Farmers
have been using cloth bags for grain, seed and feed ever since cloth was
available. In the early days, homespun linen was hand sewn into bags for the
grain that was kept for use in the home, and for next year's planting. The
sacks were considered valuable personal property, and were usually stitched or
stencilled with names or initials to identify the owner.
Sometime
in the 1920's, an enterprising manufacturer of cloth bags hit upon an
interesting idea - maybe he could sell more sacks if they were decorated to be
more desirable for the farmer's wife. And the era of the printed feedsack
began. No longer just beige muslin, with advertising for the feed company, now
sacks began to appear in a wide variety of popular colors and prints.
A great idea - and early recycling in practise. I love the top sack with the black writing on it - would look great incorporated into a quilt or remade as a bag :)
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