Friends,
This past month we had the pleasure of receiving a Pillsbury flour sack collection as a donation to Moving Pillsbury Forward. Several cloth flour sacks collected from the Springfield Pillsbury plant during the early years (pre-1960) were donated by the Edward Stanks family. He worked at the plant from 1945 until his retirement in 1975. Along the way, he collected some beautiful examples of Pillsbury flour sacks.
The largest flour sack measures 28’ by 44’ and is the only complete cloth flour sack we have seen of this kind so far. It is made of heavy cotton cloth that was frequently cut into pieces and used for making dish towels. We have seen local examples of these finished dish towels, but never a complete sack. We are told that local workers would bring these home and the ladies in the neighborhood surrounding the plant all had these in their kitchens. And yes, there is still at least one being used in a Springfield kitchen today!
A 100 lb. Pillsbury Sno Sheen Cake Flour sack is also in the collection. Many former Pillsbury employees told us that this cake flour was one of the mainstays of the production line at the local plant for years. This white cloth sack with red and blue lettering is a great example of mid-twentieth century manufacturing in Springfield.
Two of the cloth flour sacks have flower patterns on them. The fabric from these cloth sacks were made to be reused as linens, towels or clothing. Often, these flower patterns would have been made into girls’ dresses or skirts. These were popular from the late 1930’s to about 1960. If anyone still has flour sack clothing made from these sacks, we would love to see them!
Thanks for being a part of this important community project!
~ Team Pillsbury
