Set of Placemats
1939-45 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Rectangular table-mat, bleached and washed white cotton sackcloth edged with two appliquéd parallel rows of dark green and dark orange cotton tape (15 mm wide). On the reverse of each mat is partial printing from the fabric's original use as one half of a flour sack. When the mats are arranged face-down in a particular order, a near-complete flour-sack panel is revealed.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 8 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | cotton |
| Brief description | Placemats, set of eight made in Trinidad, early 1940s, using fabric from a printed cotton flour-sack |
| Physical description | Rectangular table-mat, bleached and washed white cotton sackcloth edged with two appliquéd parallel rows of dark green and dark orange cotton tape (15 mm wide). On the reverse of each mat is partial printing from the fabric's original use as one half of a flour sack. When the mats are arranged face-down in a particular order, a near-complete flour-sack panel is revealed. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | 100 LBS. NET 216 CU. FT.
FLOUR
BLEACHED HARD WHEAT (reversed crescent) TYPE 1 C.F.
COMMANDER LARABEE MILLING CO.
BUFFALO, NEW YORK
MILLED
CONTRACT NO: H(-)009 QM-20119
(three parallel rows of green dots)
(reversed crescent) GROSS WT 100 LBS. FLOUR (This inscription, from the original flour sack used for the mats, extends over all eight of the mats and can only be read in its entirety by assembling the mats in a particular order. Each mat has one-eighth of the original sack-face on its reverse.
The first "FLOUR" and the line "Commander-Larabee Milling Co." have been bisected by being cut into eighths and a digit from the contract no is missing due to the central cut, but otherwise the original block-printed inscription is largely intact and legible.) |
| Credit line | Given by Patricia Tomlinson |
| Object history | The donor's mother, Mollie Lansdowne, acquired the set of table-mats whilst living in Trinidad during the Second World War (1939-1945). They are made from repurposed material from an American flour-sack, which was a common source of fabric for people of limited means at the time. The printed lettering from the original sack is visible on the reverse of each mat. During the Great Depression, American manufacturers purposefully printed flour sacks with water-soluble lettering and colour-fast attractive prints and designs to enable their customers to make dresses and children's clothing from them afterwards, while plain flour sacks were a source of hard-wearing cotton fabric for functional clothing and underwear, especially as the material could be washed and bleached to enhance its whiteness. |
| Association | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | T.94:1-2022 |
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| Record created | January 27, 2022 |
| Record URL |
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