Sock monkeys come in many shapes and sizes. Here are just a few of the different versions — some of which aren't even made from socks.
I have received newspaper clippings about and frequent photographs of the sock monkey from all over the country. Included have been articles from The Kansas City Star, The St. Paul Pioneer Press , the Columbus Ohio Dispatch and the Orange County California Register . The article in the register mentioned that there are hundreds of sock monkey Web sites. I checked out a few. They are there all right.
Figure BFrom Bonnie Schuitema and Clover Lynn Alderink of Holland, Mich., came a very funny little guy, at top left. He was obviously made from some kind of sock monkey red-heeled socks but I can't imagine what size they were. This guy was much smaller than the standard size, but larger than the mini ones I've seen. He was also wearing a Santa hat. From another Michigan viewer, Jo Ann Stratton of Plainwell, came the tiniest sock monkey I've ever seen, at right. He doesn't measure more than 2 inches high and is attached to a key ring.
Figure CQuite in contrast to the other two was the very elegant glass sock monkey Christmas ornament I received from Jane Beard, from the Museum of Modern Rubber. Jane said she found him in a small shop in Los Angeles. He also came in an elegant red silk box.
A hand-crafted item using pictures of commercial sock monkeys arrived from Jennifer Kindler of St Clairsville, Ohio. Jennifer painted an empty coffee can black and then decorated it with white polka dots and many sock monkey pictures cut from the pages of the Gooseberry Patch Catalogue.
Other viewers, like Peggy Moody of Los Angeles, sent pictures and letters. Peggy sent photos of a few of the 16 monkeys she has made for her grandchildren. And Sharon of Lander, Wyo., sent a photo of the very first monkey she ever made. She started making them because she thought so fondly of the sock monkeys her grandmother made for the her grandchildren. Now Sharon is carrying on the tradition.
Figure EOf all the snapshots I received, I think my favorite were sent from Anita Spencer, one of six art teachers in Lapeer County Michigan community school district. Part of the curriculum is to have the children do some still-life drawings, so the different teachers bring in stuffed animals. You can guess what animal Anita brought to class. The different versions the children drew — complete with outfits and colorful backgrounds — were great fun to look at.
Figure FThe monkeys that brought a smile to all of our faces, however, were the monkeys loaned to us by Michael Murphy of Los Angeles. Michael collects "See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil" monkeys and after seeing the sock monkey on our show, his mother made him a set of three of them in the appropriate poses.
Figure GFunny, too, were the sock monkey masks that our very own Potato Princess Mary O'Neil made. Mary took a picture of the monkey's face, had it enlarged to a human-sized face and printed it on card stock. She cut out the eyes, stapled a painter's stirring stick to the back for a handle and brought 30 of them to the studio so every one of us could be a sock monkey for a few minutes. They were very clever and made a big hit.
