CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 11/28/2024

Blue collar pilgrims in 'Denim: The Fabric That Built America, 1935–1944'

For many Americans, Thanksgiving is the most festive of holidays. For others, it’s fraught. This year, we found a little brightness in this photograph from Reel Art Press’s new book on FSA-era denim, “the fabric that built America.” Graham Marsh writes, “Known as the color of the working class, blue was the cheapest color to produce. Even today, the term ‘blue-collar’ refers to someone who does manual labor. This wasn’t the designer denim look, brothers and sisters, but clothing for real back-breaking hard work. When this clothing wore out, they patched it, sometimes patching a patch until they were wearing the patch itself. It was a tough life, but these were the pilgrims that built America with determination and grace.” Pictured here, “Daughter of a farmer resettled on Kearney Farmsteads in Nebraska,” May 1936.