Feedin’ the chickens and clothing the children

Bleached and sewn, it was dutifully worn

as bibs, diapers, or kerchief adorned.

It was made into skirts, blouses and slips.

And mom braided rugs from one hundred strips

she made ruffled curtains for the house or shack,

from those humble but

treasured feed sacks!

Very few farm families had enough money to buy new clothes at a store.

Clothes were “recycled” and reused as younger children “made do” with

hand-me-downs.

When farmers brought home big sacks of flour or livestock feed, farm women used the sacks as material to sew everything from girls dresses to boys shirts and even underpants

Betty Jean Richards Lawwill, Ruth Richards Spiers in the

feed sack dresses their grand mother Clara Belle Chandler

Richards made. Photo taken on their farm in Montgomery Co. Ky.

Life on America’s farms in the 1920s and 1930s meant hard work and frugal habits.

Farm families were used to “making do” with what they had, wasting nothing that could be recycled or reused.

With feed sacks and flour bags, farm women took thriftiness to new heights of creativity, transforming the humble bags into dresses, underwear, towels, curtains, quilts, and other household necessities.

By the 1940s the bag manufacturers were turning out bags in bright colors and printed designs.

It was felt that these designs and colors would boost sales, because the woman of the house would always select the brand with the most attractive fabric.

During World War II, there was a shortage of cotton fabric for the civilian population, and the recycling of bags became a necessity, encouraged by the government.

While some were proud to wear their homemade clothes made from feed sacks, others were embarrassed and would rather had store bought outfits.

Ruthie Richards grew up in Mt.Sterling Kentucky and remembers with fondness, how her grandmother made feed sack dresses for her and her sisters.

Former Pike County teacher, Cathy Bartley, recently authored her first book titled, Feed Sack Rich, a fictionalized account of growing up poor in eastern Kentucky.

Today vintage feed sack material is highly sought after and a dress or piece of clothing from someones childhood is one of their most prized possessions.