Friday, November 5, 2010

Bubblegum Pink for Pink Saturday!



HISTORY OF FEEDSACKS IN THE U.S.

In the early 1800's, goods such as food staples, grain, seed, and animal feed were packed for transportation and storage in tins, boxes, and wooden barrels. But tin rusted and boxes and barrels leaked and were difficult to transport. But in 1846, with the invention of a stitching machine that sewed double lock seams strong enough to hold the contents of a bag, homespun linen was used by farmers to store goods such as flour, sugar, meal, grain, salt and feed.

The bags were reusable with the farmer bringing an empty sack stamped with his mark or brand to the mill to be filled. This changed when the North East mills began weaving inexpensive cotton fabric in the late 1800's. Feedsacks (or feedbags) were initially printed on plain white cloth and in sizes that corresponded to barrel sizes. For example, a one-barrel bag held 196 pounds of flour. A 1/8 barrel bag only held 24 pounds. The brand name of the flour was simply printed on the side of the bag.

Thrifty farm wives quickly discovered that these cotton bags were a great source of fabric for dishcloths, diapers, nightgowns and other household uses. Manufacturers decided to take advantage of this and started offering sacks in various prints and solid colors as a marketing ploy. It would take three identical sacks to make a dress, for example, and the farmer just might be induced to buy more that way.

The flour industry consumed the largest share of the feedsack market with sugar next, followed by feed, seeds, rice, and fertilizer. These feedsacks came in different sizes, and the quality of the cloth varied with the item it carried. Sugar sacks, for example, were much finer in weave. By 1914, sacks came in 10, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1-pound sizes. President Roosevelt standardized sizes in 1937. A 50-pound feedsack measured 34 x 38 inches. A 100-pound sack measured 39 x 46.

Magazines and pattern companies began to take notice of feedsack popularity and published patterns to take advantage of the feedsack prints. Matching fabric and even matching wrapping paper was available, too. A 1942 estimate showed that three million women and children of all income levels were wearing print feedbag garments.

Source: Driessen, Kris. Quilt History. Feedsacks. http://www.quilthistory.com/feedsacks.htm.

You can see more feedsack examples of days gone by in my
VINTAGE COTTAGE HOME etsy shop!
Please come visit! Happy Pink Saturday!

For more PRECIOUS PINK POSTS, go to Beverly's PINK SATURDAY!!!

15 comments:

  1. These are so very pretty and I enjoyed learning more about the history of feedsack. Have a wonderful weekend! Twyla

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  2. THEY ARE SO PRETTY, I REMEMBER MY MOM WOULD GET THE FEED SACKS, AND SHE WOULD WASH THEM, AND MAKE DISH TOWELS, IF SHE HAD A FEW OF THE SAME PRINT SHE WOULD MAKE AN APRON FOR HERSELF. THEY WERE ALL COTTON. RIZZI

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  3. these sacks look so cool! i kinda want one! i haven't been on in a while, sorry, but i've been busy w/ school. i still love ur blog! please comment on my blog sometime, i'd love to hear from you :)

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  4. Those patterns are adorable and I LOVE the history lesson! :) Very cool! The only sacks I've ever seen in person are the plain ol' burlap, so these are very interesting to me. :)

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  5. Wonderful Feed Sacks and so very interesting history. Love to quilt with them!

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  6. You are just a wealth of knowledge. I love coming over. Have a terrific weekend. HPS! Anne

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  7. Happy PS! What fab feed sacks!!
    And I got a history lesson as well!
    Have a great weekend!

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  8. so interesting Coralie, I love the old feedsacks, I remember the ones my grand mother had, and wish I had them now.

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  9. That was a really interesting article...thank you for that! Too bad feedsacks are not so prevalent today---what a thrifty and pretty way to recycle! I'd never seen feedsacks before until we moved to Northern Washington. At a grocery store that I like to shop at now and then, there's printed cloth bags of flour, sugar, etc. in the Mexican foods aisle. They only stock a few small ones so I couldn't make a dress...but maybe I'll buy some for dishtowels---just for fun! ;)

    HaPpY pInK sAtUrDaY!
    Sarah

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  10. Love these prints. They are so pretty!! Happy Pink Saturday to you!!

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  11. Happy Pink Saturday. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pink treasures.

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  12. Those print feed sacks made many an apron and sun dresses for my twin and I. My grandmother would take the sacks home and wash them up and when they came to visit again we had something new to wear.

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  13. Hi Coralie, I'm old enough to remember my mom picking out seeds and animal feed and we helped her with the feed sack fabrics we liked. We would be wearing them. Smile. We lived on a dairy farm in MI. A wonderful life for kids.

    I enjoyed reading the history of feed sacks. Where did you find so many? A great find.
    Warm hugs, Jeanne

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  14. You just can't beat the pretty patterns on feedsack. Thanks for the history lesson, Coralie!
    Happy Pink Saturday!
    Carol

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  15. These are great patterns for the feed sacks!

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