1930 to 1950

The Depression era (1930-1950) brought one of the most recognizable changes in American textile history. After decades of dark shirtings and subdued colors, fabrics blossomed into the clear, cheerful pastels we associate with quilts of the 1930s and 1940s—taffy pinks, Dresden blues, lavenders, yellows, peaches, and fresh greens.

In the early 1900s, small, neat prints in black, shaker gray, navy, and dull red were popular for clothing and naturally found their way into quilts. A limited selection of mid-tone pastel solids was available, but there were relatively few pastel prints.

That began to change dramatically following World War I. As part of the postwar settlement, German chemical knowledge and dye patents became more accessible to Allied manufacturers. American textile chemists and manufacturers continued developing the new synthetic dyes, helping make a much broader range of bright, clear colors available for printed cotton fabrics.

You can actually see the transition in period catalogs. The 1924 Sears catalog still shows fabric pages dominated by darker prints, with only a few of the newer pastels. By 1926, the balance had shifted dramatically, with numerous pages devoted to lighter, more colorful fabrics and a much smaller selection of the traditional blacks, blues, grays, and reds.

Margos Finds - Depression Era