From
the Greenville Gazette’s online story at www.greenvillegazette.com. To read the complete story and see more photos of items made from flour sacks, go to the newspaper's online site.
In
the 1930s, flour was stored in sacks with highly colorful patterns, and
few people may realize that these patters were very intentional, and served a
specific purpose. During this period of time, money was very hard to
come by, for many.
Even
those who did have good jobs would have to reuse many of the items
they were purchased to save face. It was a time when recycling wasn’t just
encouraged, it was a vital part
of life that was economically necessary for most families. They found ways to
make sticks of gum last longer, and they would often grow their own veggies and
herbs to avoid buying things at the market. But they got even craftier, when
times were hard:
Some
women who lived in the 1930s found ways to make money for their families, and
the found ways to make sure everyone had the clothing and essentials that were
necessary to survive. Flour would be in sacks that were made of cotton. Women
began using the sacks to make clothing. The sacks were often used to make
clothing for children because of their small size, but if pieced together,
then they could be used for adult’s clothing as well.
As
companies began seeing these women using their sacks for clothing, they
started adding colorful patterns to the sacks so that women would have
something different besides white to make clothes out of. There were also
patterns on the bags that women could use to make toys for children so that
they would have something for Christmas and a birthday. It was a clever money
saving move on the women’s part, and a clever business growth tactic on the
flour company’s part – everybody won!
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