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Thick, heavy, and durable canvas and linen bags called feedsacks were used in the mid-19th century for the storage and transport of solid bulk staples such as flour, grains, seeds and animal feed. Prior to this time wooden barrels; which would leak, and tins; which would rust, were used to handle bulk liquid and solid items. A farmer would have his name stamped on his bag so it could be returned and refilled. The canvas fabric made from hemp and the linen fabric made from flax was replaced in the late 19th century by strong and inexpensive cotton.
The recycling process continued when people buying bulk goods began using the cotton fabric for dishtowels, aprons, and dresses. Industrious feed store suppliers began printing colorful patterns on the fabric to entice farmers to buy more of their bulk products.
Feedsacks or “commodity bags” used to hold finer sized grains; flour, sugar and salt were tightly woven.
Larger grained animal feed such as corn was placed in loosely woven Osnaburg, originally made from flax.
United States textile mills producing feedsack material were:
- Bemis Brothers Bag Company founded in St. Louis, Missouri (1858), with additional locations in Tennessee and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- Chase Bag Company, Boston, Massachusetts (founded 1847).
- Percy Kent, founded in Brooklyn, NY (1883), with locations in Buffalo, NY. Major textile designer, August Charles Barton (1897-1960).
- Fulton Bag Company and Cotton Mills founded Atlanta, Georgia (1865).1
- Pacific Mill, Lawrence, Massachusetts and Columbia, South Carolina.
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A very colorful array of prints selected for a Lincoln Log quilt. All the fabric in this quilt (constructed circa 1955), came from printed cotton flour sacks used to hold grains made at a flour mill in Henderson, Kentucky. |
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| A very colorful array of prints selected for a Lincoln Log quilt. All the fabric in this quilt (constructed circa 1955), came from printed cotton flour sacks used to hold grains made at a flour mill in Henderson, Kentucky. |
References.
K Brandes2009 The Use of. Commodity Bags in Garment Construction.” PhD
Feed Sack Fashion in Rural America: A Reflection of Culture - New Prairie Press
© Grassroots Horticulture
2021
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