The History of Sock Monkeys

As sock monkeys, Woolly Monkey and I wanted to find out more about our history and ancestors.  I suppose you could say that we are not traditional sock monkeys because we don't have the tell tale red mouth that you see on 'vintage red heel' sock monkeys but we are all the same in spirit!  So this is what we found out...

In 1868 in a place called Rockford, Illinois, a Swedish man called John Nelson designed a machine to make socks.  His sock making business grew into the Nelson Knitting Company where they made the 'Nelson Sock'.  In around 1932, John's son, Franklin Nelson designed a machine that could make seamless socks that went on to be known as the 'Rockford Red Heel'.  When the socks were worn out they were used to create our original ancestors with their traditional red mouths during the Great Depression to comfort children all across America. 

Love Mary and Woolly Monkey x