The Charms of Ordinary Days

A Few Fun Facts About Feedsack History

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that feed for farm animals was first packed in barrels before being distributed in feed sacks. In one of the comments received, the question was asked, “You just wonder who was ever behind the switch from barrels to lovely cotton fabric sacks?” I promised to do some research and find out more and this is what I learned:

According to Kris Driessen in a well-written informative online Quilt History article regarding feedsacks, the wooden barrels used for grain and feed were not the best because not only did they have the potential to leak but could also be easily damaged. And they were bulky, heavy, and hard to transport. Driessen writes, “Manufacturers were anxious to find another method, but didn’t consider the cloth bags of homespun linen (which was then considered a junk fabric) used by the farmer to store goods for use in the home because the hand sewn seams wouldn’t hold up in heavy use. This changed in 1846 with the invention of the “stitching machine,” which made it possible to sew double locking seams strong enough to hold the contents of a bag.”

“Feedsacks,” Driessen continues, “were initially made of heavy canvas, and were used to obtain flour, sugar, meal, grain, salt and feed from the mills. They 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.”

After WWII, technological innovations provided more sanitary and effective packaging made of heavy paper and plastic containers. It was cost effective, too, writes Driessen. “A cotton bag cost 32 cents to make, as opposed to 10 cents for the paper bag. By 1948 this new industry cornered more than half of the bag market and the cloth bag fell out of use. But not entirely! Some Amish and Mennonite communities demand, and receive, their goods in feedsacks.” 

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

Here is another group of feedsacks from my personal collection. Many of these have either found their way or will find their way into one of my ebay auctions:

Question of the day:

What surprises you most about this feedsack history?