The Return of Flour Sacks?



Usually I knock over some kind of display at the grocery store.  I am THAT WOMAN that you don't want to meet coming around the bend.  ;-)   The grocery store in my town is great but the aisles are narrow so that you have to be closer to strangers than is comfortable.  

This past week I was at the grocery store and was thinking about packaging when I was hefting the Poland Springs case of water bottles into my cart.  The plastic always stretches and sometimes tears when I lift it, resulting in water bottles escaping from the packaging.  And that got me thinking about packaging in  the "olden days" when flour and other staples were packaged in calico cloth.  I have a quilt that my granny made from flour sacks in the 30's.   I realize it would increase the packaging costs and production costs but if they were easier to get off the shelf to carry I would be more inclined to buy their product over anothers.  Wrapped in a reusable grocery bag of some sort would speak to Poland Spring's past and the future.  And yes, I know I'm supposed to be reducing water bottle consumption.  I'm working on that.

Here's another flour sack from SalvageNation.  
I love the business name.  

image via SalvageNation
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5 comments:

Marguerite (Tina) Smith Hart said...

Oh wouldn't it be wonderful to get those muslin sacks with our staples inside and then use the fabric to make aprons or potholders? I bet the textile industry wouldn't mind!
As for the water bottles, since they will be around for ages maybe someday landfills will be harvested for those items and that can be a new industry.
Happy Wednesday!
Tina xo

Salvagenation said...

Thank you so much for using my flour sack to make your point ! I appreciate it so much. If any of your readers come to Salvagenation to shop for sacks, I'll gladly do a 15% discount. Make sure you use the code Heart15 !

Vanessa

Susie McMahon said...

We buy basmati rice in cloth sacks as well as bulk flour. It is still available here. A couple of years ago, when I was making dolls for a special project and I wanted to use as much recycled stuff as I could, I used this kind of flour bag calico for the bodies.

Linda Packard said...

This is the coolest shop! Thanks for posting this. So many great items bring back memories. the fabric and lace is so fine.

Anonymous said...

What a great post Dixie, you cracked me up in the market with your turning the corner. I have to visit the Etsy Shop sounds very interesting.

Susie I too get the basmati rice in the burlap sack, it's such a nice way to package the item.


"Do not let what you cannot do
keep you from doing what you can do."

John Wooden