Arapiles Historical Society
Container - Roy SCHMIDT Collection - Cotton Flour Bags (3)
[1] Three Bears Porridge Flaked Oatmeal Bag: This textile bag originates from Canadian Cereal Mills Ltd., which marketed "Three Bears" flaked oatmeal. Popular in the early 1900s to mid-century, this product combined functional packaging with a child-friendly incentive — a cut-out cloth doll. The practice of printing toys, games, or clothing patterns on flour or oat sacks was a common marketing strategy, encouraging reuse and appealing to families during times when thrift and creativity were essential, especially during the Depression and wartime years.
The Three Bears brand played off the enduring popularity of children’s nursery tales, while the doll encouraged children (and parents) to reuse packaging creatively. This object captures a unique intersection of food marketing, household resourcefulness, and early 20th-century domestic life.
[2] Mammy Self-Raising Flour Bag: This item is a mid-20th-century Australian flour bag, branded “Mammy Oven Puff”, produced by A. Mammy Products Pty Ltd in West Footscray, Victoria. The use of the name "Mammy" and the caricatured illustration draws on a now widely recognised and offensive racial stereotype originating from American minstrel culture, commonly used in product branding in the early-to-mid 20th century. While the bag reflects a specific period in Australian domestic and commercial packaging history, it also exemplifies racially insensitive advertising that would be considered inappropriate and harmful by today’s standards. Such items are preserved today in museum collections to help document past social attitudes, consumer culture, and the evolution of racial representation in advertising.
[3] Bandung Blue Triangle Brand Flour Bag: This bag represents a mid-20th-century Australian flour export product, particularly aimed at international markets such as Indonesia (as indicated by "Bandung"). The “Blue Triangle Brand” was likely a registered trademark used by a Melbourne-based flour mill engaged in both local and overseas trade. The use of durable cloth bags for bulk flour was common prior to the widespread adoption of paper and plastic packaging. These bags were often reused domestically for household textiles, clothing patterns, or storage. The export reference (Bandung) underscores Australia's historical agricultural trade ties with Southeast Asia, especially in wheat and flour exports.
– Roy SCHMIDT resided with his siblings Mabel and Jack at ‘Parklands’ 85 Lake Avenue Natimuk home of Heinrich Friederick ‘Heiny’ & Minna Christina SUDHOLZ nee LANGE and their children Louis, Sophie, Alma, Lena (Roy's Mother), Florence 'Florrie' and Edward ‘Ted’.[1] Three Bears Porridge Flaked Oatmeal Bag: A vintage cloth oatmeal bag printed with black ink on both sides. One side is branded with "Three Bears Porridge – Flaked Oatmeal", showing an image of three bears behind a gate, referencing the well-known “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” fairytale. The opposite side features a printed cut-out doll design, showing a young girl with curly hair holding a bouquet of flowers, intended to be sewn into a stuffed toy. Instructions note that the reverse side (the doll’s back) could be obtained from a second bag. The design combines product branding with a promotional activity for children, typical of early- to mid-20th-century grocery packaging aimed at reuse.
[2] Mammy Self-Raising Flour Bag: A small vintage cloth flour bag with printed branding in faded red, blue, and black inks. The front of the bag features a central image of a caricatured smiling African American woman wearing a headscarf. The text is unevenly faded but legible in parts. The bag has a rectangular shape with an open top edge and signs of previous use, including creasing and some fraying at the corners.
[3] Bandung Blue Triangle Brand Flour Bag: A large, rectangular vintage cloth flour bag made of cream-coloured calico or cotton. The front of the bag is printed in bold blue ink with branding and export information. It prominently features a large triangular logo reading “Blue Triangle Brand” and numerous lines of text in block and stylised fonts. The bag is open at the top with frayed edges, suggesting it was once machine-stitched shut and later opened.[1] Three Bears Porridge Flaked Oatmeal Bag: Front side (branding side): "THREE BEARS Porridge – FLAKED OATMEAL" "7 Lbs. Net." “Packed and guaranteed by Canadian Cereal Mills Ltd., Toronto”
Reverse side (doll pattern): "This is the Front for Three Bears Cut-out Doll" "In order to complete this Doll it will be necessary to obtain the Back Design from another Bag of Three Bears Rolled Oats or Oatmeal."
[2] Mammy Self-Raising Flour Bag: Main product name: “MAMMY OVEN PUFF SELF-RAISING FLOUR” Additional text: “The Only Creamed Flour” “Prepared with phosphate aerator” “A. MAMMY PRODUCTS PTY. LTD., Sunshine Rd., West Footscray. Phone: FW 7321” “7 LBS. NET” (near top edge, very faded)
[3] Bandung Blue Triangle Brand Flour Bag: The bag is printed with the following: “10270” “G.W.C | H.L” “BANDUNG” “BEST AUSTRALIAN” “BLUE TRIANGLE BRAND” (inside the triangle logo) “GROWER & GRINDERS” (curved around the logo) “Patent Roller” “MELBOURNE” “FLOUR” “50 LBS. GROSS WHEN PACKED” These inscriptions indicate that this flour bag was manufactured in Melbourne, Australia, and was likely exported to Bandung, Indonesia.farm equipment, flour, milling, oats
Port Melbourne Historical & Preservation Society
Arapiles Historical Society
Arapiles Historical Society