Cloth Seed Corn Sacks Tell Rural History
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If you saw your last name on a cloth seed bag, you would probably stop to check it out. That’s what happens when Ron Kelsey takes bags from his collection to the Minnesota State Fair. In the early 1900’s, farmers had many choices of seed corn, and they often knew who grew it and where it was grown, because the name and town were on the bag.
The retired high school ag teacher started collecting seed bags 25 years ago, in part to preserve his family’s history. His parents grew seed corn for two different companies in Mountain Lake and Sacred Heart, Minn. The family also entered corn at the State Fair, which 72-year-old Kelsey has attended every year except one since he was 7.
“I started wondering what happened to all those cloth bags,” he says, recalling how he got started collecting. He finds them reasonably priced for $2 to $10 at flea markets, auctions and antique stores. His criteria are that they be cloth and meant for seed corn, not feed. Most are from small companies in Minnesota but he has also picked up seed bags from other states.
“One from Wisconsin had a photo of the seed corn grower’s little girl in overalls sitting on a pile of corn,” Kelsey says. He knows because her family told him when they saw the bag at the Minnesota State Fair display.
Growers sent their design ideas to one of three printing companies in the Twin Cities, who came up with the final graphics for the bags. By the late 50’s, all bags switched from cloth to paper or plastic because of cost.
That was a loss to frugal homemakers who used the sacks for dish towels and even underwear. Some of the bags include directions on how to get rid of the color (boil them in water overnight). Kelsey says dirty sacks are more valuable than faded sacks, so he advises people not to wash bags if they want to sell them. It’s also nice if the bags have tags that list germination information, which dates the cloth bags.
With people buying them for home décor - and to frame if they have their own names on them – some bags now sell for as much as $30 to $50 on eBay. Kelsey saw one with Abraham Lincoln’s picture sell for $500 at an auction.
His favorite bags are the ones for his parents’ corn and an unused bag for an open-pollinated Land O’ Lakes variety in the late 20’s. He’s always looking for a few specific varieties. For example, he doesn’t have a bag from the Trojan Seed company, which was a big company in Olivia, Minn. Recently, he picked up two flax sacks at an antique market, claiming Windom, Minn., to be the “Flax Capitol of the World”.
“That was exciting,” he says, “because when I was young, and we sold our flax to Windom, that was indeed their claim to fame.”
He’s also looking for a cloth bag from the Garst Seed Company in Iowa.
“I want that bag because Nikita Khrushchev came with President Eisenhower to that farm to buy seed in the 1950’s. My brother was with them on that farm, and Khrushchev took a bag of seed back to Russia,” Kelsey says.
The Lamberton, Minn., collector has had requests to purchase his bags from people in various states, as well as from Russia, England and Canada. For the most part, he wants to keep the collection intact and pass it on to a museum. Four rural Minnesota museums have already expressed an interest.
The 250-bag collection is an important part of Kelsey’s family history and agriculture history. He points out that the bags are proof of how law was defied.
“In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt standardized the size of sacks into a 50-lb. bag and a 100-lb. bag,” Kelsey explains. “This might have worked for flour and feed, but not for grain, as farmers wanted their grain in measurements of bushel weight, and all grains have a different bushel weight. Manufacturers of the bags did not abide by the president’s standards, but made bags by farmers’ requests. My seed corn sacks hold 56 lbs., the bushel weight of corn, and most of the corn sacks are marked with that weight.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ron Kelsey, P.O. Box 6, Lamberton, Minn. 56152 (ph 507 752-7002; kelseyr@rrcnet.org).
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Cloth Seed Corn Sacks Tell Rural History CROPS Miscellaneous If you saw your last name on a cloth seed bag you would probably stop to check it out That’s what happens when Ron Kelsey takes bags from his collection to the Minnesota State Fair In the early 1900’s farmers had many choices of seed corn and they often knew who grew it and where it was grown because the name and town were on the bag The retired high school ag teacher started collecting seed bags 25 years ago in part to preserve his family’s history His parents grew seed corn for two different companies in Mountain Lake and Sacred Heart Minn The family also entered corn at the State Fair which 72-year-old Kelsey has attended every year except one since he was 7 “I started wondering what happened to all those cloth bags ” he says recalling how he got started collecting He finds them reasonably priced for $2 to $10 at flea markets auctions and antique stores His criteria are that they be cloth and meant for seed corn not feed Most are from small companies in Minnesota but he has also picked up seed bags from other states “One from Wisconsin had a photo of the seed corn grower’s little girl in overalls sitting on a pile of corn ” Kelsey says He knows because her family told him when they saw the bag at the Minnesota State Fair display Growers sent their design ideas to one of three printing companies in the Twin Cities who came up with the final graphics for the bags By the late 50’s all bags switched from cloth to paper or plastic because of cost That was a loss to frugal homemakers who used the sacks for dish towels and even underwear Some of the bags include directions on how to get rid of the color boil them in water overnight Kelsey says dirty sacks are more valuable than faded sacks so he advises people not to wash bags if they want to sell them It’s also nice if the bags have tags that list germination information which dates the cloth bags With people buying them for home décor - and to frame if they have their own names on them – some bags now sell for as much as $30 to $50 on eBay Kelsey saw one with Abraham Lincoln’s picture sell for $500 at an auction His favorite bags are the ones for his parents’ corn and an unused bag for an open-pollinated Land O’ Lakes variety in the late 20’s He’s always looking for a few specific varieties For example he doesn’t have a bag from the Trojan Seed company which was a big company in Olivia Minn Recently he picked up two flax sacks at an antique market claiming Windom Minn to be the “Flax Capitol of the World” “That was exciting ” he says “because when I was young and we sold our flax to Windom that was indeed their claim to fame ” He’s also looking for a cloth bag from the Garst Seed Company in Iowa “I want that bag because Nikita Khrushchev came with President Eisenhower to that farm to buy seed in the 1950’s My brother was with them on that farm and Khrushchev took a bag of seed back to Russia ” Kelsey says The Lamberton Minn collector has had requests to purchase his bags from people in various states as well as from Russia England and Canada For the most part he wants to keep the collection intact and pass it on to a museum Four rural Minnesota museums have already expressed an interest The 250-bag collection is an important part of Kelsey’s family history and agriculture history He points out that the bags are proof of how law was defied “In 1937 President Franklin Roosevelt standardized the size of sacks into a 50-lb bag and a 100-lb bag ” Kelsey explains “This might have worked for flour and feed but not for grain as farmers wanted their grain in measurements of bushel weight and all grains have a different bushel weight Manufacturers of the bags did not abide by the president’s standards but made bags by farmers’ requests My seed corn sacks hold 56 lbs the bushel weight of corn and most of the corn sacks are marked with that weight ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ron Kelsey P O Box 6 Lamberton Minn 56152 ph 507 752-7002; kelseyr@rrcnet org
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