Marilyn Monroe wasn’t the only woman who could make a burlap sack look sexy.
Though her Idaho potato dress was more publicity than necessity, some women of the 1930s-era depression were forced to make lemonade out of lemons. Or, more specifically, dresses out of feed sacks.
In the mid-1930s, all hundred-pound sacks of chicken feed were white. After the sacks were emptied, they were washed and women used them for sheets and dishtowels. However, as the scarcity of cotton and other clothing material worsened, the sacks were also used to make essentials like underwear.
By the time the 1940s rolled around these feed sacks had changed up their look.
The same year Arthur took over the mill in 1947 he began getting strange requests for the sacks from his employees and other townspeople. It seems the printed designs had begun to catch the eye of mid-century fashionistas. Soon a tradition emerged that had husbands claiming empty sacks their wives had taken a liking to.
This continued for several days, the husband traveling back to the mill each afternoon in search of sacks with the same pattern. As luck would have it this would generally involve prints at the very bottom in a large stack of empty feed sacks. This involved some heavy lifting and diligent sorting to secure the right version.
It created extra work for the owner, but as Arthur explained, “the customer is always right”. In the end he was happy to retrieve the sack of choice.
After a few years, companies stopped production on printed feed sacks and post-war clothing materials were back on the market. Though for a short time, North Texas’ most fashionable women were clad in feed sacks from Muenster Mill.
And while the Muenster Milling Company welcomed this source of free advertising, they were ultimately relieved once these burlap sack dresses fell out of fashion.
In the end, Muenster Milling realizes the trends come and go. While they stay on top of emerging developments in the health world, one thing that never goes out of fashion is their overall goal to make a difference. Their #1 objective was, is and will remain providing better/healthier products for your pets. This is how they make a difference in the lives of the people that work with them, as well as the people who buy their product.
Muenster isn’t worried about trends & fads, they simply intend to focus on the health of the animal and the customers they serve.
Photo Courtesy of: @iconicmarilynmonroe Instagram
