Simply Thimbles

"I saw a Mouse. Where? There on the stair. Where on the stair? Right there! A little Mouse with cloggs on. Well I declare! Going clipp clippity clop on the stair." The words above are from the song "Windmill in Old Amsterdam" sung by Ronnie Hilton back in the 1960's.  Now, I don't remember him singing it - no, really - I'm not that old!  But, I do remember singing the song in music lessons at school.    There's something about a traditional style windmill that just conjours up peace, tranquility and a little bit of good old romantic nostalgia of childhood and the lazy, hazy days of summers long gone.  I found this pewtar windmill on Ebay for 99p.  I seem to be getting a lot of thimbles for 99p just lately!  I thought it was just adorable so had to go for it.  I just love the way the little sails turn round. It's so sweet. Anyway, like the rest of the pewtar thimbles I have, this one is purely...

Bakelite (pronounced bakerlite) is a heat resistant resin made, in basic terms, by mixing phenol with formaldehyde. Originally used for insulation in electrics its chemical name is polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride and it was invented or discovered by a Belgian chemist called Dr Leo Baekeland back in the early 1900s. Over the years since then it has been used for a whole range of items from telephones, jewellery, door handles, light switches, radios, kitchenware – just about anything that could be made out of a mould. Bakelite has a unique sound. If you tap two pieces of Bakelite together you get a kind of deep, heavy clunk, rather than the slightly faint jingly clink you get with modern plastics. It’s more solid construction also makes it feel heavier than other plastics. You can test for Bakelite with metal polish. If you rub a small area with the polish using a cloth, Bakelite will leave a yellow mark on the cloth. Here is a Bakelite thimble. It is chunky, a bit heavi...

My very first car was a little blue Austin Mini 850cc on a 1976 P plate. I bought it back in the late 1980s for £150.00.  It had a top speed of 60mph going down hill and did about 50 miles to the gallon. It was rusty round the edges, the floor had been welded so many times that it was just welding and no metal, and the battery kept shorting out on the inside of the boot. Funny place to put a battery - in the boot.  Still not as strange as one of the old Landrovers T used to have where the battery was under the front passenger seat.  Mind you, weirder still was one of them had the fuel tank under the driver's seat! Nice and secure - no one could nick the fuel out of it, which is more than can be said for the Mini! The Mini's fuel cap was a screw on lid on the rear wing.  Easy to get into, but then to be fair so was the car. Anyway, I loved that little car, even though it only lasted about a year. It got me from ...

Well, as I mentioned in my last post I felt an ebay moment coming on.  It turned out to be more of an ebay hour.  I didn't find Kermit the Frog but I did come across this rather sweet little sewing machine thimble.  It reminds me of the sewing machine my mum used when I was small.  It was a Singer and I can still hear the slightly sing-songy tinkly, clickety  clack it used to make as she turned the handle.   This thimble is  pewte r and has been hand painted.  The little handle turns round and the sewing machine flips up on  a hinge to show the top of the workbench.  As you can see in the picture below, the thimble dimples are under the hinged lid.   I wouldn't fancy trying to sew with this particular thimble as it is quite heavy.   It's a nice little momento of times gone by though and I couldn't resist it.       It was a very productive hour on ebay as I also c...

Way back in the post war UK of the 1950's, a new music trend was beginning to sweep the nation.  It was called Skiffle and made use of a multitude of household items to make music such as jugs, combs wrapped in paper, spoons and tea-chests. The UK's biggest Skiffler was Lonnie Donegan, famous for "My Old Man's a Dustman". He didn't invent it though.  The origins of skiffle go back to the early 20th century in the southern states of America.  Probably the most well known item is the washboard.  Originally designed for rubbing washing up and down to get it clean, the washboard has become synonymous with Skiffle.   It was not much good on its own though.  To make the distinctive sound the washboard needed something metal to rub against the metal of the board.  This is where the humble thimble comes in.      With a metal thimble on each finger of each hand, the ...

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...