80s cowboy capital feed sack print tank top - bucking bronco

the look

a 1980s tank top cut from a printed cotton feed sack, with the full "cowboy capital stock rations" graphic placed front and center: a bronc rider silhouetted against a stippled blue moon, framed in a lasso of rope lettering, with cattle brands scattered around and "cowboy capital farm & ranch supply" running along the hem. the sack carries a distributor line for baumann's mercantile of burrton, kansas, and its "rolled oats, mollasses and corn" feed line still shows on the turned hem inside. sewing clothes from feed sacks is a rural american tradition that took hold in the depression, when mills began printing sacks in patterns knowing farm families would turn them into dresses and shirts. paper had largely replaced cloth sacks by the late 1960s, and later printed cotton sacks like this one were made as decorative country goods, which home and craft-show sewists cut into wearable pieces. this one keeps the graphic whole and centered, with a plain cream back and an easy, boxy shape.

details

• era: 1980s
• designer: unbranded
• origin: usa
• design: sleeveless scoop-neck tank with a boxy, slightly cropped cut. the front is cut from a printed feed sack with the full cowboy capital graphic in red, yellow, blue and black on natural cream, and the back is plain cream. bias-bound neckline and armholes, serged interior seams, turned and stitched hem, pullover with no closures, size "s" inked on the neck binding. materials and percentages - content tag not visible, fiber content unknown; likely 100% cotton sacking based on comparable printed feed sacks
• condition: very good: print bright with light age crackle throughout, crinkled texture is natural to the sacking, faint pink mark near the side hem
• size & fit: tagged size s, inked on the neck binding. best modern fit estimate is women's small to medium, approximately us 4-8 depending on desired ease. the cut is boxy and straight through the body, with a slightly cropped length that hits around the high hip. shown on a dress form measuring 17 in shoulders, 35 in bust, 30.5 in underbust, 25 in waist and 35 in hips.
• flat measurements: bust 18 in flat, waist 17.5 in flat, hem 17 in flat, shoulder 14.5 in, length 21 in