Feedsacks were cotton sacks and bags that once contained all kinds of edible commodities from sugar and flour to chicken feed and rice. Initially the sacks were plain white, but printed with advertising ink that could (with a lot of effort) be washed out. Feedsacks were not printed with the wonderful colourful patterns we love so much today until the 1920's when the Percy Kent Co introduced printed sacks, so offering home crafters attractive fabrics they could recycle in their homes. This clever marketing tactic helped to boost sales, making that company one of the largest of its kind in the USA.
The trend for recycling these feedsacks lasted through the Depression of the 1930's and the war years of the 1940's. After that paper and plastic sacks began to replace the fabric ones although these continued to be produced right up until the 1960's, but in much more limited quantities.
These colourful vintage feedsacks were produced so that when the side seam was unpicked the resulting usable piece of cloth was something over one square yard - so three feedsacks were usually enough to make one adult woman's dress. Once manufacturers realised the popularity of this vintage fabric they competed to provide the most attractive, and hence the most desirable, prints. Husbands would be sent to the store with strict orders concerning which sacks to choose - and if his wife wanted a new dress then he would be required to come home with three matching sacks!
Antique fabric feedsacks were sometimes produced in solid colours, those of red, lavender, brown and pastel pinks and yellows, though these are becoming increasingly rare. Often feedsacks were printed with floral designs and other patterns include stripes, dots, animals and geometrics. When these antique textiles are reproduced onto high quality paper using the most up-to-date technology they make wonderful bunting flags (at a much more reasonable price than those antique fabric originals)!
Feedsacks were made by over 40 companies and it has been said that there are over 15,000 patterns in existence. Magazines and pattern companies began to understand just how popular this feedsack fabric had become and they published patterns to allow their readers to use the feedsack prints to their best advantage. A 1942 estimate showed that three million women and children of all income levels were wearing print feedbag garments. Today we can enjoy these fabrics in a new form, as bunting, then follow the great tradition of recycling them - albeit as paper this time - when we're done with them!
The trend for recycling these feedsacks lasted through the Depression of the 1930's and the war years of the 1940's. After that paper and plastic sacks began to replace the fabric ones although these continued to be produced right up until the 1960's, but in much more limited quantities.
These colourful vintage feedsacks were produced so that when the side seam was unpicked the resulting usable piece of cloth was something over one square yard - so three feedsacks were usually enough to make one adult woman's dress. Once manufacturers realised the popularity of this vintage fabric they competed to provide the most attractive, and hence the most desirable, prints. Husbands would be sent to the store with strict orders concerning which sacks to choose - and if his wife wanted a new dress then he would be required to come home with three matching sacks!
Antique fabric feedsacks were sometimes produced in solid colours, those of red, lavender, brown and pastel pinks and yellows, though these are becoming increasingly rare. Often feedsacks were printed with floral designs and other patterns include stripes, dots, animals and geometrics. When these antique textiles are reproduced onto high quality paper using the most up-to-date technology they make wonderful bunting flags (at a much more reasonable price than those antique fabric originals)!
Feedsacks were made by over 40 companies and it has been said that there are over 15,000 patterns in existence. Magazines and pattern companies began to understand just how popular this feedsack fabric had become and they published patterns to allow their readers to use the feedsack prints to their best advantage. A 1942 estimate showed that three million women and children of all income levels were wearing print feedbag garments. Today we can enjoy these fabrics in a new form, as bunting, then follow the great tradition of recycling them - albeit as paper this time - when we're done with them!
