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This cotton sack for Russell Milling Company flour was heavily embroidered and embellished with a linen ruffle. The printed company emblem and text have been over-embroidered, and there is a small appliquéd silk U.S. flag as well as the sentiment "God bless you!" The sack's back includes the names of the needleworker, Caroline Gielen, and the town Bilzen (Belgium). This sack originally contained Kansas flour sent overseas during World War I for relief efforts organized by the Commission for Relief in Belgium. Some of the sacks were embroidered by Belgian women and returned to the United States as an expression of gratitude. The Kansas Belgian Relief Fund received this sack and placed it on display in a downtown Topeka store before donating it to the Kansas Historical Society.
Creator: Russell Milling Company
Date: between 1915 and 1916
Item Number: 223744
Call Number: 1916.15.6
KSHS Identifier: 1916.15.6
Agriculture - Crops - Wheat
Business and Industry - Agricultural Industries - Milling - Mills
Collections - Museum
Community Life - Clubs and organizations - Charitable - Relief
Date - 1910s
Military - Wars - World War I
Objects and Artifacts - Tools & Equipment for Science & Technology - Merchandising - Bag
Places - Cities and towns - Russell
Places - Counties - Russell
Places - International - Belgium
Thematic Time Period - World War I, 1914 - 1919
Type of Material - Objects and Artifacts
http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/223744