What is a Gunny Sack?
A gunny sack is a bag made from burlap. Gunny sacks have a number of uses, although they were originally developed to ship agricultural commodities such as coffee, corn, wheat, and potatoes. Because of the primary construction material, they are sometimes known as burlap bags, and regionally as crocus sacks, after an agricultural product which used to be frequently shipped in them. The name originates from a Sanskrit word, goni, which means bag or sack. The word was adopted by the English in the 1700s, along with other Sanskrit words which entered the English language due to the colonization of India. Burlap is a type of dense, woven fabric, usually made from natural fibers like jute. The dense weave has immense tensile strength, meaning that the bags are difficult to destroy or distort from heavy weights. A gunny sack is also flexible, however, because of the natural fiber, and very environmentally friendly. The fibers used tend to be non-toxic, and the bag will ultimately biodegrade.
” I didn’t know, but Nancy rescued me, explaining they were burlap sacks, used for feed, similar to a feedsack. My question is: what was the difference? Why would a farmer use a gunny sack rather than a canvas or cotton feedsack? Could a gunny sack be treated so the fabric could be made into quilts or clothing? Kris ———————————————————————- Subject: Re: gunny sacks From: KareQuilt@aol.com Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2003 Gunny sacks were made of very coarse scratchy material and always brown like hemp rope when I was a kid. You wouldn’t wear this stuff against your skin unless your life depended on keeping warm. Karen Alexander ———————————————————————- Subject: vintage pinker From: “Steve and Jean Loken” My mother brought along on her visit this year a pair of vintage pinkers. They use a rolling action. I’ve never heard of any like this, however, I saw a similar pair on Ebay today on a search. Mine are ma
