller-type cook. While my apron will very quickly show signs of my cooking and greasy hand-wipes, Mae was able to keep hers spotlessly white.
Post script June 2017: I have recently recalled an addendum to this story.  Lois explained that it was Mae's sister-in-law Minnie Hern (herself a meticulous housekeeper) who first expressed the believe that Mae must have had a fresh apron hanging by the door in case visitors appeared. On one occasion, however, when Minnie stopped in her sister-in-law Mae was not to be found. Minnie found Mae in the basement where Mae stored all her canned fruit. And the apron was as white and clean as if she had just put it on!