You know the saying, "buy it when you see it because it may not be there later"? I recently was browsing Missouri Valley (Iowa) Antique Mall and found a feed sack with a toy pig on the back. At first I thought it was just a flour sack, interesting because it said "Blair's" and my parents once lived in Blair, Nebraska, and the fact that the company was in Atchison, KS, near where I live. But I picked it up and turned it over and found a pig toy on the back. Yep -- a pig. Okay, that it made it more interesting, but I'm not really into pigs and I'm trying to wean myself from feed sacks. So I put it back and left the mall without the bag.
When I got home, I emailed a friend about the bag. She said she wished she had known about it. Apparently this type of bag is fairly rare. So I looked for these bags on the Internet. Nothing. No toy pig bag. No toy bags at all. What's with that? I know they made feed sacks with several different toys on the back. Dolls. Animals. Maybe this was rarer than I realized.
Of course that made me want the bag even more. So... I took a chance and called the mall. This lovely lady answered the phone and I told her about the bag. Would you believe she took the phone and walked down the aisle and found the very same bag?! Could I charge it on my credit card and would she mail it to me? Of course! SOLD!
Today I went to the mail box and there it was. This innocent little manilla envelop with a return address of Missouri Valley Antique Mall! And there it was. In absolutely perfect condition. I wonder how old this bag is. I searched the Internet and discovered that Blair Feeds is still in business. The company was started in 1867. Of course I emailed them to see if they could date my sack. Stay tuned for updates!
