Thank you. I as well have wondered why we say what we do when presenting an apron, and immediately the Entered Apprentice can look around the room and see many aprons that are not plain white lambskins.
I suppose we inherited from our British Brethren the thought that if you have a title you must have some sort of fancy regalia to go along with it. I often wonder how the Royal Family knows what to wear because they seem to have a different "uniform" on for each different event.
As a leadership instructor, I subscribe to the thought that your title does not make you a leader. I have known Masons in leadership positions who led poorly and believed that men should follow them because they wore fancy jewels and a fancy apron.
Your white lambskin with the small emblem sounds perfect and in keeping with the lesson that we all are on the level. I appreciate your thoughts.
I thank you for this perspective Brother. I really appreciate reading it. You are certainly correct that leadership and position don't always coincide.
I think that we have all probably seen that Lodge in which one of the sideliners was so well respected that he was truly the leader of it, despite not holding a position of leadership within it. I think that can be a good or bad thing depending on the Lodge and the men within it. If that sideliner is leading because everyone holds him in such high esteem, then that is a good thing, but if he is because there is a leadership vacuum within the officer line, it can be quite damaging in my view.
Does grand lodge offer anything other than the imitation lambskin? Shouldn't they at least offer a choice? I'd assume that lodge secretaries simply order that when ordering new candidate materials because it is more convenient.
Speaking of appropriate aprons...my first masonic funeral was presided over by a past grand master. He was quite clear that we all should wear our white leather aprons, not the cloth ones, and not our installed office ones. When we all marched in, he was wearing his past grand master apron. It was his right to do so of course, but I felt it told me more about his outlook than anything else.
I don't know what the GL office offers our Lodges, but I will check. You are certainly correct that if we are going to hold some in stock, they should be of proper quality. I'd actually been meaning to do that (I think maybe you and I have talked about this in the past) but I'd forgotten to do so.
I took a look with the Grand Secretary, and I was able to confirm that the aprons currently offered by the GL office are leather. I'd say that they are of middle quality, certainly not the best available, but far from the worst.
I would correct some of my thoughts now that I've had another decade of reading. But for the most part, the article can stand "as is".
If you take a literal view of Biblical history, the first to wear "aprons" were, of course, Adam and Eve. But theirs was made of plants. Genesis 3:7 "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." The English word "apron" first appears in the famous King James Version of the Bible.
The Hebrew word (Strong's word H2296) is "Hagor" with the "h" having a "kh" sound. In Hebrew the word can have meanings from "loin-covering," or "belt", or "loin-cloth".
It is not until Genesis 3:21 that we read anything about animal skins; the specific configurations of these animal skins are left vague: "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them."
The first unambiguous use of the term "leather apron" comes from St. Augustine's discussion of the desert monastic communities of Egypt where the hermit monks wore a square of leather (suspended from a cord or belt around the waist) as a loin-cloth. They were called Campestrati, coming from the term Campestre or Campestria for the garment worn by Roman athletes who trained while wearing these clothes for modesty's sake.
Since Adam and the Compestrati both wore the garment for the practical purpose of hiding their "private" parts, one can still refer to this function as "operative". And the word "apron" was not yet a common word for these garments.
One version of the "...the Geneva Bible is the so-called "Breeches Bible", the first of which appeared in 1579. In the Breeches Bible, Genesis Chapter III Verse 7 reads:
"Then the eies of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed figge tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches."
In the King James Version of 1611, "breeches" was changed to "aprons". Geneva Bibles with the "breeches" passage continued to be printed well into the time of the King James Bible of 1611.
After Augustine came the monk John Cassian whose book, "The Institutes" popularized the use of the **LEATHER** Campestre for monks in France ... usually worn UNDER the monastic robe. This was passed onto the Celtic Church and much of Europe.
Alcuin of York (c. 735 to 804) apparently kept the tradition alive by teaching its use to his famous German student, Rabanus Maur (780 – 856 CE). Maur vigorously taught the use of the campestre as an undergarment to his followers. Alcuin gave Rabanus the "nickname" Maur. Coincidentally, "Maurer" is a German word for "mason" aka "wall-maker". Maur was the word for a stone wall.
The modern Catholic Church still has limited uses of this kind of leather apron.
Thank you for providing us with this information, and the link to your article! I thought that it was superb, and I think that your argument as to how the apron entered Freemasonry makes a great deal of sense. Our aprons would not do well for the protection of a workman's clothing.
I sincerely hope that we stop cheapening our Fraternity. That we relegate those old vinyl aprons to history, Agreed.
“ along with all the other ill-conceived innovations that have crept into our Fraternity in the name of saving money and keeping costs as low as possible.”
It appears to me, this has been my experience with one of my Lodges and Temple Boards that I belong to. The majority of the Brothers are focused on the building, saving money and one on the benefit of being employed by the Temple Board, increasing his power of influence and control…with no set supervision accounting. These behaviors are not Masonic nor beneficial to the Betterment of our Masonic Lodge, in fact these negative behaviors are responsible for our decreasing membership. “Being honest might not get you a lot of friends, but will always get you the right ones.” John Lennon.
I think it important that we properly maintain, and regularly improve our buildings. Doing so improves the Masonic experience for our members, and protects what is in many cases our largest Lodge investment.
Grand Master, Your observation about the various adornments on so many aprons may also apply to Masonic "bling" in general. The essence of what we('re supposed to) do has no connection to fancier aprons or award pins scattered all over one's lapels. And the problem isn't that we have all kinds of Masonic finery, the problem is that some brothers ascribe them too much importance.
Like yourself I'm a bit conflicted. I tend to be a "less is more" person and yet I have a few awards and several fancy aprons on which I'm very proud. If we can ever determine the ideal balance I suggest we once and for all settle the dispute surrounding the designated hitter rule. Only then can we answer the question: tastes great or less filling?
I have not had much time to engage in emeth these last two weeks but the "cheapening" is something I've often criticized about modern freemasonry in my area. When did the largest oldest and most esteemed fraternity in the world become cheap?
Agreed. The rush, over decades, towards the lowest common denominator just seems insane to me. And of course, has done a shocking amount of damage to our Fraternity.
When I was doing my undergraduate degree, and was studying the impact of Freemasonry and American Society, I remember seeing all the unique personalized aprons of our forefathers. At the time I really liked the idea of taking symbols and colors that are unique to the individual brother and putting them on display. I see the plain white lambskin the way I see my work uniform, or a military uniform; It is a great equalizer. We meet on the level, and, if my assumptions/memory allow, there is no man higher than a Master Mason in the fraternity.
During my time in Hawaii I remember asking about custom made aprons. In my rebellious youth I thought it a bit hypocritical that the members wore white lambskin, but officer wore white with blue trim, tassels, and symbols. Then when Grand Lodge Officers came to visit the embellishments became greater and greater and there was a distinct hierarchical system on display of status. At the time, it felt like we were "meeting on the level," but some people were still a little higher up.
One of my mentors spent some time as the Grand Master for Hawaii, and I distinctly remember him only wearing his fancy Grand Master's apron for Grand Lodge events. The rest of the time he wore a very similar apron to what you describe, simple white lambskin with a very small embroidered Grand Master's symbol. He seemed more approachable, he seemed more open, and he seemed like he was there to do work, not to stroke his ego.
So going back to being torn on the issue. I think there is a time and a place for "fun aprons." I would love to have a white based apron with Hawaiian print borders and kukui nut tassels. Not for my ego, not for anything other than the fact that I think it represents me, my personality, and my connection to the craft. But I think that needs to be standardized to all brethren, and possibly reserved for certain events.
A good instance is, if we are having a football night, like this next monthly stated meeting at Fern Hill, it would be a lot of fun to wear a "football themed" apron to match the attire. I could flaunt my Steelers black and gold bumble bee stripes with embroidered Lombardi Trophies, and it would be a lot of fun to see what other people come up with. But do I think that's appropriate for all occasions? Not at all.
Thank you. I as well have wondered why we say what we do when presenting an apron, and immediately the Entered Apprentice can look around the room and see many aprons that are not plain white lambskins.
I suppose we inherited from our British Brethren the thought that if you have a title you must have some sort of fancy regalia to go along with it. I often wonder how the Royal Family knows what to wear because they seem to have a different "uniform" on for each different event.
As a leadership instructor, I subscribe to the thought that your title does not make you a leader. I have known Masons in leadership positions who led poorly and believed that men should follow them because they wore fancy jewels and a fancy apron.
Your white lambskin with the small emblem sounds perfect and in keeping with the lesson that we all are on the level. I appreciate your thoughts.
I thank you for this perspective Brother. I really appreciate reading it. You are certainly correct that leadership and position don't always coincide.
I think that we have all probably seen that Lodge in which one of the sideliners was so well respected that he was truly the leader of it, despite not holding a position of leadership within it. I think that can be a good or bad thing depending on the Lodge and the men within it. If that sideliner is leading because everyone holds him in such high esteem, then that is a good thing, but if he is because there is a leadership vacuum within the officer line, it can be quite damaging in my view.
Does grand lodge offer anything other than the imitation lambskin? Shouldn't they at least offer a choice? I'd assume that lodge secretaries simply order that when ordering new candidate materials because it is more convenient.
Speaking of appropriate aprons...my first masonic funeral was presided over by a past grand master. He was quite clear that we all should wear our white leather aprons, not the cloth ones, and not our installed office ones. When we all marched in, he was wearing his past grand master apron. It was his right to do so of course, but I felt it told me more about his outlook than anything else.
I don't know what the GL office offers our Lodges, but I will check. You are certainly correct that if we are going to hold some in stock, they should be of proper quality. I'd actually been meaning to do that (I think maybe you and I have talked about this in the past) but I'd forgotten to do so.
I took a look with the Grand Secretary, and I was able to confirm that the aprons currently offered by the GL office are leather. I'd say that they are of middle quality, certainly not the best available, but far from the worst.
Many years ago, I wrote a brief history of the leather apron, going back to St. Augustine, when he wrote about the "Apron Men"!
[ See p 11 of the now discontinued Lodge Room Magazine, issue 09-Sept-2007: http://lodgeroomuk.net/intblog/download/Lodgeroom%20Magazine/lr_mag_2007/09Sept07%282%29.pdf ]
I would correct some of my thoughts now that I've had another decade of reading. But for the most part, the article can stand "as is".
If you take a literal view of Biblical history, the first to wear "aprons" were, of course, Adam and Eve. But theirs was made of plants. Genesis 3:7 "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." The English word "apron" first appears in the famous King James Version of the Bible.
The Hebrew word (Strong's word H2296) is "Hagor" with the "h" having a "kh" sound. In Hebrew the word can have meanings from "loin-covering," or "belt", or "loin-cloth".
It is not until Genesis 3:21 that we read anything about animal skins; the specific configurations of these animal skins are left vague: "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them."
The first unambiguous use of the term "leather apron" comes from St. Augustine's discussion of the desert monastic communities of Egypt where the hermit monks wore a square of leather (suspended from a cord or belt around the waist) as a loin-cloth. They were called Campestrati, coming from the term Campestre or Campestria for the garment worn by Roman athletes who trained while wearing these clothes for modesty's sake.
Since Adam and the Compestrati both wore the garment for the practical purpose of hiding their "private" parts, one can still refer to this function as "operative". And the word "apron" was not yet a common word for these garments.
One version of the "...the Geneva Bible is the so-called "Breeches Bible", the first of which appeared in 1579. In the Breeches Bible, Genesis Chapter III Verse 7 reads:
"Then the eies of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed figge tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches."
In the King James Version of 1611, "breeches" was changed to "aprons". Geneva Bibles with the "breeches" passage continued to be printed well into the time of the King James Bible of 1611.
After Augustine came the monk John Cassian whose book, "The Institutes" popularized the use of the **LEATHER** Campestre for monks in France ... usually worn UNDER the monastic robe. This was passed onto the Celtic Church and much of Europe.
Alcuin of York (c. 735 to 804) apparently kept the tradition alive by teaching its use to his famous German student, Rabanus Maur (780 – 856 CE). Maur vigorously taught the use of the campestre as an undergarment to his followers. Alcuin gave Rabanus the "nickname" Maur. Coincidentally, "Maurer" is a German word for "mason" aka "wall-maker". Maur was the word for a stone wall.
The modern Catholic Church still has limited uses of this kind of leather apron.
Thank you for providing us with this information, and the link to your article! I thought that it was superb, and I think that your argument as to how the apron entered Freemasonry makes a great deal of sense. Our aprons would not do well for the protection of a workman's clothing.
Thank you again Brother!
I sincerely hope that we stop cheapening our Fraternity. That we relegate those old vinyl aprons to history, Agreed.
“ along with all the other ill-conceived innovations that have crept into our Fraternity in the name of saving money and keeping costs as low as possible.”
It appears to me, this has been my experience with one of my Lodges and Temple Boards that I belong to. The majority of the Brothers are focused on the building, saving money and one on the benefit of being employed by the Temple Board, increasing his power of influence and control…with no set supervision accounting. These behaviors are not Masonic nor beneficial to the Betterment of our Masonic Lodge, in fact these negative behaviors are responsible for our decreasing membership. “Being honest might not get you a lot of friends, but will always get you the right ones.” John Lennon.
I think it important that we properly maintain, and regularly improve our buildings. Doing so improves the Masonic experience for our members, and protects what is in many cases our largest Lodge investment.
Grand Master, Your observation about the various adornments on so many aprons may also apply to Masonic "bling" in general. The essence of what we('re supposed to) do has no connection to fancier aprons or award pins scattered all over one's lapels. And the problem isn't that we have all kinds of Masonic finery, the problem is that some brothers ascribe them too much importance.
Like yourself I'm a bit conflicted. I tend to be a "less is more" person and yet I have a few awards and several fancy aprons on which I'm very proud. If we can ever determine the ideal balance I suggest we once and for all settle the dispute surrounding the designated hitter rule. Only then can we answer the question: tastes great or less filling?
I have not had much time to engage in emeth these last two weeks but the "cheapening" is something I've often criticized about modern freemasonry in my area. When did the largest oldest and most esteemed fraternity in the world become cheap?
Agreed. The rush, over decades, towards the lowest common denominator just seems insane to me. And of course, has done a shocking amount of damage to our Fraternity.
https://verity59.org/uploads/3/4/7/7/34770163/masonsapron.pdf
Thank you Brother!
When I was doing my undergraduate degree, and was studying the impact of Freemasonry and American Society, I remember seeing all the unique personalized aprons of our forefathers. At the time I really liked the idea of taking symbols and colors that are unique to the individual brother and putting them on display. I see the plain white lambskin the way I see my work uniform, or a military uniform; It is a great equalizer. We meet on the level, and, if my assumptions/memory allow, there is no man higher than a Master Mason in the fraternity.
During my time in Hawaii I remember asking about custom made aprons. In my rebellious youth I thought it a bit hypocritical that the members wore white lambskin, but officer wore white with blue trim, tassels, and symbols. Then when Grand Lodge Officers came to visit the embellishments became greater and greater and there was a distinct hierarchical system on display of status. At the time, it felt like we were "meeting on the level," but some people were still a little higher up.
One of my mentors spent some time as the Grand Master for Hawaii, and I distinctly remember him only wearing his fancy Grand Master's apron for Grand Lodge events. The rest of the time he wore a very similar apron to what you describe, simple white lambskin with a very small embroidered Grand Master's symbol. He seemed more approachable, he seemed more open, and he seemed like he was there to do work, not to stroke his ego.
So going back to being torn on the issue. I think there is a time and a place for "fun aprons." I would love to have a white based apron with Hawaiian print borders and kukui nut tassels. Not for my ego, not for anything other than the fact that I think it represents me, my personality, and my connection to the craft. But I think that needs to be standardized to all brethren, and possibly reserved for certain events.
A good instance is, if we are having a football night, like this next monthly stated meeting at Fern Hill, it would be a lot of fun to wear a "football themed" apron to match the attire. I could flaunt my Steelers black and gold bumble bee stripes with embroidered Lombardi Trophies, and it would be a lot of fun to see what other people come up with. But do I think that's appropriate for all occasions? Not at all.