Sir Shamokin

Sir Shamokin Sock Monkey originally hails from State College, PA, but was so taken with his sock-mom, VEG, that he snuck into her purse to ensure he could return with her to her home in Vancouver, BC, CANADA (that's a whole 'nother country, you know!) and live with her happily ever after. In fact, he was so happy about this, he made sure he documented the trip home.

Here I am delving into VEG's new book at the Harrisburg, PA airport.

Oh Whew! I fit. 'Cause I was not looking forward to riding with the suitcases!

First stop: Detroit. Did you know they have LOTS of sports teams?

Seattle was next - almost home! Good thing, 'cause I was feeling a little tipsy!

Double-checking my reservation in Seattle. Who knows how many Shamokin Sock Monkeys are out there, so I wanted to make sure they knew it was me!

YAY! Made it to Vancouver - VEG was hugging this guy called Hubby so I took a little self-portrait.

PS: In case you were wondering, I am named after a VERY important town in PA. Or it could bethis little place in the middle of nowhere, I was never clear on that whole thing...

Koko's Picnic in the Park

Koko had a wonderful day visiting R. B. Winter State Park in central Pennsylvania at the end of September. Besides hiking among the fall's beautiful colors, Koko also found time to go rock climbing, to dip his toes into the cold lake water (then warm up while basking in the sun), to play at the park's playground, and to savor a great picnic lunch.

Kookoo for Koko

Koko in Millheim, PA, enjoying September's bright colors

This is the baby of the group: Koko. Koko loves to find colorful places to hide and always has a smile to share! Koko lives in Millheim, Pennsylvania, but he enjoys going to many fun places. Stay tuned for many adventures...

Meet Miss Metoo

Miss Metoo in State College, PA, pictured in front of Mt. Nittany

We are pleased to introduce Miss Metoo. She was our very first Sock Monkey and the matriarch of this collaboration. Metoo was discovered by Sarah (pictured above) in State College, Pennsylvania in September 2009. Metoo now lives in Millheim, Pennsylvania while Sarah returned home to Vancouver, BC, with her friend, Shamokin (soon to be introduced).

Much more of Metoo and her twin brother, Nelson, to come!

Monkey Business: The Fine Print

Welcome to our blog that celebrates the fun and adventures of Sock Monkeys around the world! Just as its name may imply, Sock Monkey See, Sock Monkey Do is a forum to post your favorite Sock Monkey stories and pictures, sharing their tales (or is it tails?) with others who enjoy their mischievous yet fun loving moments.

We only have a couple of rules, for Sock Monkeys usually love to break rules, but if we can keep within these guidelines, we can all take pleasure in this blog without going bananas:

1. This is a family-oriented site to be enjoyed by people of all ages. Keep comments clean. If your comments are sexually explicit, distasteful or down right mean, we will not only edit your comment, we will report you to the proper authorities.

2. If you are sharing a story and/or a picture with us, be sure to include the name of the monkey, your name (could just be your first name or a nickname, no big deal, just something that identifies you), location and date. If you use information from another party, be sure to include its original source. Monkeys don't like CopyCats.

3. To share your Sock Monkey experience, send an e-mail to the blog's administrators listed in the blog's profile section. They will get it posted right away (so long as rules #1 and #2 are heeded). If we have any questions, we will contact you at your e-mail address. The blog's administrators reserve the right to edit any material for any reason, but a copy of the edited material will be sent to you before it is posted for your approval.

4. By sending us your story and/or photos, you understand that your data will be public and could be read, shared, referenced, or even stolen by the anyone who has internet access. We cannot take any responsibility for any wrongdoing, malpractice, misconduct or unethical behavior for these actions or for the people who do them. We seriously doubt Blogger or Google will, either. If you have any doubt, just don't share.

5. This is a work in progress. If you have any suggestions or comments as to how we can improve this blog, just let us know. Our rules and guidelines may be updated at any time but will always be listed here on the blog's home page.

The administrators of Sock Monkey See, Sock Monkey Do appreciate your cooperation!

Now let's have more fun than a barrel a monkeys!

Sock Monkey History ala Wikipedia

(graphic source)

The following text is completely from Wikipedia. We could have put a link for you to click, but if you are a Sock Monkey fan, we already know that you are probably just a little too lazy to go through the process. You don't want to work, you just want to have fun! So here it is...

A sock monkey is a toy made from socks fashioned in the likeness of a monkey. These stuffed animals are a fixture of folk art and kitsch in the culture of the United States and the culture of Canada.

Origins

The sock monkey's most direct predecessors originated in the Victorian era, when the craze for imitation stuffed animals swept from Europe into North America and met the burgeoning Arts and Crafts Movement. Mothers there took to sewing stuffed animals as toys to comfort their children, and, as tales of the Scramble for Africa increased the public's familiarity with exotic species, monkey toys soon became a fixture of American nurseries. However, these early stuffed monkeys were not necessarily made from socks, and also lacked the characteristic red lips of the sock monkeys popular today.

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.^[1] 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 mothers first made sock monkeys out of worn-out Rockford Red Heel Socks.^[1]

Developments

Around 1951, the Nelson Knitting company discovered that their socks were being used to make monkey dolls. In 1953, Nelson Knitting became involved in a dispute over the design patent on the sock monkey pattern. They were awarded the patent in 1955, and began including the pattern with every pair of socks. The sock monkey doll was then used in promotional campaigns celebrating the widespread application of their product by inventive homemakers in the field of monkey manufacturing.

In 1958, the "scrap-craft" magazine Pack-O-Fun published "How to Make Sock Toys", a guide to making different sock animals and dolls with red heeled socks. Frequently cited as being their most popular book ever, this pamphlet went through multiple printings and was being produced in new editions up until the mid-1980s.

The Nelson Knitting Company was acquired in 1992 by Fox River Mills, and the original brown heather, Red Heel monkey sock is still in production by Fox River Mills. A distinctive change in the red-heeled sock design distinguishes monkeys made with Fox River Mills socks from Nelson Knitting Company socks. Fox River heels are more uniformly ovular, without the end points that gave Nelson Knitting-made sock monkeys their smiles or frowns.

Sock monkeys today

Sock monkeys remain a popular toy to this day, though not as much so as teddy bears. Most vintage sock monkeys found today are no older than the late 1950s, and many date from the 1970s. A number of methods for dating sock monkeys have been debated by collectors, including the shape of the red heel, the tightness of the weave, the style of clothing worn, and other features. However, since sock monkeys are home-made rather than mass-manufactured, it is extremely difficult to accurately date any particular monkey.

1 Boschma, Janie (2007-11-05). "History of the sock monkey: Stuffed animal created during the Great Depression". The Spectator. Retrieved 2009-07-01.