REGIONAL NOTE: A large sack made from loosely woven, coarse material goes by
a variety of names in regional American English. The most general term is
burlap bag, known everywhere but used especially in the Northeast. In the
Midwest and West the usual term is gunnysack, which ultimately comes from the
Sanskrit word gon, meaning “jute or hemp fiber.” In the Upper South such a
sack is called a tow sack, and in Eastern North Carolina, a tow bag. (The
word tow is another synonym for fabric made from jute or hemp and probably
derives from an Old English word for “spinning.”) In South Carolina and
adjacent parts of Georgia, it is called a crocus sack, and in the Gulf
states, a croker sack, both terms deriving from the word crocus. According to
Craig M. Carver, who draws on the research of Walter S. Avis, “Crocus is a
coarse, loosely woven material once worn by slaves and laborers and common in
colonial New England. It probably took its name from the sacks in which
crocus or saffron was shipped.” Though the term crocus sack virtually
disappeared from New England by the end of the 19th century, it survives in
the South
Growing up just prior to WWII, these sacks were generally not burlap but a
rough white material that usually has print and other images. They usually
contained seed or other agricultural matter. Called them crocus sacks.
Peter in Richmond
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