Feed Sacks and their Importance in Rural American Sewing

What better way to honor America’s 250^th birthday in 2026 than to do a twelve-part series on important and popular topics in America’s sewing history! To kick off the start of this series, we are going to focus on feed sacks and their importance in rural American sewing!

What are they and how did they originate?

Feed sacks were cloth bags, usually made from cotton, that transported dry goods. Various types of dry goods, from animal feed to human grade products like flour, to non-food items like cement mix[1] were transported in these cloth sacks.

The first feed sacks originated in the 1840s. Americans were looking for cheaper alternatives to shipping dry goods in barrels. At the time, cotton was abundant, cheap (due to slave labor harvesting it), and with the invention of the sewing machine, easily sewn into bags. The bags took up less space and were lighter than the heavy wooden barrels, making transportation of goods cheaper and more efficient. If cotton wasn’t accessible, such as during the Civil War when the South stopped transporting cotton north, then fabric such as burlap were used to create the bags[2].

Various bag sizes were created depending on the dry good and the manufacturer. Most agreed – these bags were versatile, reusable, and cheap. These were the future of dry good packaging.

Feed sacks in Rural America: 1920s-1930s

Rural America was built by farmers. The large acreages forced families into geographic isolation. Small communities would crop up, largely due to the farming opportunities. The hardships faced by these communities centered around the agricultural market volatility. The agricultural industry boomed during the First World War, but after its end in 1918, there was a significant drop in demand. Farmers who had borrowed money and invested in their farms could no longer afford their loan payments[3]. Financial hardship came quickly – by 1929 America had entered the Great Depression.  Women had to become thrifty to clothe their families. There was no money to go out and purchase anything new. With the assistance of the home sewing machine (or even just needles and thread), many rural women made their own clothes – the question became where to source accessible, cheap fabrics.

Around the home and farm were cotton sacks. By the mid-1920s, the cotton sacks had a smoother finish and tighter weave, making them the perfect choice for clothing, towels, or blankets (quilts). Upcycling these bags came with a stigma – you were too poor to afford nicer, new fabrics. It was hard to disguise the reused materials since most were printed with company logos that were nearly impossible to remove. In 1925, bag manufacturers took note of the clothing utility and began to print their logos in water-soluble ink, making it easier for women to wash and reuse the bags[4]. 

Water soluble label from A&M Feeds. Second image is the stamp that directs the user to soak label off in water. Images courtesy of Rachael Turffs.

As the Great Depression ravaged rural America, women began to widely accept feed sacks as an important staple. Bag manufacturers took notice and began to add colorful prints and designs to their bag offerings. Some even added paper labels that were much easier to soak off than printed ink labels. Demand grew so significantly for the reusable bags in fun prints and colors that solo entrepreneurs would buy empty sacks and take them into remote communities to sell or trade[5].

The women of rural America drove the demand for and innovation of feed sacks. Faced with economic hardship, a lack of resources or accessibility to resources, and the necessity to use what they had allowed these sacks to become an important staple of the time. This demand carried through to the 1940s.

Feed sacks in Rural America: 1940s

World War 2 (1939-1945) brought about a national sense of patriotic duty and frugality. Feed sacks were exempt from rationing[6] . Due to their industrial use, these cotton bags could still be produced whereas fabric for garment making was rationed. “Make Do and Mend” was a line advertised to Americans during this time. The required thriftiness from the Great Depression had now turned into a patriotic duty and feed sacks were again the answer. Rural women continued to seek out feed sacks as a viable fabric option. With companies producing unique prints with the help of fashion designers[7], rural women had a larger and larger design selection to choose from. Various internet searches on feed sacks turn up stories of women recalling traveling to the dry goods store to pick out the bag print they wanted for their new article of clothing.

Bag manufacturers began to partner with sewing pattern companies such as Simplicity or McCalls to design sewing patterns that could be made with their cotton sacks[8]. Mail order catalogs reached rural America and access to patterns, booklets, and other bag resources became available. Advertising barked of the benefits rural women knew: these bags could make beautiful garments and textiles for a low cost. In a way, the rural sewing communities influenced the world of fashion through the desire for innovative and unique prints, design styles, no-waste sewing, and feed sack fashion shows[9]. As America progressed into the post-war economic boom, the demand for thrifty feed sacks began to decline.

Feed sacks in Rural America: 1950s-1960s

Paper bags began to replace feed sacks as the cheapest option for dry goods transportation. Feed sacks once again began to carry the “thrifty” stigma, and advertising during the 1950s began to refer to them as cotton bags (a bit more refined). Mail order catalogs, company-sponsored design competitions and fashion shows all tried to maintain the interest and use of feed sacks. Bag manufacturers began utilizing novelty prints to generate interest. There were even Disney prints[10]! These efforts carried into the 1960s, but ultimately the desire for the bags had dwindled. The economic boom following World War II had reduced the need for thrift. By 1961, nearly all feed sack production had ceased.

Conclusion

Feed sacks have always been about thrift. They originated as a cheap alternative for dry good transportation. Due to their reusability, sewists were able to upcycle these bags when economic circumstances required thrifty solutions. Since rural America’s economic success was tied to the agricultural market, they were susceptible to the market crash after World War I. Feed sacks were the solution for families to clothe themselves and have blankets to keep warm. The bags were the ultimate practicality – they transported the necessary dry goods to the home and were reusable. Being in isolated communities with little access to new textiles or professional garment makers meant that the home sewist would have to find solutions and drive the demand for viable options. The negative stigma of the thrifty usage during the 1920s and 1930s turned into positive-spun patriotic duty during the 1940s. The demand for bags continued and companies stepped up to match the demand with innovative and fashionable designs and marketing. By the time the national economy started booming, the demand for the thrifty feed sacks had fallen. The 1960s are the last time we see feed sacks produced or marketed. However, their legacy was cemented in American sewing history. Without these utilitarian sacks, what would the textile options have looked like in rural America?