Sockmonkeys! Egads!!!
I live where sockmonkeys (as known by most) originated. Creeps me out... They have fiberglass monkeys all around town. Someone thought this was something important about our heritage, I guess.
History... (for what it is worth), and information that will NOT buy you a beer, or make you the popular person at the party:
John Nelson, a Swedish immigrant to the United States, patented the sock-knitting machine in 1869, and began manufacturing work socks in Rockford, Illinois in 1890. The iconic sock monkeys made from red-heeled socks emerged at the earliest in 1932, the year the Nelson Knitting Company added the trademarked red heel to its product. In the early years, the red-heeled sock was marketed as "De-Tec-Tip". Nelson Knitting was an innovator in the mass market work sock field, creating a loom that enabled socks to be manufactured without seams in the heel. These seamless work socks were so popular that the market was soon flooded with imitators, and socks of this type were known under the generic term "Rockfords". Nelson Knitting added the red heel "de-tec-tip" to assure its customers that they were buying "original Rockfords". This red heel gave the monkeys their distinctive mouth. During the Great Depression, American crafters first made sock monkeys out of worn-out Rockford Red Heel Socks.
I sincerely apologize for posting this... but had to share my misery.
Spyderwolf - the powder is what started this whole sock monkey frenzy. Did you know there is actually a Lady Monkey Butt powder??? :hun:
Illinois Boy - that is really interesting how the sock monkey was born. I'll pass this on to the GOS (Girls on Spyders) so they can read it, too. Thanks for the info. I hope that my appreciation for your research will make you less miserable.
hyea:
opcorn:
