Skip to main content

The beginning of the Thimble collection



I started collecting thimbles about three years ago and currently have just under 200. I only have two display units so not all of them are on show at the same time.

Why did I start collecting? Well, it all started with a little brown bear. I was checking out the auctions due to finish on eBay and came across this little guy around 5 minutes before he was due to end. He looked so cute and I felt a bit sorry for him, sat there with no bids. So I bid on him and won him. A bargain at only 50p.


I was delighted a few days later when he arrived in the post looking just as cute as he had online. So began my fascination with thimbles. Up until that point the only thimbles I had been aware of were the plastic ones in sewing kits, the metal one that I use for sewing and the souvenir ones on sale at theme parks and historical buildings. Most were showing the place I was visiting or were purely functional with floral designs. The little bear was the first thimble that I had come across which was not obviously linked to somewhere.


This encouraged me to go back on to eBay and see if he was a one off or if there were other cute thimbles out there. Unsurprisingly, there were quite a few! Not just of little brown bears either but of famous people, cartoon characters, film characters and famous advertising brands, some depicting brands that have long gone. In fact I came to realise that not only have thimbles got a history all of their own but their pictorial images and designs also help to preserve history. They can be used to commemorate anything and everything from Royal Weddings, coronations, births and jubilees to steam trains and different breeds of dogs. An amazingly versatile keepsake which takes up very little room.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thimbles Silver Hallmarks

  Did you know that before the 1880’s silver thimbles did not need to be hallmarked? No? Well, although the silver used was the correct grade to be classified as sterling, the amount used per thimble was too small making the duty payable for the hallmark more than the thimble was worth. This changed in 1884 when applying for a hallmark became mandatory. Hallmarks or any other kind of marking on a thimble helps to date it. Even the little dimples can help you tell how old it is.   This thimble is hallmarked. They are a bit tricky to read sometimes as they are incredibly small and sometimes are worn, especially when the thimble has been well used like this one. I inherited this one from my mother-in-law, who probably inherited it from her mother. This hallmark gives the makers mark, CH for Charles Horner; the Lion symbol, indicating that it is sterling silver, the mark for Chester Assay office and the date letter. The date letter is for 1897. I mentioned in an ear...
5 comments
Read more

A Passage of Time

Hi all, Time flies doesn't it? Seems like only yesterday when I last posted to this blog. Can't believe it was March 2015! I think I must have been asleep because I have no idea why it has taken so long to post. These thimbles show the passage of time. All of it a lot before mine, I hasten to add. These little ladies show the changes in fashion in the United States from 1900 through to 1947. Originally part of a collection from Avon in the1980s. The four above are from left to right, 1910, 1900, 1928 & 1927. These four are 1923, 1938, 1942 & 1947. The 1920s must have been a great decade for fashion in the US, with 3 examples from that era included in the collection. In fact the 20s were a time of great change and not just for clothes. It was the interim period between two world wars. People thought that with the end of the First World War, conflict was over and there was a new, vibrant, buzz for the future. It was the age of bobbed hair, the Char...
13 comments
Read more

A Thimble Trail

Hi all, Lots of places have souvenir thimbles which can be taken home as a small memento of a journey to a far away place, a visit to an historic building, a theme park, or even a popular tourist attraction.   Most of the souvenir thimbles in my collection have either been given to me by friends and relatives or purchased in charity shops or from ebay.    Rather than being a record of places that I have been they are more of a wish list - a thimble trail of places I would like to visit. One of my friends brought this back from a recent trip to Scotland. I picked the next couple up from Ebay. Both Scotland and the Lake District are places that I haven't been to yet but would like to. That isn't the only thing they have in common.  They are both a bit soggy and grey at the moment so maybe that's a trip I should save for summer months ☺. In the meantime, here are some thimbles with ...
5 comments
Read more