Sock monkey

These stuffed animals are a mixture of folk art and kitsch in the cultures of the United States[1] and Canada.

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.

Tales like Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book and Just So Stories inspired crafters to create toys that depicted exotic animals,[2] 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's son Franklin created a machine that knitted a sock without seams in the heel.

The seamless sock saved time and labor costs and it became so popular, companies began to imitate his idea.

In 1932, advertising executive Howard Monk came up with an idea to change the heel of the brown sock from white to red.

One of the most important pieces of evidence was a testimony and a doll made in February 1951 by a lady named Grace Wingent.

Most vintage red-heel sock monkeys found today are no older than the late 1950s, and many date from the 1970s.

[4] Homemade red-heel sock monkey dolls usually have unique faces and body characteristics and are considered one-of-a-kind.

[4] People's love for sock monkeys has made the toys the center of many special occasions: trips, birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and graduations, with their images now being used in photography, books, bookmarks, journals, greeting cards, jewelry, quilting, baking, sewing, commercials and movies.

Volunteers dress as nurses and fix any button eyes that fall off, torn mouths, or do any other sewing that is necessary.