Bags and sacks 90 years ago

[hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com]

In 1929, a manufacturer of paper and burlap bags and sacks
ran a full page color ad for them. I found this interesting
since bags are a rather prosaic product, yet here is an ad:
https://archive.org/details/Nations-Business-1929-02/page/n1

As an aside, actress Florence Henderson grew up poor
and wrote in her memoir that certain sacks could be
converted to a girl's dress. She had to wear them.

[Gerard Schildberger]

Yes, flour sacks were of a better quality (thread count) for
instance, it was better than rice sacks and "suitable" for
wearing. Potato sacks were one of the worst kind (coarse) of
sacks. _________________________________ Gerard Schildberger

[J. Clarke]

Google "flour sack dresses" for quite a lot of information. Turns out
that it was better than it sounds. The flour producers were aware of
this and intentionally made their sacks suitable for this use,
including printing them with attractive patterns and providing
instructions for washing out the brand markings.

[Joy Beeson]

On Sat, 11 Jan 2020 12:02:22 -0800 (PST), hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> As an aside, actress Florence Henderson grew up poor
> and wrote in her memoir that certain sacks could be
> converted to a girl's dress. She had to wear them.

Chicken-feed sacks were among them. I remember being taken to
McDonalds's Chick Hatchery to select my new play suit.

Mom had chickens, but we grew our own feed, so we didn't have sacks.

Grandma made her bras from sugar sacks. When I duplicated them for
her, I bought the very best muslin. I later learned that I should
have gotten the very cheapest -- expensive muslin wasn't soft.

I wish I could buy some of that feed-sack cloth today, printed with
modern inks. I do have a piece of linen that is almost as good.

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGESEW/

[Peter Flass]

The white cloth flour sacks. Bleach the logo off and stitch them together.

--
Pete

[Peter Flass]

People used to be a lot better at recycling years ago. I can’t imagine
anyone caring today, aT least in most of the US - maybe still in Applacia.

--
Pete

[J. Clarke]

The cloth flour sacks went out in WWII--cotton was apparently a
strategic material--and didn't come back after.

[Scott Lurndal]

Peter Flass <peter...@yahoo.com> writes:

>People used to be a lot better at recycling years ago. I can’t imagine
>anyone caring today, aT least in most of the US - maybe still in Applacia.

Speak for yourself. My parents were children of the depression. It rubbed off.
I recycle, compost, turn off the lights when I leave the room and reclaim
otherwise discarded lumber (and sometimes even firewood) for small woodworking
projects (some of my prettiest boxes started out as beat-up old pallets).
Quality antique furniture (flea markets, garage sales) rather than buying modern
plastic veneer over particle-board furniture.

[Peter Flass]

I had to toss all my lumber scraps when I moved:-( Most pallet lumber I’ve
seen isn’t even good for firewood.

--
Pete

[Gerard Schildberger]

On Sunday, January 12, 2020 at 12:44:48 PM UTC-6, Scott Lurndal wrote:

Same here. I miss all the wooden crates that citrus fruit and apples came
in. My dad made plenty of stuff from that recycled wood. As kids, we
thought it was neat to have our own storage space (chests, dressers, etc).
_______________________________________________________ Gerard Schildberger

[Jorgen Grahn]

On Sun, 2020-01-12, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> Peter Flass <peter...@yahoo.com> writes:
>
>>People used to be a lot better at recycling years ago. I can’t imagine
>>anyone caring today, aT least in most of the US - maybe still in Applacia.
>
> Speak for yourself.

You have to admit, though, that making clothes out of disused sacks is
another level. It probably takes a society with subsistence farming
for that to happen, and a time before cheap production of fabrics in
SE Asia.

> My parents were children of the depression. It rubbed off.
> I recycle, compost, turn off the lights when I leave the room and reclaim
> otherwise discarded lumber (and sometimes even firewood) for small woodworking
> projects (some of my prettiest boxes started out as beat-up old pallets).
> Quality antique furniture (flea markets, garage sales) rather than buying modern
> plastic veneer over particle-board furniture.

Same here. The way people throw things away -- especially clothes --
it's so easy to get decent stuff, at a tenth of the original price or
less.

Come to think of it, the same goes for computers. I only use
second-hand PCs nowadays. The main problem there is people figure
they're worthless and don't often bother to put them up for sale.

/Jorgen

--
// Jorgen Grahn <grahn@ Oo o. . .
\X/ snipabacken.se> O o .

[Bob Eager]

On Sun, 12 Jan 2020 11:08:07 -0800, Gerard Schildberger wrote:

> Same here. I miss all the wooden crates that citrus fruit and apples
> came in. My dad made plenty of stuff from that recycled wood. As kids,
> we thought it was neat to have our own storage space (chests, dressers,
> etc).

Don't forget that you can make buses out of wine crates. Or so we are
told.

--
Using UNIX since v6 (1975)...

Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

[Charlie Gibbs]

On 2020-01-12, Bob Eager <news...@eager.cx> wrote:

> On Sun, 12 Jan 2020 11:08:07 -0800, Gerard Schildberger wrote:
>
>> Same here. I miss all the wooden crates that citrus fruit and apples
>> came in. My dad made plenty of stuff from that recycled wood. As kids,
>> we thought it was neat to have our own storage space (chests, dressers,
>> etc).
>
> Don't forget that you can make buses out of wine crates. Or so we are
> told.

Taylor made a guitar out of a pallet. Sounds good too, apparently.

--
/~\ Charlie Gibbs | Microsoft is a dictatorship.
\ / <cgi...@kltpzyxm.invalid> | Apple is a cult.
X I'm really at ac.dekanfrus | Linux is anarchy.
/ \ if you read it the right way. | Pick your poison.

[Ahem A Rivet's Shot]

On 12 Jan 2020 20:00:22 GMT

Jorgen Grahn <grahn...@snipabacken.se> wrote:

> You have to admit, though, that making clothes out of disused sacks is
> another level. It probably takes a society with subsistence farming
> for that to happen, and a time before cheap production of fabrics in
> SE Asia.

Oh I don't know, there was a Cambridge student I recall who had a
jacket made from the white cloth bags that Lebanese hashish came packed in.
You may guess how they supplemented their grant.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith | Directable Mirror Arrays
C:\>WIN | A better way to focus the sun
The computer obeys and wins. | licences available see
You lose and Bill collects. | http://www.sohara.org/

[Mike Spencer]

Gerard Schildberger <gera...@rrt.net> writes:

> Same here. I miss all the wooden crates that citrus fruit and
> apples came in. My dad made plenty of stuff from that recycled
> wood. As kids, we thought it was neat to have our own storage space
> (chests, dressers, etc).

Even 1# and 2# coffee cans. A 2# coffee can full of bolts or tools is
about the heaviest container you want to casually grab off a shelf.
Now they're all cardboard and with a metal lip that can't practically
be cut away. Feh.

--
Mike Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada

[lee.wi...@gmail.com]

On Sunday, January 12, 2020 at 2:08:08 PM UTC-5, Gerard Schildberger wrote:

> Same here. I miss all the wooden crates that citrus fruit and apples came
> in. My dad made plenty of stuff from that recycled wood. As kids, we
> thought it was neat to have our own storage space (chests, dressers, etc).

My father used to collect discarded wood and then reuse for
various things. Unfortunately, when he passed on, we were
left with massive collection of wood to be discarded.

He had a whole set of woodworking tools (hand and power) and
no one wanted them. He had a powerful electric motor that
I managed to give away. But it was old and apparently when
it started it had a power surge (I guess modern moderns
have protection).

[Peter Flass]

The plastic coffee cans work pretty well. I’ve also gotten stuff in decent
size clear plastic squarish cans with wide-mouth screw lids that work well
for stuff like pet food,

--
Pete

[Charlie Gibbs]

And if you do manage to cut it away, what's left has no strength.

[JimP]

On 13 Jan 2020 19:35:48 GMT, Huge <Hu...@nowhere.much.invalid> wrote:

>On 2020-01-13, lee.wi...@gmail.com <lee.wi...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sunday, January 12, 2020 at 2:08:08 PM UTC-5, Gerard Schildberger wrote:
>>
>>> Same here. I miss all the wooden crates that citrus fruit and apples came
>>> in. My dad made plenty of stuff from that recycled wood. As kids, we
>>> thought it was neat to have our own storage space (chests, dressers, etc).
>>
>> My father used to collect discarded wood and then reuse for
>> various things. Unfortunately, when he passed on, we were
>> left with massive collection of wood to be discarded.
>

>Buy a woodburning stove. "Discarded wood"? What's that?

Yeah, or bookshelves. Never a need to throw away wood.

--
Jim

[Quadibloc]

On Sunday, January 12, 2020 at 1:28:45 PM UTC-7, Bob Eager wrote:

> Don't forget that you can make buses out of wine crates. Or so we are
> told.

Wine crates are made of wood. Buses are made of metal, plus rubber for the tires,
vinyl for the seats, glass for the windows. So how you could make a modern diesel
transit bus from any number of wine crates escapes me.

Now, there were horse-drawn trams that were mostly wooden in use ages ago...

John Savard

[Charlie Gibbs]

I don't think the original poster meant things like engine and frame when
talking about making buses out of wine crates, probably just the body.
It's a fairly common approximation.

I got a '34 wagon and we call it a woody.
-- Jan & Dean

[Bob Eager]

Whoosh. Probably too British to be appreciated!

I was referring to the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, attempting
to waste time in an interview (and manipulate Google results) by
blathering on about a non-existent hobby.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/26/mesmerising-boris-
johnsons-bizarre-model-buses-claim-raises-eyebrows

[Quadibloc]

On Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at 2:31:44 AM UTC-7, Bob Eager wrote:

> Whoosh. Probably too British to be appreciated!

> I was referring to the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, attempting
> to waste time in an interview (and manipulate Google results) by
> blathering on about a non-existent hobby.

Making toy buses out of wood certainly is possible. After all, at one time, toy
trains made from wood and painted in bright colors were so common that this is
the kind of Christmas toy Santa's elves are most commonly pictured as making.

John Savard

[Bob Eager]

Of course it is. But Boris Johnson made that up on the spot to waste time
in an interview, and possibly to skew Google search results.