Sock Monkey
Stuffed with emotions.
I remember watching an old TV show called Kukla, Fran, and Ollie when I was a very young boy. It was basically a puppet show, with a woman named Fran Allison talking to Kukla, who was a clown and the leader of the group, and Ollie (short for Oliver J. Dragon), who was as you might guess, a dragon. This may have been the first time that I ever saw a sock puppet (Ollie).
There have been many more since then — Lamb Chop became famous as a character on Captain Kangaroo, and of course the most famous sock puppet of them all is Kermit the frog, created by Jim Henson, and improved by various technologies that allowed him to walk and dance. They say that Henson was inspired by some of the earlier TV shows.
At about the same age, I had a teddy bear named Timmy that I had made during a class project at school. It wasn’t fancy — just two pieces of cloth sewn together with yarn. My teacher had even pre-punched holes in the cloth, so we wouldn’t have to really sew, just push the yarn through the holes. We stuffed these bears with cotton, sewed them up, and once I drew a slanted smile on his face it became one of my cherished toys.
Sock Monkey
I was surprised to learn that one particular kind of stuffed toy which was part sock puppet and part teddy bear has a deep connection to Illinois. This is the sock monkey.
A sock monkey is traditionally made with a pair of red-heeled Rockford work socks. The socks are the Nelson Knitting Mill’s red-heeled socks, and the red heel becomes the mouth of the monkey. In 1869 John Nelson of Rockford, Illinois developed the first seamless sock-knitting machine. In 1932 the company added a red heel that became famous. During the depression, the sock monkey became all the rage as these toys could be made at home.
There is even a Sock Monkey Museum (sockmonkeymuseum.com) in Long Grove, Illinois. They display over 2000 different sock monkeys, and visitors can make their own on site. Not to be outdone, the Midway Village Museum (midwayvillage.com) in Rockford hosts an annual Sock Monkey Madness Festival, including — of course — a sock hop.
There is something sweet about the idea of old socks being repurposed during the depression to make toys for children. It relates to our creativity and the sentimental value of a childhood memory. The world can feel very complicated now, but there is still something to be said for simple pleasures.
