A rare offering for a folk art - style World War I embroidered flour sack. The one-piece modified cloth sack decorated in Belgium, depicts a large fir tree "Big Tree", Choice Patent Flour. Overall measurement 26.5" x 17". Sewn to the back is a card with the embroider artist's name, Jane de Swart and her Brussels address.
HISTORY NOTE: The Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB) was established in 1914 under the direction of Herbert Hoover (later president of the United States) to provide relief to Belgium and occupied France between 1914-1918. The CRB shipped flour packaged in cotton bags by American mills. The empty flour sacks were distributed and repurposed, and provided work for thousands of unemployed. The modified flour sacks were distributed to organizations in Belgium, England and the United States, and then sold to raise funds for food relief and to aid prisoners of war. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Museum has one of the largest collections of World War I flour sacks in the world.