Sock Monkey Party Supplies Will Make Your Kid Jump Around!
Sock Monkey Party Supplies is one of the most popular kids’ birthday party themes of all times. So, if you were searching for Discount Sock Monkey Birthday Party Supplies you’ve landed on the right page.
Sock Monkey Party Supplies – The Background
Sock Monkey Party Supplies are based on sock monkey, a toy made from socks that is fashioned in the similarity of a monkey. These stuffed monkeys are a mixture of kitsch and folk art in the culture of Canada and the United States.
The sock monkeys were born in the Victorian era. During those times, there was a craze for imitation stuffed animals in Europe. The craze swept into North America as well in the times of Arts and Crafts Movement. Stuffed animals toys were able to comfort children and the craft makers of the country started sewing stuffed animals. As the public became familiar with exotic species of Africa, stuffed toys started gaining more and more popularity. And very soon, sock monkeys became a permanent fixture of American nurseries.
But, the point to be noted is that at that time, these stuffed monkeys were not made from socks. And unlike the sock monkeys popular today, they did not have the characteristic red lips.
John Nelson was a Swedish immigrant to the United States. In 1869, he patented the sock-knitting machine. And in 1890, in Rockford, Illinois, he began manufacturing work socks. In the year 1932, the Nelson Knitting Company started manufacturing the trademarked red heel socks. And thus started the making of the iconic sock monkeys from red-heeled socks.
In its early days, the red-heeled sock was known as “De-Tec-Tip”. Nelson Knitting was really an innovator in the work sock field. It had created a special loom that could manufacture socks without seams in the heel.
These seamless work socks became very much popular in the market. Soon, the market was flooded with imitators. The seamless socks were called “Rockfords” in general. When the Nelson Knitting Company came to know about the imitations, it started adding a “de-tec-tip” to its socks. This was to assure its buyers that they were buying “original Rockfords”.
The sock monkeys got their distinctive mouth from these red heels. This was the time of the Great Depression, and the first sock monkeys were made out of worn-out Rockford Red Heel Socks.
During the year 1951, the Nelson Knitting came to know that their Red Heel Socks were being used to make stuffed monkey dolls. The company started a dispute over the design patent on the sock monkey pattern. And in 1955, they got the patent. From then, they started including the pattern with every pair of socks. Later, the company used the sock monkey doll in promotional campaigns.
Pack-O-Fun, a “scrap-craft” magazine, published “How to Make Sock Toys” in 1958. It was a guide to making different sock dolls and animals using red heeled socks. The magazine has frequently acknowledged that it has been their most popular book ever. The pamphlet went through multiple printings. Until the mid-1980s, it was being presented in new editions.
Marketing Tide, a Willouhby Hills, Ohio based company is responsible for the re-birth of the sock monkey. This happened in the late 1980s when the company started selling kits that contained the original socks along with the instructions in numerous craft and sewing magazines. In 1992, the Sock Monkey came firmly back into American Culture when the kit was featured on the ABC-TV Network Home Show.
In 1992, Fox River Mills acquired the Nelson Knitting Company. But the original Red Heel monkey sock is still produced by Fox River Mills. But there are some changes in the design of the socks that are being produced by the Fox River Mills. And this had made the sock monkeys created using Fox River Mills socks somewhat different than those that were being made with the Nelson Knitting Company socks. The socks made by Fox River heels are more uniformly ovular. Also, the socks are without the end points. So, the capability to make smiling or frowning monkeys that was present in the Nelson Knitting Company socks is missing in the Fox River Mills socks.
To this day, sock monkeys have remained one of the most popular toys. Sock monkeys are popular among collectors, too. But most of the vintage red-heel sock monkeys that could be found today are from the 1950s and 1970s. Collectors have formulated various methods for dating the vintage red-heel sock monkeys. These include sock seams, the tightness of the weave, the shape of the red heel, the style of clothing worn, and other features. Sock Monkey Party Supplies are also popular among kids.
Typically, the sock monkeys made from red-heel socks produced by the Nelson Knitting Company and the imitations produced by the other companies of the same era are regarded as the “vintage” red-heel sock monkeys. The monkey dolls created from the socks produced after the acquisition of the Nelson Knitting Company by the Fox River Mills, Inc. are generally termed as “modern” red-heel sock monkeys.
There is one another category of sock monkey: home made red-heel sock monkeys. These are considered as one-of-a-kind as they usually have unique faces and body characteristics.
Sock monkeys are mass-manufactured, too. These normally have the same face and body characteristics.
In the current times, only red-heel socks are not used to create sock monkeys. A new sock monkey trend is developing, in which, colorful striped or polka dot socks are used to create sock monkeys. Some sock monkeys are even made from mismatched socks. Sock monkeys have become so much popular that other sock creatures are being designed and made. Some of these are ‘Sock Bear’, ‘Sockosaurus’, and ‘Sockodile’ etc.
Sock monkey’s continued popularity has led the city of Rockford, Illinois to embrace the monkey doll as a part of its history. The first “Sock Monkey Madness Festival” was held in 2005 at Midway Village Center in Rockford. Simultaneously, an exhibit was also opened that highlights the creative, legal and industrial history of the sock monkey and the Nelson red heel sock.
Sock Monkey Party Supplies – The Options
Sock Monkey Party Supplies are available in two color variants – Red Sock Monkey Party Supplies and Blue Sock Monkey Party Supplies.
You may select Basic Party Pack from our Sock Monkey Birthday Party Supplies which includes all the stuff you need for 8 guests. Or you may go with the Deluxe Party Pack from our Sock Monkey Kids Party Supplies that has much more items than the Sock Monkey Basic Pack. The Sock Monkey deluxe pack is also for 8 guests. If you need favor boxes as well, I would suggest you to choose the combination of Deluxe Party Pack & 8 Favor Boxes from our Sock Monkey Kids Birthday Party Supplies as it would cost you much more if you purchase them separately. If you think that the number of guests may exceed 8 you should consider Sock Monkey Party Pack Add-On as it contains extra items for the extra guests. You may order Sock Monkey Party Favor Boxes separately as well.
I’ve personally used Sock Monkey Party Supplies for my kid’s birthday and through my personal experience I would recommend it to all Sock Monkey fans.
Sock Monkey fans will adore our Sock Monkey Party Supplies.
