Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is a versatile plant; linseed oil pressed from flax seeds is the medium in oil paints created by 17th century Dutch artists and is still used by painters today. A food-safe version of flax oil is taken as a nutritional supplement, flax seeds are also used in food and they are the slippery stuffing in those restful little eye pillows. Flax flowers are used in dyes, and the long, strong fibers of the plant’s stem, aged in water and pounded to separate, have been spun since the time of the pharaohs into thread or rope, and woven into cloth. Even the pharaohs’ mummy wrappings were flax, it is the most ancient plant cultivated for textiles. These days we call the fabric made from flax ‘linen’ and it shows up most often at QBO sales as crisp, stylish shirts, summer-weight suits, elegant table cloth & napkin sets, and tea towels.
A much more unusual linen Queen B find is this vintage multi-person canteen or “WATER BAG” from the Colorado Dept. of Highways. Approximately 12″ x 18″ and in perfect condition, the bag looks unused except for the sharpie I.D. number “D.1.5” scrawled on it. Since the Colorado Dept. of Highways was renamed the Colorado Department of Transportation in 1991, the water bag is at least 34 years old but due to its old-fashioned nature, it was probably made much earlier, sometime during the 1930s, 40s or 50s.
In spite of its rustic appearance, this ‘bag’ was thoughtfully designed and is extremely well-made. There’s a stiff rod enclosed in the top seam to keep the bag from folding in on itself when full, and heavy gromets and copper staples attach the carrying/hanging rope handle. The short pour spout is incorporated into a corner, meaning no extra cuts in the fabric that might leak and the cork is even leashed securely to the bag with linen twine!
The bag itself is made from a single piece of 24″ wide linen, folded in half along its vertical length. Both top and bottom seams (which have cut edges) have been doubled over with the vulnerable cut ends folded to the inside and sewn once with a regular seam to join them and then top-stitched for added strength. More top-stitching was used to make the bottom corners curved because the weight of all that water pressing down (about 8 lbs.) would make pointy corners vulnerable to leaking. Looking at it from the front, the folded left side of the bag is seamless, while the right side is the yardage’s sturdy, woven selvedges, top-stitched together. Because woven selvedges are less prone to fraying than a cut edge, the size of the bag was dictated by the width of the linen yardage. The cloth was likely custom-woven for a government contract for possibly thousands of these ‘canteens’, both to meet a specified volume requirement, and to have the necessary incredibly tight weave. Because, yes, it is ONLY that fine, tight, sturdy linen cloth holding in around a gallon of water – these bags were not usually lined with anything waterproof! Instructions on the top of the bag have you “soak well before using”, which both assures being able to fill it to full volume once the walls have absorbed a good quantity of water, and then, when out in the field, that the slow process of evaporation off the bag’s surface will keep the water inside pleasantly cool. Sophisticated imbibing!
So what did the hard-working crews using this canteen actually do? Up until 1968 the Colorado Dept. of Highways built well over 700 bridges and grade separations (where one road or train track is raised to cross over another). Most are still in use and many are elegant, functional constructions listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. That’s a lot of thirsty work!
Tuesday Treasures was started by our staff member, Jeanne Lusignan. Each week she will be featuring items that have been found at our estate sales. If you would like to submit a treasure for Jeanne to feature in a future installment of “Tuesday’s Treasures”, please follow the button below and send us an email! Please attach a few photos of your treasure in a beautiful setting as well as any details you have about your item such as manufacturer, use, age, region of origin. If you don’t know about the piece, that’s okay! We still might be able to research it for you! Don’t forget to tell us what makes this item such a treasure to you!