MATERIAL FOR BANDAGES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 February 1940, Page 8

MATERIAL FOR BANDAGES

RAG BAGS OF YESTERDAY. In the days before the Great War women wore billowing petticoats (sometimes two at a time) made with frills from knee to ankle, such frills being at least three yards round of calico, muslin, cambric, nainsook, or linen, trimmed with dozens of yards of lace, tucks, or embroideries. The nightdresses of that era were made up to the neck, long sleeves to the wrist, and more frills and lace. Camisoles and chemises were all made of cotton or allied material. Men also wore white shirts, either cotton or linen. Every home kept a “rag bag"— a veritable treasure store of useful bits and pieces for all emergencies. Especially during a war. But where are those “rag bags” today?

Those of us who worked at making bandages during the Great War will never forget the tons of old linen and worn garments dealt with, and what a number of ingenious and necessary articles those old rags were converted into, says an Australian writer. Any pieces long enough were made into bandages. All-pieces which were very soft and worn were snipped into minute pieces and made into medical and surgical pads encased in gauze. And did our fingers and hands get stiff cutting all day at those “snips” until the mechanical-minded husband of one of the workers invented a gadget which saved our fingers getting corns.

Then there were the bundles of rag of all sizes and shapes which had to be graded and rolled into a uniform width and length to fit into the packing cases, and were called “white mice.”

But what reservoir will we draw those supplies from in this year of grace and in the future, when only the “scantiest” , undergarments are worn, and they are made of synthetic materials, such as rayon and wood pulp? Those of you who have old sheets, pillow cases, towels of all descriptions, table linen, don’t tear them up for dusters when in a hurry, but just realise how useful and necessary that old rag may be.