Bags and Sacks

In the now unbelievably hard times between the two World Wars, when depression and then slump conditions prevailed, there were great problems for much of the country's population. But it was a 'Waste not want not' society, so the empty flour and sugar bags were washed and made up into a great variety of articles. As the flour bags were made of good quality calico, it was a really good material for clothing and household purposes. They served as pillowcases, tea-towels, page 30aprons, tablecloths and, Joined together, as sheets. Sugar bags came in for an even greater variety of uses on the farm, in the garden and in the home. After being washed, they could be used for making many different articles. Some of the women's groups had competitions, where people displayed things which they had made from the bags. These included aprons, towels for drying feet, kits, kneeling mats and so on. Oatina (porridge meal) bags were like fine linen. When washed and crocheted round the outside, they made lovely handkerchiefs.

The re-use of sacks and bags was normal practice on the farms. The writer grew up in a country district which was not a particularly prosperous mixed farming area. Times were hard but, when motor transport became available to and from the railway, farmers grew many acres of potatoes, which were railed to the city merchants. Grain sacks were used to hold the potatoes and held about 200 pounds (90kg). The full bags were not easy to manhandle. I was involved in a country carrying business and handled thousands of them. A change came after World War II, when fertiliser bags were available. These did not hold as much and were far easier to handle. A further development was the use of Cental bags, an overseas product. Originally intended to hold 100 pounds (45kg) of corn, they had been used in this country for handling bulk vegetables. They held 55 to 60 pounds (say 26kg) of potatoes and were easy to handle.

With the use of smaller bags, potatoes were often sold to retail outlets, or direct to householders. Sugar bags were a similar size and, until they became scarce, were the usual containers. Multiwall paper bags are now in regular use right from the grower to the consumer.