Feedbags deserve their own niche; this column can’t do the topic justice but it can inform the uninitiated, such as myself, about giving due respect to all fabrics, regardless of their origins.

- Ms Nefertiti's wardrobe courtesy of Betty Wilson.

To accommodate the little lady as well as sidle in a great marketing ploy, manufacturers added figured and dress prints to the whites, browns and other solid colors of earlier manufactured bags. Some bags came ready for sewing with doll patterns printed on one side or sewn-in drawstrings that when one seam was ripped produced an instant apron; others were specifically printed for pillow cases or curtains. Pattern companies issued appealing booklets for sewing attractive garments and how to care for sacks. A 1942 estimate showed that 3 million women and children of all income levels were wearing print feedbag garments.

1780-1850s -- Mather & Platt six-color textile press as shown in Manual of Textile Printing.

Calico roller, 1893. Experiments were carried out in the field of photographic engraving of copper cylinders to print textiles. Cylinder was then exposed to light to etch designs into the metal plate. Each color required its own  plate.

Early 1900s press which was a multi-color or six-color machine.

- All photos above from Manual of Textile Printing,Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1974 Courtesy of Betty Wilson

These attractive calico prints from Archer feed sacks c1930-40 would end up as equally attractive house dresses, at least from a colorful viewpoint.
                -- Courtesy of Betty Wilson

Manufacturing of bags is limited today. Judy White learned last month when she talked to Mason Marketing Co, a distributing company in McPherson, KS, that cloth bags are still used in the Midwest, that certain Amish and Mennonite communities prefer flour and feed in plain and printed bags so they can be used for tea towels and other household needs, and in certain sections of the South some companies still distribute feed in textile bags. Judy also adds that souvenir bags can be found in some tourist areas which have restored gristmills.

Kent's Cloth of the UN from Percy Kent, a major New York bag manufacturer, featured wartime   symbols of WWII with Tojo, Hitler and Mussolini in a skillet titled Keep 'em Frying. At right is one view from Sharon Stark collection; left is another view from Jane Clark Stapel collection.

Example of cloth bags still being produced in recent years. This one for Seal of Kansas unbleached bread flour was purchased in Overland Park KS about 10 years ago. Distributor is Mason Marketing Co, McPherson KS.              - Courtesy of Judy White