World War1 Belgium Flour Sack Textile

The Commission for Relief in Belgium was established during the World War I under the chairmanship of Herbert Hoover (who was later elected President in 1928) for the purpose of providing food relief to war torn Belgium . The CRB operated entirely with voluntary efforts and was able to feed 11,000,000 Belgians between 1914 and 1919 by raising the necessary money, obtaining voluntary contributions of food, shipping the food past the German submarine blockades and army occupied areas, and controlling the food distribution in Belgium.

The CRB shipped 697,116,000 pounds of flour to Belgium and evidence indicates that sugar and grains were also sent. The flour was packaged in cotton bags by American mills. The movement of these bags throughout Belgium was carefully controlled by the CRB since cotton was in great demand for the manufacture of German ammunition and also because the CRB feared that the flour sacks would be taken out of Belgium, refilled with inferior flour, and resold as relief flour. As a result, the empty flour sacks were carefully accounted for and distributed to professional schools, sewing workrooms, convents, and individual artists.

 The flour sacks were used by these various Belgian groups to make new clothing, accessories, pillows, bags, and other functional items. Many women chose to embroider over the mill logo and the brand name of flour, but entirely original designs were sometimes created on the sacks and then embroidered, painted, or stenciled on the fabric. Frequent additions to the flour sacks were Belgian messages of gratitude to the Americans; embellishments of lace; the Belgian and American flags; the Belgian lion; the Gallic cock; the American eagle; symbols of peace, strength, and courage; the Belgian colors of red, yellow, and black; and the American colors of red, white, and blue. Artists, in particular, used the flour sacks as the background for creating original paintings. Wonderful Folk Art!

The completed flour sacks were carefully controlled and distributed to shops and organizations in Belgium , England , and the United States for the purpose of raising funds for food relief and to aid the prisoners of war. Many were also given as gifts to the member of the Commission for Relief in Belgium out of gratitude for the aid given the Belgian people.

Herbert Hoover was given several hundred of these flour sacks as gifts and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum has one of the largest collections of World War I flour sacks in the world.  The Kansas Historical Society also has a large collection of Flour Sacks since Kansas was one of the most active states responding to the CRB s pleas. Noting the bumper wheat crop of 1914, former Kansas Governor Walter Stubbs rallied Kansans with the slogan, "[From] Kansas, the greatest beneficiary of the war, to Belgium, the greatest sufferer of the war" (Kansas farmers benefited from higher grain prices due to increased wartime demand).

More information on this fascinating subject is available from Google and a Podcast is also available where the curator of the Kansas Historical Society discusses their collection and its history. It's a wonderful and tangible reminder of a time when individuals could band together outside the structures of governments to help restore and retain humanity in the world.