The Hineston Chronicles
Volume 12 Number 3
Photo added to
Historic Hineston
Facebook group
by
Carolyn's Corner
Feed Sacks / Flour Sacks
It is easy to appreciate feed sacks -- from the bold logos of the earliest printed bags to the mid-century modern prints of the 1950s and 1960s they offer a seemingly endless array of eye candy for lovers of textiles, typography and design.
My first encounter with feed sacks was when my mother started buying and saving "like" feed sacks to make my sister and me dresses. She saved the scrapes and made other things like: quilts, aprons, pillow cases, etc. By the way my mother couldn't sew; but, she got Pauline Bessie to make our dresses. She could piece quilts and could quilt, etc.
Pauline - creatively, would fix our little dresses! She would put lace, trims, ruffles, and islets (so you could put different colored ribbons thru them) to dress them up. Lola, my sister, and I never knew we were that poor to have the feed sack dresses! Mother starched and ironed them and we were "stepping in high cotton".
I have been writing short stories for my children and grandchildren to know and to have a knowledge of what life was for me so they will have a history of it. I talked about the feed sack dresses and I began to wonder just how the trend started. Here are a few things I have found.
The story behind the bags was women who saw the possibilities in what was before them---cotton sacks previously filled with fertilizer and feed and flour, etc. The creative ladies transformed them into items of warmth and beauty. It was a time in our history - "waste not, want not" mentality was essential., whether they lived hand-to-mouth on isolated farms , sharecropper's cabins, poverty-stricken towns during the Great Depression or migrant workers' camps after escaping the Dust Bowl.
No matter the circumstances, the clothing, quilts, and domestic linens that these women created were often -- and often still are -- cherished by family members.
I began to wonder how the begs evolved from plain white bags to being printed with patterns. It was to appeal to wives and mothers, sisters and daughters. And, it worked!
I have some pictures of my sister, Lola, and me in our flour sake dresses. I wish so much they were in color; however, I will try and run them over to Ancestry and try and colorize them.
I will end with a poem I thought was good -- Flour-sack underwear was hailed as great aid to defense plan. Therefore, I will share the poem.
Flour Sack Underwear
by Morris W. Jones
When I was just a maiden fair,
Mama made our underwear;
With many kids and Dad's poor pay,
We had no fancy lingerie.
Monograms and fancy stitches
Did not adorn our Sunday britches;
Pantywaists that stood the test
Had "Gold Medal" on my breast.
No lace or ruffles to enhance;
Just "Pride of Bloomington" on my pants.
One pair of panties beat them all,
For it had a scene I still recall--
Harvesters were gleaning wheat
Right across my little seat.
Rougher than a grizzly bear
Was my flour sack underwear,
Plain, not fancy and two-feet wide,
And thougher than a hippo's hide.
All through depression each Jill and Jack
Wore the sturdy garb of sack.
Waste not, want not, we soon learned
That a penny saved is a penny earned.
There were curtains and tea towels, too,
And that is just to name a few.
But the best beyond compare
Was my flour sack underwear.
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I have a huge request! If you have any pictures of anything made from the feed sacks / flour sakes PLEASE post them!!! It is history that will be forgotten one day if we do NOT keep it alive. Thanks so much!!!!
Here is picture of me with one of my flour sack dresses - both in black and white and colorized with Ancestry. Again would love to see some of your pictures!!
Deaths
Linda Kay Davis Erwin, 63, of Leesville, passed away on July 5,2022. Burial was in Elisha Memorial Cemetery, Glenmora, LA.
John Allen Harrell, Jr., 62, of Hineston, passed away on July 4, 2022. Burial details unknown.
Dollie Jean Eddlemon, 78, of Pitkin, passed away on July 14, 2022. Burial was in Occupy No.1 Cemetery (Ten Mile Cemetery), Pitkin, LA.
Nancy Edwina Perkins, 70, of Forest Hill, passed away on July 15, 2022. Burial was in Roselawn Cemetery, Glenmora, LA.
Calvin “C.H.” Gordey Jr., 62, of Forest Hill, passed away July 15, 2022.
Murray N. Daniels, 94, of Calcasieu, passed away on July 31, 2022. Burial was in New Hope Cemetery, Elmer, LA.
Judy Dale Rush, age 72, of Temple, TX, passed away on August 10, 2022.
Dorothy Adcock Cantrell, 91, passed away on August 19, 2022. Burial was in St. Clair Cemetery, Gardner, LA.
Buddy Wells, 85, of Hineston, entered eternal rest on Sunday, September 11, 2022. Burial was in Fellowship Methodist Cemetery, Hineston, LA.
Judy Ann Skeeles, 70, of Sieper, passed away on September 13, 2022. Burial was in Burrough Cemetery, Gardner, LA.
James Mardon Woodman, 62, Dayton Texas, passed away on September 14th, 2022.
Destini Danielle Lawrence, 26, of Otis, passed away September 20 2022.
Lucille Agnus Bounds, 88, of Livingston, Texas. passed away on September 20 2022.
Harl Michael Mike Robinson, 71, of Hineston, passed away on September 22, 2022. Burial was in Cherry Grove Cemetery, Mittie, LA
Jack Chester Butler, 68, of Glenmora passed away on September 22, 2022. Burial was in Butler Family Cemetery, Woodworth, LA.
Evelyn Glass Walters, 84, of Glenmora passed away on September 23, 2022. Burial was in Peniel Baptist Church Cemetery, Glenmora, LA.
Peggy Guillory, 80, of Boyce, passed away on September 23, 2022. Burial was in Burrough Cemetery, Gardner, LA.
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