Neely-Dorsey: Do You Remember Flour Sack Dresses?

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the sack dress became a fashion staple as a result of widespread poverty and the national mandate to, “Repair, reuse, make do, and don’t throw anything away.”

Amidst widespread poverty, the flour mills realized that some women were using sacks to make clothes for their children. In response, the flour mills started using flowered fabric.

They really did make some pretty prints. They were truly flower (flour) sack dresses!

With the introduction of this new cloth into the home, thrifty women everywhere began to reuse the cloth for a variety of home uses: dish towels, diapers and more. The bags became popular for clothing items.

A few of my Facebook friends commented on their memories of the flour sacks.

“I have a doll my grandmother made me out of flour sacks.”

“I wore flour sack dresses and flour sack panties, my mother bless her heart would save flour sacks ’til she had two or three or more from the same print to make something.”

“That is what my grandmother used to make all of her children’s clothes, sheets and pillow cases.”

“I remember my Grandmother making me dresses from flour sacks many, many years ago…..sigh. The dress I wore to get married in was made from chicken feed sacks.”

“I never had but one store-bought dress ’till I was in the 9th grade at school. (M)y mother made all our dresses and slips.”

“Some of my earliest memories are the flour sack dresses that Mama would make for me and my sister. Lovely memories.”

“Those are the same memories I have of living in rural Neshoba County Mississippi….I got so excited when the rolling store came by…my grandma bought feed sacks from the dairy farm to make my clothes..that’s how I learned to sew…..good memories…didn’t know we were poor.”

Do you have anything from flour sacks? Share your memories with us if you like!

Patricia Neely-Dorsey is the author of two books of poetry, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia-A Life In Poems and My Magnolia Memories and Musings-In Poems. Through her poems, the author hopes to protect, preserve and promote the rich cultural history and heritage of her state and region along with providing more positive images than all of the negative images usually portrayed. Patricia lives in Tupelo with her husband James, son Henry and Miniature Schnauzer, Happy. The author has been named a Goodwill Ambassador for the state by Governor Phil Bryant. Her slogan is “Always, Always Celebrating the South and Promoting a Positive Mississippi ” Her website is www.patricianeelydorsey.com and her email is magnoliagirl21@yahoo.com.