Those of you that are vintage fabric fanatics, you are going to love this find. I have this need to visit antique districts anytime I am away from home. While browsing through historic downtown Glendale, Arizona, I stumbled across these lovely feedsacks. Did I happen to mention that they are in mint condition with the labels still attached?
After talking with one of the locals, I found that the Southwest Flour and Feed Company had been located in Glendale for nearly a century and had just recently been shut down. For those of you that don't really know the history of feedsacks, they were introduced in the mid 1800's as an alternative to barrels. Originally the sacks were made of unbleached cotton but later (mid 1920's) were available in prints as housewives everywhere were using them to make clothing and bedding.
When the man of the house went to the mill to get feed for his farm, his daughter usually tagged along to pick out the bag fabrics so that the mother would have the most desirable fabric to sew with.
The biggest challenge at first with the feedsacks was to remove the label. Women would soak the fabric in kerosene or rub it with unsalted lard and then wash it with lye soap. But later a more gentle glue was used to adhere the label for easier removal. Many people associate feedsacks with the Depression although they actually were used well before this time and up until the late 1960's.
Enough with the history lesson!! I do thank you for reading this whole post as I am truly passionate about my vintage fabric. What are my plans with these feedsacks?... Maybe I can make a shrine out of them....or maybe not! All I know is that I don't have the nerve to cut them up, so for now I will probably show them to everyone I know and then store them away for save keeping.
4 comments:
love it. thanks for the lesson! so interesting. here is your talent my dear friend......and that will fester and something amazing will come from these sacks.
What an amazingly beautiful find. I thank you for the fascinating history of the feedsacks. I am so happy to see one with the tag on as I have long been curious about them. We certainly share a love for vintage fabrics!
What lovely feed sacks! It's so unusual to find a great print with paper labels still attached. I enjoy reading your posts!
Cheers,
Michael
thanks for the "history lesson". I had no idea what they were & found your lovely, concise explanation through google. Now I just need to find some feed sacks of my own. Reminds me, actually, how my grandmother used to complain about having to make material from this -- and how she swore she'd never do it again. Now I know exactly what she was talking about. Funny how 50 years later it's fashionable rather than economical. :-)
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