Robin Hood Shirts and Sugar Bag Simmets

My mother swore that the best cotton came in the form of sugar and flour bags. We used to buy flour in bags weighing 24, 48 or 98 pound quantities. Sugar usually was 50 or 100 pound bags. You could also buy the sugar bags for a dime at the local co-op.

My mother would boil these bags until they were so soft but remained durable. Since the flour bags had the Robin Hood picture on them she made shirts for the boys. The girls had simmets (undershirts) made from the whiter sugar bags. This was a common practice in those days and we were proud of our mom's craftsmanship.

I don't know how she did all the things she did but she managed by working night and day. During the time that we watch TV in the evenings our mom would be sewing, knitting or darning. These skills made it possible for our family to get along on our father's mine salary.

I was in a store yesterday where a rack of hats caught my eye. On closer observation I realized that these hats were made of recycled canvas tarps. People in Brazil made them and to add to the rugged work patches were added. They were being sold for $12.95. In stores today clothes, specialty jeans are torn, cut and abused to make them look old. Our Robin Hood shirts and sugar bag simmets were a step above these and all for a few pennies and mom's sewing ability.