Bleeds Blue

I decided to learn about the origin of my American Eagle Artist jeans. The Artist jean is a double buttoned flared style of denim pants. They are medium wash blue. The tag says the materials used are 98% cotton and 2% elastane. Elastane is  man-made and the "yarns are characterized by their ability to recover from stretch (cirfs.org)." Obviously, this does not come from a farm.

Cotton does; however, come from a farm. Cotton is a natural fiber. I learned from my Historic Clothing class last semester that cotton has been used for over a millennium. Linen and wool were the first natural fibers used. Then silk and cotton were introduced when weaving methods improved Linen and cotton are plant based while wool and silk are animal based. Cotton was used as material for undergarments. The Industrial Revolution allowed cotton to be used in everyday clothing. There are many benefits to cotton as found on the website, thefabricofourlives.com. Furthermore, denim is always made from cotton. If your jeans have little to no cotton, they are not denim (thefabricofourlives.com).

Ancient Egyptians clothing was made of linen. I mention this because they had yet to discover a mordant. This is what adheres dye to clothing. Without a mordant, the dye washes out, doesn't dye evenly or bleeds. When I first bought my jeans, there was a tag attached to the belt loop. This said that the method of dying which is used by American Eagle means the dye has the potential to bleed. I never buy dark blue jeans from American Eagle for this reason. The reviews on their website reiterate this problem (ae.com). I know my grandmother learned to dye cloth from her grandmother on the farm. Maybe American Eagle should go back to the farm and learn these methods in order for their dark wash jeans to no longer bleed. 

My Farming History

Before asking my parents about my farming background I thought I only had one farming family.  You see, my dad’s grandfather was a coal miner and his grandmother came from a family of outlaws. My dad's mom came from Duchesne County Utah and her family worked the railroad and were lawmen. I knew I had a colorful family history. I didn't know I had a farming history

I always wondered how my great Grandpa Young could afford not to shop in the company store. I learned he leased 100 acres and raised soy, corn and peanuts to sell at market. He also parceled some of the land and raised okra, peppers, tomatoes, sweet and feed corn, etc. for his family.  He had about 12 kids and the boys worked the land while he mined. Then in August my great grandmother and her daughters would can and preserve veggies and fruit and grind the feed corn to make corn meal for bread. My great grandpa was fired from the mining company after a few years of this for not shopping in the company store. He was a union leader and consequently lead a 3 month strike against the mining company and won. He fed his family and others from his farm during the strike, which is how they were able to hold out so long. This was in the middle of the Great Depression. In Oklahoma.  Fortunately, they lived near the Arkansas/Oklahoma border and were not affected by the Dust Bowl. My grandpa and his brothers would also fish in the summer and trap and hunt game in the winter. They ate rabbit, possum, squirrel, catfish, blue gill.

My Grandpa Young, my dad’s dad also leased land to raise veggies for his family. He moved to Utah by this time and leased 5 acres in West Bountiful. He also sent his boys to tend the small farm in the summer. He had fruit trees on his property in Bountiful by the Bountiful tabernacle. He grew apricots, apples and peaches on the trees and then grapes, and raspberries in Bountiful. He grew tomatoes, okra, peppers, sweet and feed corn like his father. Then my grandmother would can and preserve the bounty. She would dry the fruit as well. My grandpa also raised rabbits because it was his favorite and they’re hard to find in Utah.

My dad was a migrant farmer in Hawaii as a teenager. He planted and picked pineapple. He helped his dad on the small acreage where they grew vegetables. He also hunted fowl such as pheasant and duck. He also trapped muskrat. When we lived in Kansas City, MO he shot the squirrels in our yard and made squirrel stew. I couldn’t bring myself to eat it though I’ve eaten most game.

My mom’s mom was raised by her grandparents on their dairy farm. My great, great grandfather Loveless was innovative and utilized the newest farming equipment and techniques though he was barely educated. The Lovelesses and Dimmicks also had the plots next to Hyrum Smith in Nauvoo and farmed there. The Dimmicks were tenant farmers in England and were kicked off the land by the Landlord after joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint. They emigrated to Nauvoo and then to Utah. My mom's dad's family were sheep ranchers in Juab County Utah and shoemakers. Both emmigrated from Denmark after joining the church

I did not know how close I was to farming. I didn’t know my father and grandfather also farmed for their families. I only knew that my dad was a hunter.