Old Capitol Museum
Hanson Humanities Gallery (ground floor)
April 6 - August 11, 2026

 

Before “thrifting” was a trend, it was a necessity.

Thrift Style takes you back to a time when creativity mattered more than convenience and nothing went to waste. This exhibition explores how everyday feed sacks were transformed into dresses, aprons, quilts, toys, and other household essentials during the Great Depression and World War II. Featuring 41 objects, from sewing patterns to finished garments, Thrift Style highlights the kind of ingenuity that still inspires today’s conversations about sustainability and reuse.

Organized by the Historic Costume and Textile Museum and the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University, the exhibition reveals how families met hard times with skill, optimism, and imagination. When money and materials were scarce, homemakers turned flour, sugar, and feed sacks into fabric—literally reshaping the ordinary into something useful and beautiful.

The objects in Thrift Style tell a story of shared goals. Businesses adapted their product packaging designs to be more beautiful, while consumers relied on creativity and practical skills to make clothes, quilts, dolls, and more from what others might have thrown away. Together, they created one of the earliest—and most impressive—examples of upcycling in American history.

Thrift Style offers a snapshot of daily life in a moment when reuse wasn’t optional—it was essential. And it asks a timely question for today: what can we learn from the past about making the most of what we already have?

For Instructors

Curricular Connections

Thrift Style offers instructors a rich opportunity to connect course content with material culture, creativity, and social history. Through garments, patterns, and household objects made from repurposed feed sacks, the exhibition explores how individuals and industries responded to economic hardship, wartime rationing, and material scarcity during the Great Depression and World War II. The exhibition invites students to consider innovation, sustainability, design, and domestic labor through real-world objects that reflect everyday decision-making and creative problem-solving.

We encourage faculty to integrate a visit to the exhibition into their coursework as a way to support object-based learning, interdisciplinary discussion, and critical reflection on how historical practices of reuse and adaptation continue to resonate today.

Suggested Courses and Fields

Art & Art History
Examining visual culture, vernacular design, and the aesthetics of functional objects. The exhibition supports discussion of craft traditions, pattern design, and the relationship between art, utility, and social context.

History & American Studies
Investigating everyday life during the Great Depression and World War II, with attention to the home front, domestic labor, gender roles, and material culture as historical evidence.

Textiles, Fashion, & Costume Studies
Studying garment construction, sewing practices, patternmaking, and textile innovation. Feed sack clothing offers insight into adaptive design strategies and historical approaches to fashion and function.

Sustainability & Environmental Studies
Considering early examples of reuse, recycling, and upcycling long before sustainability became a formalized field. The exhibition encourages comparison between historical resourcefulness and contemporary environmental challenges.

Design & Innovation Studies
Analyzing design shaped by limitation and necessity. Students can explore how constraints drive innovation and how problem-solving responds to social, economic, and material conditions.

Economics & Business
Exploring consumer behavior, marketing strategies, and industry adaptation during periods of scarcity. The exhibition highlights how manufacturers and consumers mutually influenced product design and demand.

Gender & Women’s Studies
Centering domestic labor as skilled, creative, and economically significant work. The exhibition supports discussion of women’s agency, knowledge-sharing, and the historical undervaluing of household labor.

Sociology & Cultural Studies
Examining class, access, and cultural values around thrift, repair, and consumption. Objects in the exhibition provide a lens into community resilience and shared responses to hardship.

Education & Curriculum Studies
Supporting object-based learning, interdisciplinary teaching, and inquiry-driven discussion. The exhibition offers opportunities to develop visual literacy and critical analysis using historical artifacts as primary sources.

How to arrange a visit?

Expand your classroom with a visit to one of our galleries or collections spaces. Lead your own lecture with a group, encourage your students to visit for credit or to complete an assignment on their own, or develop an experience for your class with our education team; we're here to collaborate and support.

Self-Guided Visit: Schedule an independent, self-paced exploration.

  • Instructors often reserve gallery spaces to lead their own lecture, letting our exhibits illustrate their teaching goals & objectives. These spaces include the Museum of Natural History's Iowa Hall, Bird Hall, and Mammal Hall or the Old Capitol Museum.
  • Cost: No charge; museum admission is free and educational gallery reservations for instructor-led presentations are free of charge
  • Available Galleries: Iowa Hall (MNH), Bird Hall (MNH), Mammal Hall (MNH), Old Capitol Museum
  • Reserve the gallery here: https://pentacrestmuseums.uiowa.edu/form/schedule-a-tour

Collaborate with our Education & Engagement Department: Schedule a visit for a class with museum support or make special arrangements by contacting our Education Department.