Some of you remember feed sacks, and some of you have no idea what I’m talking about. Feed sacks were a big deal back in the day. Various kinds of feed, flour, and other staples used to come in cloth bags and, after the contents were used up, housewives took out the stitching and hemmed them for dishtowels. Some, who couldn’t afford to buy yard goods, used the material to make clothing for the family. Eventually, the sacks began to show up in pretty prints, and those were much in demand; many a remnant found its way into a quilt.
When I was first married, my husband was in college at Chadron, on the GI Bill, and our funds were severely limited. My spouse, and his brother, who was also a student, had jobs at the flour mill, and access to all the flour sacks they wanted. We laid in a supply, and most of my sewing projects were from flour sacks. I made maternity tops, most of the clothing for my children, and even western shirts for my husband, who liked the brightest prints. Even later, when we could afford to buy material, he would go to the fabric shop in Valentine and pick out something outrageous to make a shirt. The owner soon caught on to his taste and guided him to the latest patterns.
Cottonseed cake for cattle was in burlap bags called gunny sacks, and those were always saved and re-used. Soaked in an oily mixture, (used oil, of course; we threw very little away) they were wrapped on a chain hung between two posts, making a fly rub for the herd. When you needed a container to pour seed into, you grabbed a gunny sack, and they were handy for carrying extra tools in the pickup, or taking to the field to fill with fresh picked corn. I miss the feed sacks, and am frustrated when I need a gunny sack and none is available because they aren’t made anymore.
Ranchers often skinned a critter that had died, and tanned the leather. I recall a gun case that Dad made, Hereford hair side out. Deer skin was sent away to be made into gloves.
Housewives became loyal to certain brands of powdered laundry soap that came with a drinking glass or some other piece of dishware inside. Hardly anyone had a matched setting of tableware, but free is free, after all. I wonder if they ever realized that there was less soap in the box because of the extra space for the premium. Maybe that’s where the custom of a toy in cereal boxes came from, and the kids’ meals at fast food places continued the practice. Evidently, it helps sell the products.
Bruce’s mother used feed sacks. I know this because we live in the house where she raised her family, and there are two of her dishtowels in the kitchen drawer that I use often. Also, a small green plate in the cupboard that I suspect came in a box of soap, because my mom had one like it.
Going to the county fairs made me think about sewing projects for 4-H, and wish that feed sacks were still around. If youngsters were asked to make something with feed sacks, they’d learn about making do, and the efforts it took to clothe a family in hard times.
Meet me here next week, and meanwhile, do your best. Somebody might like it.