[10] A 100-pound (45kg) bag of chicken feed provided a 36in 44in (910mm 1,120mm) piece of fabric, slightly more than a square yard. There is a record from one of their A.G.M.s that they introduced this system of putting the labels on the bands of the bags and sacks so that the fabric could be used by women, they said it "proved exceedingly popular". If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. ", "I was born in 1936 and spent my growing up years in/around my parents' feed mill that produced its own brand of feeds for poultry/hogs/beef and dairy. [4], According to Margaret Powell, speaking at the Textile Society of America's 2012 symposium:[4]. [14], There was an element of shame experienced by those dressed in flour sack clothing, as it was seen as a mark of poverty, so efforts were often made to hide the fact the clothing was made from feed sacks, such as soaking off logos, dying the fabric, or adding trim. The quilt top sacks are red, white and blue, small prints. I remember one hank of feedsack that was so garish to our eyes, Mom made it into pj's for Dad, saying once he takes his glasses off, it won't keep him awake. I was born in 1934. Now, oh how I long to have some of those wonderful little feed sack dresses! The Amazing Story of Kentucky's Horseback Librarians (10 Photos). Mama made a lot of pretty things for us girls out of flour sacks. Flickr Creative Commons photo, uploaded by gina pina. [2] The bags of the time were hand-sewn at home from rough cloth made of hand-spun yarn, sometimes stamped with the name of the farmer. "My mother made shirts out of feed sacks, which a lot of cow feed, came in. A friend of mine was born in the 1920's. I wrote a story about the feedbag dress and it has been published three times in the following places: "Out of the Cradle" Magazine, Fall, 1996; "Fellowship Link" Magazine, Fall, 2002; and "Echoing Memories", Faithful Life Publishers, 2014, page 81, ISBN 978-1-63073-034-5. I also have memories of feed sacks. [2] In 1933 the Textile Bag Manufacturers Association published a booklet, Sewing with Cotton Bags, which provided instructions on how to get company logos out of sacks by soaking the inked area in lard or kerosene overnight. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions. My Aunt even made me Barbie clothes when the Barbie first came out from scraps my Grandmother had saved in her sewing machine, a Singer I still own today and it still works. During WWII we had to conserve everything, nothing was wasted. The depression mentality stayed with many of the farmer families that we served in the 1950s. "[2][3] Finding bags that matched was important as many patterns required more than a single sack. [3] By 1936 the Staley Milling Company of Kansas City, Missouri was marketing "Tint-sax" in pastel shades. In the 1800s, flour, and other bulk products began to be distributed in cotton sacks. The real conflicts arose when the material happened to come, not from the fabric store, but from the feed store. I was born in our farmhouse in 1940. This fabric is still available, I see it when I go to my local mexican market. We kids were all proud of our wonderful clothes and wore them with pride. The first use of fabric sacks can be traced to the early 19th century, when small farmers strapped a sack to the back of a horse to take their grain for milling. One of the most interesting innovations came when women began using cotton flour sacks to make dresses and shirts for their children. I suggested he look up the feed sack history, and now, here am I . My Grandfather had several tobacco farms so he had the twine. The photo on the right shows the instructions that were printed on many of the bags, many of which came with ink that could be dulled or washed out completely. [2], During World War II, as textile shortages limited production of both commercially made garments and the retail yardage to make garments at home, feed sacks were still available. Offaly Independent, 05/11/1955, page, 3. "Feed sacks in Georgia: Their manufacture, marketing, and consumer use". It's fun that this system reached the other side of the Atlantic. In comparison, three yards of dress quality gingham used in Gingham Girl Flour sacks from the George P. Plant Milling Company could be salvaged after the use of two or three one hundred pound bags of flour. My Mom said they did well turning the depression because they raised most of their food. I can remember her with 'yesterday's' newpaper spread on the dining table in preparation of cutting out a new pattern.Does anyone have or can someone refer me to someone who could make me a pattern for the dress in the article? I am 69 years old.I remember my dresses and my brothers shirts were made out of colorful flour sacks.My mother saved either our clothes or some of the flour sack material.She had me a quilt made out of them.I love my quilt.Im reminded of the beautiful memories of my child hood every time I look at it. They werent thought of as precious at all, so no one ever thought to keep them!. This book will help you sort, identify, and preserve your own treasured family artifacts and memorabilia. Feed sack dresses, flour sack dresses, or feedsack dresses were a common article of clothing in rural US and Canadian communities from the late 19th century through the mid 20th century. Check out these books: Take better care of your own family heirloom pieces, whether they are photos, vintage fabrics, documents or other objects. The lining is a larger print with blue grapes and red and yellow flowers on a white background. ", "I was born in 1935 and well remember the adorable dresses Mom made for me and shirts and pants she made for my older Brother. This page was last edited on 25 December 2020, at 06:21. Times were tough but my memory is love, faith, patriotism all thanks to God, Mom & Dad.Eleanor McAdams Preston", "My maternal grandfather also worked for Pillsbury, at the flour mill complex in Buffalo, NY. I was about 8 when my rebellion began. The following photos tell the story about how everyone truly played their part during this era. He also worked for Pillsbury in Alton, IL. [2][4], Several people from rural Virginia spoke about their clothes made from sacks during the depression. On April 28, 1922, The Washington Post announced, Farewell to the Old Flour Sack. Millers thought replacing the cotton sacks with paper cartons would be more convenient, both for distribution handling and storage for the average housewife. America.https://archive.irishnewsarchive.com/Olive/APA/INA.Edu/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=OFINA%2F1955%2F11%2F05&id=Ar00308&sk=C664FA4E. Many households would cut the ugly, plain bags into chunks and would use them for dish towels. She made sure Dad would get two sacks just alike. That was what the pattern took to make the dresses right." [2], The use of the sacks in garments meant brand decisions were often being made by women rather than men. We had feedsack pajamas, even Dad, dresses, shorts, blouses, shirts, hairbands, eyeglass cases even sheets and pillowcases. This early 1940s photo on the left shows two women showing off their hand-made dresses while standing next to a shipment of colored and patterned bags. I thought material was attached to a flour sack to be used as a kitchen towel? She would then add different details to each dress. Pretty prints. For the first four-five years of my life, all my dresses were sewn by my paternal grandmother from feed sacks. Until I saw some photos of them as children wearing the feed sacks. Their were 6 children two boys and four boys. They became an iconic part of rural life from the 1920s through the Great Depression, World War II, and post-World War II years. I still have the quilts.. My quilt interest developed into writing magazine articles and two books with original patterns. Symposium conducted at the Third Symposium of the Textile Society of America. It ain't natural. [2] In 1933 the US Department of Agriculture described the bags in a booklet as having "a high salvage value. The plain white ones were valued as dishtowels and Mom would take several and sew them end to end put them on a rolling towel bar, thus giving the crews a chance to a clean section of a towel when washing up for those big harvest meals that were prepared for them. "Mama always sewed on a Singer treadle sewing machine and made our dresses from flour sacks. [2][4] Most feed sack production ceased by the early 1960s. Our moms could also make matching panties, to cover our underpants, for when we wanted to twirl on the bars on the play ground.I dont think there were leggings or tights, then. We lived in rural north GA, but none-the-less I was teased by my parents friends about my feed-sack dresses. By Nicholls Horace [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. embroidery machine sea fish patterns tropical designs baby library emblibrary tessa el Theres a cute childrens book about these dresses. "[4], By the beginning of the 20th century, flour sacks were produced in a variety of fabrics of tighter weave such as percale and sheeting and often printed in various colors and designs, and recycled for clothing and other purposes. They were keen innovators and often traveled abroad to get ideas, including to America. "[7], At the industry's peak, 1,300,000,000 yards (1,200,000km) of cotton fabric were used in commodity bags, in 1946 accounting for 8.0% of the cotton goods production and 4.5% of total cotton consumption in the US. Their mother would make them identical dresses that were simply straight pieces of fabric with an elastic casing for the waistline. She still used it though. [2] They sponsored design competitions and fashion shows, plus sewing contests in every state to find the National Cotton Bag Sewing Queen,[4] and hired prominent textile designers to create their prints to prop up demand. Note that it appears as though the patterned bags did begin to cost more in the late 1940s, but as this ad said, they were worth the extra cost. I personally do not recall the dresses being made from the sacks, rather the material that was attached, we lived in a remote and i do mean remote area of west Tennessee. Nothing like the good ol days! It won first place and was displayed in a store window in the county seat in SE PA for 3 months. [2][4][7], During World War II, dressmaking-quality fabrics became in short supply as textile manufacturers produced for war efforts, and cotton yard goods were rationed. Washington, D.C. Email powered by MailChimp (Privacy Policy & Terms of Use), International Media Interoperability Framework. Oh how I longed for store-bought dresses. [12] The garments are held in the collection of the Louisiana State University Textile and Costume Museum. [2] Families sometimes saved sacks and traded with neighbors to get sufficient sacks in a particular print. This trend quickly caught on and once the flour companies got word of this, they chipped in by beginning to print patterns on their bags -- and even adding color! He was mightily embarrassed by the homemade feedsack shirts he had to wear to school. Flour sack dresses were all the rage up until around the 1960s. [2][4] Recycling of them was encouraged by the US government. The motto of the Depression Era was "making do" while making sure nothing was wasted and everything was re-used or recycled. We had ruffles, ties and puffed sleeves, and of course, these all had to be sprinkled, rolled and then the bushel basket of ironing had to be ironed!! View More, This simple craft is so perfect for school or on weekends! My grandmother made all of their clothes out of seed sacks. Oh how I longed for storebought dresses. This Swiss Roll Trifle is the perfect large dessert for a crowd with layers of chocolate pudding, fluffy marshmallowy topping and tons of sliced Swiss rolls! Americans who were not on the frontlines made sacrifices so the soldiers could have provisions. She used it anywhere it wouldn't show. A fascinating article atOldPhotoArchive.comshows some great images of flour and feed sack dresses. [2][4] A paragraph in a short story in an 1892 issue of Arthurs Home Magazine said, "So, that is the secret of how baby looked so lovely in her flour sack: just a little care, patience and ingenuity on the mother's part. What weight sack would be enough for a dress for a petite 5 year old ? Flour sack dresses show how resourceful housewives of the past made do with whatever was at hand. Constitution Avenue, NW You might have seen a viral image with a man sitting smiling with a heap of beautifully printed flour sacks claiming that the sacks were used to create clothing for kiddos in times of need and wondered if it was true The simple answer is yes! and "The Pieceable Kingdom! These Bow Tie Pasta Butterflies are cute and fun and don't take many materials! They might have been embarrassed but nobody was kinder or sweeter than these two girls.". [8][9] Groups of women would get together to trade the sacks and itinerant peddlers bought and sold the empty sacks. I posted a photo of my grandmas old house dresses from the 1930s and 1940s on Instagram. And the Smithsonians National Museum of American History has an online article about a feed sack dress from 1959, because these didnt go out of fashion when the Great Depression ended! "I was born in 1951. Wish I had them still. It is amazing the different uses the women had for the sackcloth. I'd love to have a photo of that! [2] Working with the Millers National Federation it encouraged home sewing projects using feed sacks. [1] According to the Textile Research Center's Willem Vogelsang, "A bag that contained 5lb (2.3kg) of sugar, for example, provided 1ft (30cm) of cloth, while a 100lb (45kg) bag provided slightly more than 1yd (91cm) of material, with four sacks providing enough for one adult womans dress. But, According to Feed Sack Secrets: Fashion from Hard Times, In just a few short years, however, both the city and rural housewife would see the old flour sack in a new light. She used to tell me that her mother had a slip made out of a flour sack. It meant you were poor and low class. When she would tell me that I would always think they were a rough burlap. Mom was born in 1932. These dresses have an interesting past behind them, all dating back to when the world was at war and Americans were dedicated to recycling. The Amazing History of Flour Sack Dresses (10 Photos). "[11], A study by fashion historian Jennifer Lynn Banning analyzing 37 garments made between 1949 and 1968 by one Louisiana farmwife found that the garments and textiles were similar to those being shown contemporaneously in Good Housekeeping magazine to its middle-class reading audience and "had many of the same fashion features as mass produced garments that could be purchased in department stores nationwide". This afternoon, my grandson and I had an enjoyable family feed sack history lesson as I arranged the squares. In 1927, three yards of dress print cotton percale (the typical amount of fabric needed for an average size adult dress) could cost sixty cents when purchased from the Sears and Roebuck catalog. I can remember when as a young adult "perma-press " clothing came into being, and I thought it was a gift from Heaven - NO MORE IRONING!!". she would deck it out with rickrack and ribbons to make her kitchen pretty.My Grandma Nila (b 1926), however was ashamed to let anyone see it. Other mills caught on to the tactic and then started developing their own fashionable packaging. Some sleeveless, some with little puffy fifties sleeves, some with self collars, some with contrasting solid collars. All available cotton and wool was diverted to the war effort. My Dad would holler from the garage door, "going into town to buy feed", and we all three , Mom, my brother and me, would scurry out and hop in and away we went. I cant find any today that comes close to the quality of those. "I was born in 1940, the oldest of seven children (five of whom were girls). We may update this record based on further research and review. These dresses were worn by women young and old. T. Bales.. The men had both been born just before the turn of the century, and the women within the following 20 years. I am completing a project on the Goodbody's of Clara, Co. Offaly, Ireland, who had a textiles mill. Oh, do I remember the dresses made from the seed sacks! The marketing worked. ", "I remember my ex husband saying he doesn't understand why women make such a fuss about their bodies he would find them attractive in a sack. "[2] The US Department of Agriculture reported in 1951 that 75% of mothers living in urban areas and 97% of those living in rural areas had heard of making garments from feed sacks. His family were African-American farmers with no money to spare. I do have two quilts that was given to me from my daddy's first cousin, those were feed sack quilts and made in the 1930's. I regret to say neither feed sack quilt is in the books. If only he had hung on to those embarrassing shirts! Well I wish id nknown about this at that time mind you , as usual they do appear to pinch the waist so even sacks were worn fashionalbly ", "My Mother was born in 1922 on a farm in NC. I had to smile while reading these wonderful comments. These dresses were a way for rural women to show off their fashion sense all while being frugal. [2] Mary Derrick Chaney, writing in the Christian Science Monitor, recalled:[10]. They were made at home, usually by women, using the cotton sacks in which flour, sugar, animal feed, seeds, and other commodities were packaged, shipped, and sold. [2] Patterns were published in magazines and newspapers serving rural communities. My Grandmother was a beautiful seamstress her quilts were made out of the scraps from the dresses so they sometimes did not follow a pattern. We apologize for the interruption. [5] In October of 1924 Asa T. Bales, a millworker from Missouri, filed a patent for "a sack, the cloth of which is adapted to be used for dress goods after the product has been removed or consumed. Fast forward a few years to the 1940s, and the United States was engaged in World War II. See http://www.goodminds.com/flour-sack-flora-out-print. This phenomenon was so key to people in the Depression and post-war era that the Smithsonianeven keeps a sack dress on display, as seen above. ". I am sewing a feed sack quilt right now, but using fabric squares from Etsy instead of the old feed sack fabric my grandmother used. Changes were coming, thanks to a young man named Asa. [2][4] but feed sacks were considered part of the "industrial" category of uses, so feed sacks were still available. In the 1980s Wallace Homestead Book Company published my two quilt books, "Patchwork Plus!" (1992). [2] Mary Derrick Chaney, writing in 1997 in the Christian Science Monitor, recalled that the feed sacks were coarser than the flour sacks, but it was difficult to get enough flour sacks in the same pattern to make a dress. sacks sack anelder Given how widespread this became, national publications began to print instructions for how to produce different items. ", "I was born in 1942. Related industries developed, such as the printing of booklets with instructions on how to create garments and other household items from the sacks and specifying how many sacks of a certain size were needed for a particular item and patterns specifically designed to utilize feed sacks. They weren't thought of as precious at all, so no one ever thought to keep them!". [2] Farm women recycled the sacks into clothing, and by 1925 the George P. Plant Milling Company of St. Louis[5] produced Gingham Girl flour packaged in dress-quality red-and-white checked yarn-dyed fabric and used the sacks as a selling point. View More, To learn more and receive updates Contact Us, What you need to know about that viral photo on Facebook, Explore Other Existing Stories, Articles, & Recipes. So sacks were still being used to make dresses. This was to enourage the farmer husband to buy a specific brand. If you require a personal response, please use ourContact page. Even before prestigious labels ever appeared on jeans and blouses for ordinary little girls, the origins of clothes were a status symbol. Between 12th and 14th Streets [12], The fabric and bags have variously been referred to as feed sacks, flour sacks, commodity bags, and chicken linen. Mom would always insist on going to the store with dad when he was to buy cow feed since the cow feed sacks would come in different colors and prints. I was born in 1946. "Mama made me pinafores out of flour sacks. [3][4] By the late 1930s most companies were using water-soluble ink or paper labels which could be soaked off. She would layer the fabric two to three layers deep and cut the main dresses from the same pattern. I believe they held almost 100 pounds of seeds. Visit the IIIF page to learn more. ", "I LOVE that dress! by Lisa Cooke | Nov 1, 2017 | 01 What's New, Heirloom, History, Memory Lane | 4 comments. African American History Curatorial Collective. Some of my older cousins even have their photos taken wearing the feed sacks. "[2] Banning notes that 20th-century costume history "has traditionally focused on fashion designers and the styles they created," resulting in a "top-rail bias," defined as history written from the perspective of the upper class. Old photo of printed fabric flour sacks or feedsacks. [5], During the Great Depression the popularity of the sacks increased, as they were seen as a source of free garment-making material for impoverished families. The line split off into different brands including Gingham Girl, Mother Gingham, Baby Gingham and Gingham Queen. Now, oh how I long to have some of those wonderful littel feedsack dresses! I was born in 1951. 50? Rhoades, R. (1997). [2], Brandes notes that fashion history has largely been written without including the fashion of rural communities. And as late as 1955 or so we were selling feed in bags that had bright colors and flower patterns that were made into pillow cases, some unused bags that I still possess.Most were made by the Bemis Bag Company, but other big bag makers such as Fulton and Chase made theirs as well.The other heavy duty seamless bags for grain and ground feeds were reused many times, and often had patches over patches by the frugal families of that period. In what weights did flour sacks come? Female workers pose with sacks of flour in the grounds of a British mill during WWI. Three yards of gingham dress goods could cost forty cents. "Dresses made for my sister and me were sometimes made out of cotton feed bags (I guess my brothers were lucky)." My grandmother always went to the feed store to match patterns on the sack She was born in N. Florida in 1919 and was an accomplished, self-taught seamstress. Judy, Thanks for stopping by our place today and sharing your story , COPYRIGHT LISA LOUISE COOKES GENEALOGY GEMS -, Feedsack Secrets: Fashion from Hard Times, Vintage Feed Sacks: Fabrics from the Farm, Fancy to Frugal: Authentic Quilt Patterns from the 30s, How to Archive Family Keepsakes: Learn How to Preserve Family Photos, Memorabilia and Genealogy Records, http://www.goodminds.com/flour-sack-flora-out-print. It made some wonderful memories for us after the war was over. Many of them were quite beautiful! The flour sack dress became a common, and trendy, outfit. "The fashion's in the bag: Recycling feed, flour, and sugar sacks during the middle decades of the 20th century. jacobean crewel embroidery twists designs patterns marcapginas patrn gustado ha que [2][3] A barrel held 196 pounds (89kg) of flour, and the first commercial feed sacks were sized to hold fractions of that amount. She says: Click to view my Facebook post about my grandmas 1940s house dresses. "When I was small, my mother made dresses for me out of these sacks.. These were only skirmishes, however. This dress was crafted in the 1950s as part of a bag sewing contest in Kansas. It is a twin bed. Mama had 17 quilts when she passed in 1962. A woman named Denise posted a neat memory at the end of the Smithsonian article. My Aunt Dorothy made all us girls dresses from colorful printed feedsacks, and we were very lucky to have them! IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. It is a full bed size. But they werent the only clever onessee how savvy flour and feed companies responded to their customers desires for cuter sacking. Adrosko, R. J. [4], After World War II, use of cloth sacks for packaging declined and was replaced with less expensive paper. This Time LIFE photo shows a warehouse worker packing up some of the patterned bags for delivery. 20 or 25 pounds? By the 1920s, these sacks had gotten a little cuter, some with gingham checked or striped patterns. I have worn feed sack shirt as my brothers (5) and (5) sisters had skirts and dresses made from feed sacks then it was the normal thing to do. My grandmas house dresses werent made from flour sacks, but theyre from the same era. "[1] According to Brandes, feed sack fashion was a reflection of rural culture in the first half of the 20th century. Since the sacks were created with clothing in mind, Bales patent noted that the markings on the package, such as brand name, would wash away. This was specifically so the cloth could be transformed into clothing. We lived in rural north GA, but nonetheless I was teased by my parents friends about my feed-sack dresses. My mother grew up during the Great Depression. we sold feeds in many different colorful patterns that showed up again as dresses, curtains, etc. [12], "Feed Sack Fashion in Rural America: A Reflection of Culture", "How Depression-Era Women Made Dresses Out of Chicken Feed", "From Feed Sack t eed Sack to Clothes Rack: The Use of Commodity T o Clothes Rack: The Use of Commodity Textile Bags in American Households from 1890 1960", "2. ecrater mariasdiscoveries nmi potpourri [5], Several educational institutions taught classes in how to use feed sacks, including The Household Science Institute, which produced a monthly newsletter called Out of the Bag and a series of booklets called Sewing with Cotton Bags, which gave instructions on how to use feed sacks. I think a lot of people have fondor at least vividmemories of old dresses like these. The second Feed sack quit is a nine patch design. With all this extra fabric laying around the house and the barns people were starting to get creative with uses. Wish I knew who got those quilts?