Skip to main content

Learning Something New

If there is one thing that I like better than buying a thimble, it's finding out more about it. Where it was made, what it was made from, has it got signs of use.  The history behind every thimble is just fascinating.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a lady who was keen to find out about a thimble that she had inherited. The thimble had been passed down through the female line for at least three generations.

There wasn't too much to go on, but using the little bits that she had sent through and my trusty research tool, the internet, I was able to track down the thimble's origins.



The thimble was from Taxco in Mexico and very similar to the one shown here.  Now, up until that point I hadn't heard of Taxco so researching the information for her was an absolute joy. It opened up a whole new world of thimbles that I didn't know existed.

Back in the 1920s an American called William Spratling moved to Taxco de Alarcon in Mexico.  He found out that the area had once had a thriving silver industry thanks to the ample supply of silver deposits.

In the 1930s he set up workshops and began teaching the art of silversmithing to apprentices from the local area.  Once trained, the apprentices could go on to set up their own jewellery workshops to continue their new trade.   The silver industry and the economy of the area was rejuvenated. 

I managed to purchase my own Taxco thimble on Ebay last week. As the picture above shows, it has an all over decorative filigree design and is also stamped with the following markings:


The circle in the centre reads "Sterling, Taxco, Mexico".  The initials in the centre are the maker's mark.  I'm not sure what the splodge is to the right of the circle as its too small to decipher properly. So I'll give it my best guess and say that it could be the eagle mark.  If it is, then it would date this thimble to between 1948 and the 1970s, ish or thereabouts. 

Unfortunately, the drawback of buying thimbles second hand is that you don't tend to find out the human side of the story.  I don't know if this one was ever handed down from mother to daughter, or even if the daughter used it to learn sewing at her mother's knee.  One thing I do know is that the lady who contacted me has a very precious link to her own personal history through her thimble.  A link which is just simply priceless.  

Bye for now

Olly
Labels:

Comments

  1. Maria31 January 2011 at 21:41

    Beautiful thimble, often step on your blog, I also I have a small collection of thimbles, I invite you to my site http://cosasdemariamargo.blogspot.com/
    A greeting.

    ReplyDelete

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...
14 comments
Read more

The White Steamer

I quite like vintage cars. I also like vintage sewingmachines . So imagine my surprise when I found out that the White Steamer was made by the same company that made White Sewing Machines. How cool is that? When Thomas White, the founder of the White Sewing Machine Company bought a steam car back in the 1890s, it inspired his son, Rollin White to develop a steam generator which was made up of stacked coils.  Water was pumped into the top of the coils with steam being produced in the bottom coils closest to the fire. Not only did his design allow water input to be regulated, it also allowed temperature control. He patented the design describing it as being a quicker, safer and more economical way to generate steam power. Even with the improvements though, the engines still had to warm up enough to start producing steam. That’s probably why the combustion engine became more popular. It was a lot quicker to get going. Eventually, when steam power could no long...
10 comments
Read more