Brightly colored fabric that once held feed are on display in Ainsworth this weekend. Over 20,000 pieces are in the collection, with a selection on display – including about 30 quilts made of feed sacks. There are also dolls, aprons, clothing, curtains, and more.
Local historian Michael Zahs says re-purposed feed sacks were common, with many being used for clothing and blankets, “One lady I know, said she went on a high school choir trip when she was a senior and stayed in a hotel. She said, ‘It was the first time I woke up in the morning and didn’t have a seam.’ And what that meant was that she’d never slept on a sheet that hadn’t been pieced together from feed sacks.” Zahs adds, “This is what helped Iowans get through the depression, reusing livestock feed sacks.”
A buffet meal of pork roast, beef and noodles, potatoes, vegetables, salads and desserts will be held Friday and Saturday from 5-7 p.m. and it is $8 per person.
Zahs says it’s important to display the collection in this particular building, as it was once the Community Feed Store. Some of the feed sacks on display came from this store. To view the feed sacks it is $1 per person and the show is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. All funds benefit the Ainsworth Opera House.