Before someone has the urge to convince the rest of us that there’s no such thing, here’s a definition of croker sack that squares up with my usage of the term. Burlap bag (or sack) is a reasonable synonym, too.
But I got into an argument with a woman at work (this has been years ago – like 25) who was from this area of the country and who was damned if she would let that term be anything but “Kroger sack,” meaning a paper bag for loading groceries into at the Kroger store. Shopping bag, paper sack, grocery bag/sack, any number of reasonable names for what she wanted it to be.
The issues of this thread are:
If it’s not a “croker sack” in your area, what is it?
How many other names for this object do you know and use to describe it?
Have you ever used a croker sack for anything besides storing foods in? (Stuff like potatoes, onions, seed, etc.)
If you have any amusing croker sack tales or jokes, please share.
Not me personally, but my kids’ grandmother used to make things like bedsheets, curtains, even skirts out of flour sacks (probably a cousin to the croker sack). Evidently these items were pretty snazzy, because her mother-in-law used to come over and steal them when she could get away with it.
It’s a croker sack around here, too, and you can’t find many of them made of burlap anymore. Most are made of some kind of woven plastic. We used to use them to carry duck decoys when we were huntin (there’s not much hunting in this area unless you are one of them Florida Yankees).
Yeah, I know the type you’re talking about. I’ve even seen flower bulbs in those sacks. Unless you shop at a mom-n-pop grocery, or unless you’re in the produce section when they’re loading the bins, chances are you won’t have any reason to see the bags that veggies come in. I think oranges are in the same sort of woven plastic bags, too.
I can’t say much about feed supply places around here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re still burlap or some knockoff fiber.
Back when I was into macrame’ I wanted to make a “jute suit” but decided it would itch too bad. Besides, if I wanted such a thing, a croker sack would make a better start for it.
Growing up in Oregon with parents from Kansas & Oklahoma, they were always called Gunny Sacks. And having a maiden name which was phonetically the same as Croker, this would have been on my radar.
A.R., they’re “gunny sacks” around here, too. A few years back, “gunny sack” was a brand of teen wear. When my SIL told me her teenage daughter was wearing a gunny sack to the senior prom, I about fell off my chair.
I heard my grandmother use the term when I was a boy (40 years ago), and since my Mom shopped at Kroger, I thought she said ‘Kroger sack’. At some later time I learned the correct term, but I’ve not heard it used often.
It’s just another of those words that always made people say ‘Do what?’, so we (mostly) stopped using it.
Oh wait…we stopped using ‘Do what?’, too. Damn. I ain’t never gonna learn to talk right. :smack:
I had to do some searching before I could appreciate the pun. Nice one.
Maybe if they packed cake mixes in burlap bags and sold them at Cracker Barrel they could be Betty Crocker croker sacks? Or better still, if Kroger were to contract for such things, they could be Kroger Betty Crocker croker sacks. And if Betty Crocker starts making cracker mixes, well damn!
