How to Date Feed Sacks
Feed sacks have a varied history. Used for transporting chicken feed, seeds, flour, rice and, in some cases, pet food, feed sacks have been used throughout most of America's manufacturing history. Because feed sacks frequently were used as fabric for aprons, pillowcases and dresses, it's easy to track the many changes feed sacks have gone through over the decades, particularly from the early 1900s to the late 1960s. Feed sacks are highly collectible. Feed sack cloth is still used today by quilters.
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Instructions
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Look for partial labels on plain, unbleached cotton. Labels may not be visible because women often removed them before using the fabric, which was manufactured between 1914 and 1928.
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Find paper labels on colorful feed sack cloth. Colorful prints, border prints, scenic prints and printed patterns were favored by women in the late 1920s and 1930s. Women often removed the paper labels before using the fabric to make pillowcases and aprons.
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Identify solid color feed sacks, which were manufactured in red, lavender, tan, blue, pink and yellow in the 1930s.
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Look for floral patterns and attractive prints. Unlike the colorful prints of the 1920s and 1930s, feed sacks manufactured during the Great Depression featured motifs, geometrics, stripes, large polka dots, birds and animals, which made attractive dresses.
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Notice a complete shift from cotton and feed sack cloth to paper bags and less expensive packaging, which were manufactured from the 1950s to the early 1960s. Novelty fabrics such as rayon and blended materials were manufactured almost exclusively throughout the 1960s.
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References
- Photo Credit christmas sack image by Anton Gvozdikov from Fotolia.com
