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Embroidered flour sack

Dates: between 1915 and 1916

Creator: Veltkamp, Angele

This cotton sack for Manhattan Milling Company flour was cut open along one side, embroidered, and embellished with braid and ribbon. Embroidered designs include the Belgian government?s coat of arms; a French message whose English translation is ?The union makes the force;? the years 1914-1915; and the names of the needle worker, Angèle Veltkamp, and the town Hasselt (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.

Embroidered flour sack