Feed Sacks: An American Fairy Tale
Feed sack is a catch-all term for any cloth bag that contains a variety of dry goods.This type of bag has many names: feed sack, feed bag, cloth commodity bag. Ingenious and thrifty quilters, seamstresses, home sewists and children re-used the cloth to create quilts, clothes, bedding, decor and accessories that exemplify the era.
The term “feed sack” tends to evoke brightly coloured, small-scale printed designs on coarsely woven cotton. This type of fabric is synonymous with feed sacks. However, it is not the only fabric used for feed sacks, and the cotton commodity bags held more than just "feed."
The term “feed sack” tends to evoke brightly coloured, small-scale printed designs on coarsely woven cotton. This type of fabric is synonymous with feed sacks. However, it is not the only fabric used for feed sacks, and the cotton commodity bags held more than just "feed."
Want to read more of this article?
We are proud to be a subscriber-funded publication with members in 185 countries. We know our readership is passionate about textiles, so we invite you to help us preserve and promote the stories, memories, and histories that fabric holds. Your support allows us to publish our magazine, and also ‘what's on’ information, and subscription interviews, reviews, and long-read articles in our online blog.
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER? CLICK HERE TO ACCESS CONTENT
