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prices. But, beware of reproductions if bags started to be in-demand for consumers
you are looking for a true antique. to purchase their supplies without opening
Expect to see paint loss, dents, rust, and the bag.
overall signs of use. This does not After the sacks were empty, they would
always detract from overall value, but often be used as rags, rough toweling, or even
shows as a history of use and that is a for clothing, bedsheets, and curtains. As bag
good thing. manufacturers realized women in rural areas
were recycling the bags, they offered them in
This is a circa early- to mid-1800s tin roll-top cof- a wide variety of fabrics. The “Gingham
fee bin with “pockets” on each side – one to hold the Girl” made her appearance around 1925.
scoops used to measure how much coffee was being
purchased and the other to hold paper bags to hold Making clothes from the bags was most
the purchase, selling for $145 on Etsy useful in the time following the Great
Depression, from the 1930s to the 1950s.
CLOTH SACKS Today these bags are collected as
decoration or recycled into “reuseable” bags
Feed sacks came into use and such. Prices range from a few dollars for
after farmers created sacks to plain bags up to $75+ for more intricate
put over the back of a horse to fabric designs or known manufacturer names.
bring their harvest to a mill to
be ground into flour. Early These late 1800s/early 1900s seed sacks were framed and
bags were made from hand- added to a farmhouse décor by sarahjoyblog.com
spun yarn and were often
stamped with either the name
of the farmer or the mill where
they brought their grain.
Thanks to the invention of the
sewing machine and improve-
ments in fabric construction,
sacks began to be substituted
for wood barrels because they
A selection of floursack fabrics found by
lovethegiver.com while antique hunting, showing were much more cost-effective
the simple, diverse designs used on the fabric. and easier to handle.
At first, the cotton bags A selection of sacks in their original form
were made to hold as much as wooden barrels – 196 pounds for a full showing plain and printed fabrics
barrel size or 49 pounds for a half barrel. In the early 1900s, smaller photo: rockymountainquilts.com

Continued from page 34
More Tips for Collecting
Historical Letters
Tips for collecting historical letters vary
based on your area of interest. For example, if
you’re interested in letters relating to your
own family, antiques shops are not going to
help you. Instead, try contacting your local
library, searching your own attic, or contact-
ing family, friends, and relatives. You also
generally do not have to worry about the pos-
sibility of forgery when looking for family-
related levels. In contrast, online websites,
yard sales, and antiques shops can be great
places to potentially run across historical let-
ters. However, those relating to such subjects
as U.S. presidents may not all be genuine.
If you intend to focus on letters that are
prone to being faked, you have to do some
serious research. Make sure you understand
what the real deal should look like. What
types of paper and ink were used during the
Bernard Brown was just 19 when he was drafted into the Army during World War II. Longing for connection
back home, he started writing to a childhood friend, a young woman named Selma. time on which you’re focusing? What does an
photo: CBSnews.com authentic signature of the person on whom
you’re focusing look like? You also need to
can also give insights into what certain If wartime letters don’t interest you, you
wars were like on both sides. Letters written may find letters written by famous Hollywood consider the tones and styles of the letters. For
instance, President Abraham Lincoln was well
during World War II can be especially stars fascinating, instead. On the other hand, known for being clear and to the point in his
poignant. They paint a vivid picture of what you might not. The important thing when correspondence. Therefore, if you find a long
that terrifying time in history was like, as well collecting historic letters is there are no rules. Lincoln letter you need to be very careful
as what it was like when concentration camps You can collect any letters that tickle your about authenticating it.
were finally liberated. fancy. You do not even have to focus on a
specific category unless you want to.

Jessica Kosinski has been a freelance writer specializing in writing short articles for 15 years. She is also an avid collector of both antique books and Star Wars memorabilia. Although she is not in the
antiques industry professionally, she has learned a lot about antiques over the years by periodically helping out at her mom’s antiques shop in Greenville, NH. She currently balances maintaining the
antiques shop’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/MallofNE, and working on various freelance writing assignments. She can be reached at dementorskiss77@yahoo.com.

36 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles