Auteur: Annelien van Kempen

The Europeana Collections website 1914-1918 put me on the trail of this unique photograph of two young, Belgian embroiderers, plus two decorated flour sacks in a private collection [1].

In the online contribution “Oscar De Keersmaecker from Oppuurs”, his son Jozef talks about his father’s experiences as a soldier in WWI and the burning down of his father-in-law’s mill in 1914. Jozef De keersmaecker is Honorary Alderman of Oppuurs, he is also a writer of historical books, including the “History of Oppuurs 1311-2003”.

This story “Thanks from Oppuers” (“Oppuers” is the old spelling of “Oppuurs”) brings together a Belgian and an American mill.

Oppuurs, part of the municipality Puurs-Sint-Amands, is located in the province of Antwerp. I traveled there in November, Mr. and Mrs. De keersmaecker-Verbruggen were so kind to welcome me in their home to study the decorated flour sacks and shared with me the accompanying family stories.

The mill of Oppuurs was originally a wooden grain windmill, which was founded before 1508. In 1887, miller Petrus Edmond Verbruggen inherited the mill from his deceased wife. Verbruggen remarried Maria Rosalia Van Der Linden; when he died in 1907, he left the mill to his wife and children.

In the meantime, during a storm in 1898, the standard mill had been toppled, but had been rebuilt in 1901 as a “belt mill” with a fairly high base, grounded on a slope. After the outbreak of the First World War, fate struck again. The Belgian army set fire to the mill: the mill would obstruct the view from the Bornem fort of the advancing German troops; and if they would advance, the mill could not serve as a lookout post for them.

The mill was never rebuilt on the spot, the only thing that reminds us today is the mill well. [2]

The miller’s family Verbruggen went with the times, in 1917-1918 they founded a new steam mill at Oppuurs station. After years of back and forth, the Belgian state eventually paid compensation for the destruction of the mill.

A lot of needlework has been done in the family of Rosalie Verbruggen-Van Der Linden. The girls went to school in Oppuurs and were educated by the nuns of Annonciaden from Veltem; by far the majority of people in the village owe part of their upbringing to these nuns.
A lace school was founded in 1912.

Antoinette and Irena Verbruggen made a diptych on flour sacks with the image of the family mill in operational and destroyed condition: “Praise and Thanks Oppuers 1914” and “America Relief in Need 1915”. It was hemmed with a wide strip of lace and decorated with band and brushes. It must have been a colorful needlework.

The girls proudly showed their work in the photo. On the back of the photo is written: ”L. Irène Verbruggen, R. Antoinette Verbruggen, sisters, aunts of Jeanneke Verbruggen. These sacks were a memento as a thank you for the American help. They are flour sacks and are owned by the Verbruggen family.”

Unfortunately, it is not known whether the decorated flour sacks on the photograph have been preserved.

The entire Verbruggen-Van Der Linden family was portrayed during the photo session, nine children were still alive. The two boys, Modest and Frans, are on the left and right of their mother Rosalie; they would continue the business. Irena and Antoinette would later enter the monastery as nuns.
Sister Rozalia, daughter of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Antonia Verbruggen (Oppuurs 1898.06.27 – Rumst 1989.07.07) was professed in Opwijk on August 25, 1929.
Her sister Irena Verbruggen (Oppuurs 1893.06.19 – Ternat 1984.03.09) entered the Ursuline sisters in Mollem on August 16, 1917 and took her perpetual vows there on October 21, 1925; her name was Sister Edmond.
Two other sisters Verbruggen, Maria and Louise, became teachers with permanent appointments at the elementary school in Oppuurs.

There are two well-preserved flour sacks in the family. After the death of Frans Verbruggen, his eldest daughter Jeanne and her husband Jozef De keersmaecker dicovered the sacks at his home.

I have written about one of these decorated flour sacks before, in my blog “Verwondering over een Koene Held” (“Marvel of a Valiant Hero”).

“Dank van Oppuers” (Thanks from Oppuers) is written in capital letters on the flour sack from Wheatland Roller Mill Co. in Wheatland, Wyoming, USA. The sack “Belgian Relief Flour” arrived in Belgium in March 1915 through the relief campaign “The Miller’s Belgian Relief Movement 1914-15” from the Northwestern Miller, the magazine of American millers in Minneapolis [3].

In the fall of 1914, the people of the state of Wyoming raised money for the needy Belgian population. To contribute to the Miller’s Belgian Relief Movement flour was purchased from the Wheatland Roller Mill Co., as reported in the relief effort Report.

The flour mill existed from 1897 to 1931 [4]. The town of Wheatland commemorates the history of the mill to this day with a mural in the city center, applied in 2017 by the “Platte County Art Guild”.

The steamer “South Point” transported a load of 6200 tons of relief goods for a value of $ 500,000 from Philadelphia to Rotterdam. The ship arrived safely in the port of Rotterdam on 27 February 1915, where the sacks of flour were immediately loaded on inland vessels and shipped to Belgian ports. A number of barges sailed to Antwerp; hence the flour would be distributed to Oppuurs.

Empty sacks will have been handed over to the Annonciaden Sisters’ Monastery School in Oppuurs, where the schoolgirls processed the flour sacks in class as part of their needle training.

On the unprinted side of the flour sack, first a design would have been made and the pattern drawn, in some places you can still see blue lines on the canvas. The embroidery is meticulously executed, as well as the wide lace border, see the appendix with the complete inventory of the flour sack.

Remarkable are:

• The three buttonholes
• The year “1915” as the year of decoration, instead of a timeline 1914-1915
• Europeana Collections 1914-1918 mentions the contribution of Henri Vertongen including the image of a correspondingly decorated flour sack with “Thanks from Puers”. See my blog of January 23, 2020.

My warm thanks go to Jozef De keersmaecker and his wife Jeanne Verbruggen. She is the granddaughter of Rosalie Verbruggen-Van Der Linden and has always known her grandmother as an independent, decisive woman. Jeanne’s aunts, who became nuns as adults, embroidered the dyptich of flour sacks with the mills when they were schoolgirls.
Who knows they and the other sisters Verbruggen may also have worked on the two flour sacks preserved by their brother Frans.

ADDITION November 5,  2021

In the collection of the Hoover Institution Archives at Stanford University, the Ben S. Allen Collection contains a flour sack “Belgian Relief Flour Pillsbury Flour Mills“, donated by the local Oppuers relief committee. The members of the committee have placed their signatures under the photos of King Albert I and Queen Elisabeth.

Between them an embroidered lion is staring a bit dejectedly. The US and Belgium flags and the Oppuers coat of arms are embroidered; a wide strip of lace forms the edge decoration. ‘M.Mees’ is the signature of the embroiderer. Maria Josepha Isabella Mees ( Oppuurs 1901.02.08 – Beerse 1976.12.06) was 14 years old when in 1915 she applied the decorations for the relief committee to the flour sack. She was the daughter of the municipal teacher Jan Mees and Maria Van Assche. Later Maria Mees married Dirk Vancoppenolle (Essen 1895.05.20 – Beerse 1978.08.21); he was a doctor in Germanic philology, a teacher at the Royal Athenaeum.

Evelyn McMillan reports about Benjamin S. Allen: “he was a Stanford University graduate, a friend of Hoover’s, an American journalist based in London, and helpful in writing about the situation in Belgium during the war to tell the world what was going on and what was needed”. Writing for the Associated Press, Allen was CRB delegate from October 1914 until the end of CRB’s operations.

The members of the Oppuers relief committee were: Frans van Damme, Schepene on-duty Mayor (chairman); Jan Mees, Schepene; E. Lauwers; J. Slachmuylders; J. Hulsbosch; H. Stevens; Ed. Willocx; Alberie Theyskens, curate in Oppuers, (secretary treasurer); Joseph Van Assche, rentier; Modeste Verbruggen, miller.

Thanks to:
– Evelyn McMillan for making the flour sack photos available in the Ben S. Allen Collection at HIA;
– the members of the Facebook group Lizerne Trench Art (LTA), Jorn van Bulck and Ingo Luypaert, for their help in identifying the names of the Oppuers relief committee;
– Bart Palmans of Heverstam, Historical Collecting Circle Sint-Amands;
– Hubert Bovens, Wilsele, for the search for biographical information;
– Patricia Quaghebeur of KADOC, Louvain, for the biographical details of Sister Edmond/Irena Verbruggen.

Footnotes:

[1] The decorated flour sacks “Dank van Oppuers” and “Koene Held” have been on display to the public at Heemkundige Verzamelkring (“Historical Collecting Circle”) Sint-Amands HeverStam during the exhibition “The face of the Great War” in 2018

[2] The history of the mill of Oppuurs is described in the Molendatabase.EU: see the collection “Lost Belgian Mills”

[3] See also my blog / article “A Famous Flemish Flour Sack in The Land of Nevele” of 25 October 2018

[4] More about the history of Wheatland Roller Mill Co. in the book by Starley Talbott, Platte County. Images of America. Charleston SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2009

1914

St-Josse-ten-Noode received the first sacks of flour from America on December 25 and 26: 200 sacks of flour, of which 176 sacks of flour of 64 kg to be distributed to the bakeries during the Christmas season: ‘L’ ALIMENTATION’. – La commune de St-Josse-ten-Noode, a reçu les 25 et 26 courant, 200 sacs de farine; 176 sacs ont été réparti entre les boulangers de la commune et 24 sacs ont été remis à l’Œuvre de l’alimentation de la commune. Chaque sac était de 64 kilos. (“FOOD’. – The municipality of St-Josse-ten-Noode, received the 25th and 26th, 200 sacks of flour; 176 sacks were distributed among the bakers of the commune and 24 sacks were given to l’Œuvre de l’alimentation of the commune. Each sack was 64 kilos (Le Bruxellois, December 30, 1914).

Le Temps Présent
The cover photo of the Christmas issue of the Belgian illustrated magazine Le Temps Présent shows a toddler, a hungry girl, taking a bite of a thick sandwich. It would turn out to be an iconic photo. The photo of the eating mite is still used to this day as a representation of food aid to Belgium during the Great War.

The Chicago Evening Post
The photo of the girl had already appeared in the American newspaper The Chicago Evening Post. On Tuesday, November 24, 1914, close to Thanksgiving Day, it appeared on the front page of the Chicago newspaper: “Belgian Mite Gets First Bite in 2 Days“.
The photographer’s identity is revealed: “Doubleday-Page Photo”, he worked for Doubleday-Page & Company, New York City. [1]

The caption contained an appeal from the newspaper to give money for food aid to Belgium. “Picture taken in Holland shows Belgian orphan eating her first mouthful of food after wandering two days alone and hungry. It is such waifs as this The Post’s flour fund will aid. Send your check today.”

War Bread
The American Edward Eyre Hunt (1885-1953), author of the book War Bread, published about his life in Belgium when he worked in the province of Antwerp for the Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB).

In his book Hunt uses the girl’s photo (with the simple caption “War Bread”) on the frontispiece: the mite, enjoying a big sandwich.

Hunt reports on the decorating of flour sacks by ladies in Antwerp. The caption under the photograph of six decorated flour sacks is: FLOUR SACKS. Embroidered and painted by the Belgians as souvenirs for the Americans. Through my research of decorated flour sacks from WWI, I can add that the Belgians made the souvenirs not only for the Americans, but also for themselves.

Nieuwe meesters, magere tijden
The Print Room of the Museum Plantin-Moretus  in Antwerp keeps a drawing in black chalk by the Belgian artist Louis Ketels, dated September 4, 1917, entitled Refugee Girl in Breda.
A printout of the drawing with caption War Child, Child of the Account can be found on page 50 in Diane de Keyzer’s book Nieuwe meesters, magere tijden (New Masters, Lean Times), 2013.

The photo of the refugee girl has been copied exactly in mirror image by Louis Ketels!

A hundred years later, the image of the Belgian mite shows up again. The books WWI Crusaders (2018) and Yanks behind the Lines (2020) were published by author Jeffrey B. Miller from Denver, Colorado. The image of the refugee girl decorates the cover of both books. The author is grandson of Erica Bunge (1892-1986) from Antwerp, Belgium, who married CRB employee Milton M. Brown (1893-1979) from Cincinnati, Ohio. Miller describes the love story of his grandparents and the intense life of the young men and women who worked for the CRB from August 1914 to May 1917.

Looking at the photos, reading the captions, I wonder: was she a Belgian refugee in Breda, Holland or was she in Dixmude, Belgium? Was she an orphan? Has this really been her first bite in two days?

1915

The cover photo of L’Evénément Illustré shows a painting by Belgian artist Gaston Haustraete.

I became acquainted with Haustraete (Everbeek, 1878 – Ixelles, 1949) through his painted flour sack from Thompson Milling Co., included in the Moulckers Collection, St. Edwards University, Austin, Texas, USA. The child’s portrait on the flour sack shows a striking resemblance to the child’s portrait on the Christmas cover. In both paintings the child holds something in his right fist, on the cover photo it looks like a toy soldier, symbol for father, fighting at the front? The red flowers on the flour sack symbolize hope. The story of the flour sack is described in my (Dutch) blog of November 30, 2018 about the Moulckers Collection.

December call in the newspaper: “Go look at the American Sacks. Works made by workers. 105, rue Neuve, Brussels”.

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In Anderlecht, near Brussels, an exhibition of art and crafts opened in December 1915 in the veterinary school, where works of art could be obtained through a raffle. The proceeds of the fundraising were intended for the local relief commission.

I suspect that decorated flour sacks would have been amongst the displayed artworks. The institute of the Sœurs de Notre Dame, a professional school for girls, was established in Anderlecht. They have decorated a lot of flour sacks in class during their lessons. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa owns dozens of pieces of the students from Anderlecht.

Evariste Carpentier (Kuurne, 1845 – Liège, 1922) painted a flour sack from Preston Milling Co., Preston, Idaho, USA. As a leading painter and former director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Liège, Carpentier’s Christmas painting was photographed. The image was reproduced as a postcard, of which copies were sold for charity: the soup distribution in Liège. The postcards are still sought-after collectables.

During the Christmas and New Year period, the former students of the Academy in Liège organized the 15th Salon of Art and Applied Art, the proceeds of which were intended for, among other things, the “Solidarité Artistique”. The fund provided discreet assistance to the many poor artists who were affected by the war and occupation conditions. The program booklet contains various embroidery items from the ladies Irma Terhell and Nina Kepenne-Delheid, but I cannot tell whether they were decorated flour sacks.

1916

Women and young children around the Christmas tree make up the painting on the cover of the Christmas edition.

“C’est la fête intime de la famille, qui réunit tous les cœurs en une douce communion de pensées, de souvenirs et de joies. (It is the intimate celebration of the family, which unites all hearts in a sweet communion of thoughts, memories and joy).”

1917

In London, in the great hall of the Criterion building, an elite party gathered to attend a thé concert, organized by an extensive ladies’ committee, for the “Noël des Petits pauvres d ‘Anvers” (Christmas of the Little Poor of Antwerp). The concert started with an old dance of dancers in classical costumes, then some soloists sang beautiful songs. The following interlude included the sale by auction of a series of embroidered flour sacks. The auction raised 40 pounds.

Georges Desplas, who was mentioned on the program with the pompous title of “official speaker of the Belgian army”, … received much applause after singing his army songs. With astonishing energy, he acted as an auctioneer, improvising, who auctioned off decorated, in Belgium, embroidered flour sacks from WWI. He raised nearly forty pounds, which will be transferred to charity; the result of his wordsmithing…

At the end of 1916 and the end of 1917, the Belgian newspapers reported few articles about decorated flour sacks. The population suffered greatly from food, clothing and fuel shortages and ice-cold winters.

[1] ‘Doubleday-Page Photo’:
Note that the name Page refers to Walter Hines Page (Cary, North Carolina, 15.08.1855 – Pinehurst, North Carolina, 21.12.1918), the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom during WWI. Page had a distinguished career as a journalist and publisher before being appointed Ambassador in London by President Wilson in March 1913. Page was a partner of Doubleday, Page & Company, a major book publisher in New York City, from 1900-1913.