Percy Kent Bag Co, Inc 'Ken-Print' Feedsacks - Character Merchandise Division Catalog Page

Time for another series, this time we are leaving the world of production art and moving into the world of promotional licensed merchandise - in this case feedsacks.

It used to be that people bought flour and other dry goods (including animal feed) in large fabric sacks, and then made staples like bread from the flour rather than purchasing bread outright.  These feedsacks or flour sacks were often printed in colorful patterns that could be repurposed in any number of ways - usually in quilts or similar needle work.  Disney (among others) licensed their characters for print fabric used in these sacks.  In 1951 Disney licensed the Alice characters for a series of these sacks in 3 patterns:  Garden of Live Flowers, March of the Cards, and Mad Tea Party.  Of these three, only two seem to have been produced; I've never seen a sack with the below Mad Tea Party artwork.

Over the next several days we'll be exploring the various patterns and colors released as a part of this promotion.  Stay tuned!