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Embroidered flour sack

Dates: between 1915 and 1916

Creator: Gielen, Carolina

This cotton flour sack is embroidered with satin floss and sewn to a silk backing. Embroidered designs include the flags of Belgium, United States, and France; the year 1915; a French message whose English translation is ?God Blesses Our Benefactors;? and the name of the St. Joseph Orphanage. 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 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