Yubi nuki? Yubi nukis?

I found some photographs of the little Japanese felt thimble-rings. Instructions for these are not in the previously mentioned book, but one could probably figure out how to make them using that book plus some good books on temari, the Japanese craft of thread-winding.

Kokoro No Te

Make beautiful Japanese-style thimbles! In her lovely book, Kokoro No Te, Kumiko Sudo shows us how to make a "yubi nuki", or felt thimble ring (I could be messing with plural forms here: I don't know any Japanese!). The list price for the paperback book is $27.95.

European Countries I have thimbles from. . .

create your own personalized map of europe

Of course, you idiot.

Are brief glimpses of a thimble enough reason to watch a whole movie? A two-hour-forty-minute movie?

The Thimble Movie (a.k.a., The English Patient) is a good film. It got gobs of awards. I didn't quite see that its particular "greatest love story ever" was any more great than any other film's love story; I'm pretty sure it's not even the greatest film love story about Europeans stuck in North Africa during World War II. Granted, Almásy does a lot of meaningful following and staring, and then there's all the naked business, but I thought the Hana/Kip romance was more endearing. The cinematography was beautiful and Anthony Minghella did a great job adapting the book to film, which I woulda thunk impossible.

And I like the thimble. There's a scene with a whole tray of thimbles all alike. Full of saffron. I would like just one of them. Until I find one, the movie will do.

Bermuda Thimble

This thimble just sold on eBay for US$86.00. It is a lovely Norwegian enamelled thimble with a (probably) moonstone top. It says "Bermuda" on the side. The seller noted that there are some chips in the white enamelling. The starting bid was $11.00, followed by: $12.39, $21.89, $79.79, $85.00, then the winning bid.
I would like this one, too.

Thimble, Thimble

This is a picture of O. Henry, né William Sydney Porter, born 1862 in Greenboro, North Carolina.
He is the author of the short story Thimble, Thimble, which I will not bother poor Blogger by posting the whole darn thing, but will just link to.

Patent: No. 2588528: Finger Shaped Thimble

Patent No. 2588528, Claude M. Houser, assignor to California Thimble Corporation, Santa Barbara, CA, Santa Barbara, CA,

Mar. 11, 1952

Patent: No. 3531029: Wraparound Thimble

Click on images to enlarge.
Patent No. 3531029, Kenneth P. Lee, San Jose, CA,
Sept. 29, 1970

Patent: No. 495790: Thimble

Patent No. 495,790, Rosina M. Durham, New Barnet, England,
April 18, 1893.

Salem Witch Thimble

This Salem Witch thimble recently sold on eBay for $384.79. There were sixteen bids from nine different bidders, four within the last eighteen seconds of the auction. I don't know what the seller's minimum starting bid was, but the first bid referenced is for $13.00.

I mentioned this thimble in my little tirade about the price a "Stitch in Time" thimble got a while back. If I find a relatively cheap one, I might get one, but I'd need a lot more money and a lot fewer relatives to dish out anything close to $384.79 for one.

Not a Thimble...or just maybe it is!

Ha!
This is Devils Tower, Wyoming, declared our (America's) first national monument by Theodore Roosevelt on Sept. 24, 1906. Yay, Teddy!
How did I miss noting the 100th anniversary on Sept. 24th? Poop!

Finally somebody got the point of the thimble being the ideal souvenir! These thimbles--sorry about cruddy photo at farthest right-- are available through Devils Tower Trading Post, "home of the Worlds largest Harley-Davidson flag flown only during Sturgis Black Hills Rally." OK. The "sculpted" resin one is $3.49, the porcelain shield one, $2.99. The other, not-pictured one is $2.49. Plus S/H. Of course.

Liberace Museum Thimble! YAY!

Naturally I thought the SPAM® Museum thimble would be the pinnacle of my Museum Thimble Collecting Life. But NO! The Liberace Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, has not one, but two thimbles! Granted they are remarkably similar to one another, but they are two entirely different colors. Purple (royal purple?) and GOLD. Wow. And I bet the little gold trim part at the bottom is REAL GOLD! YAY!
They are $2.50 each, plus S/H. Viva Las Vegas! (I know, I know: that's an Elvis movie, but I just know that "Lee" would not object!)

Patent: No. 633635: Thread Cutting Sewing Thimble

Patent No. 633635, Frederick G. Bonfils, Denver, CO,

Sept. 26, 1899

"Elegant Raised Arrow Motif Brass Thimble"

This thimble just sold on eBay for US$112.99. The item listing described it as made of brass. I know that gold ones from the nineteenth century are very pricey. This looks like gold, which is why, I think, it went for so much. It may very well be gold: I hope it is for the new owner's sake. I know that museums have sold reproductions of a gold thimble much like this, though I don't know the materials involved in the repro.
Anyway, the opening bid was $6.45, with subsequent bids being: $15.00, $15.50, $25.50 (same bidder as $15.50), $88.88, $112.01, then the winning bid. The auction closed at 22:10:51 PST, with the winning bid coming in at 22:10:38 PST, five seconds after the next highest bid.
I've noticed a lot of eBay sellers--and other collectable sellers--misidentify metals or other materials. I just got a thimble that had been identified as pewter, though actually it is sterling.
Since I've whined in the past about not understanding how certain thimbles got such high praise and prices, I want to admit here that if I had the money, I would absolutely love to have one like this. To me this is lovely.

Patent: No. 362593: Thimble

Patent No. 362,593, Sallie Ann Wells, Annapolis, MD,
May 10, 1887

Mrs. Constance (Cornell) Stuart

Caption: "Pat Nixon's secretary Connie Stuart takes time to straighten thimble collection..."
From an article about her (Mrs. Stuart) in the Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1970, page F1.

Patent: No. 297355: Thimble

Patent No. 297,355, Marie Demmé, Muhlhausen, Germany,
April 22, 1884

Celebrating a truly ghastly book...

...and fair enough movie: The Bridges of Madison County. I have not read another Oprah-recommended book since.
BUT: if you liked the movie and remember the bridge that Clint and Meryl hung out around, it was the Roseman Covered Bridge, which has its own website and Gift Shop* and THREE thimbles (the one on the right is available in goldtone, too). The thimbles are $5.00 each, plus S/H.
*When you get to the web page, scroll down about half way to get to the thimbles.

Got Milk?

This is a very nice little thimble from Mayfield Dairy Farms gift shop ($4.00 plus S/H). Mayfield Dairy Farms began with a few cows in 1923, and there are now three "plants" in Athens, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; and Braselton, Georgia. Each plant has a visitors' center.
The company's website has a lot of stuff to look at: company history, a little movie, ice cream news, recipes, etc.

The cow on the thimble looks happy enough. Does she live at one of the plants? Does she enjoy life there? Does she get to meet the visitors at the visitors' center? Hang with other cows? Or is it just a lot of milking?

Temora Aviation Museum

This ceramic thimble is available through the Temora Aviation Museum for AU$4.00 (about US$3.10) plus S/H. The museum is in Temora, New South Wales, Australia, and commemorates the No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School, the "largest and longest lived of the flying schools established under the Empire Air Training Scheme" back in WWII. It was set up to train Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilots, and was in operation from May 1941 through March 1946.

Dorothy Draper

The caption was: "Mrs. Dorothy Draper displays thimble collection." It should appear if you click on the image and get the whole picture. The caption just isn't showing up for some reason, hence the big white space beneath the photo.
From an article about her in the Los Angeles Times, 28 March 1976, page GB6.

The Alaska Railroad

This thimble is available from the Alaska Railroad Gift Shop for $5.95 plus S/H: when you get to the web page, you need to scroll about one third of the way to the "Collectibles" section, then move your mouse over (or just click on) the text on the right that mentions the ARR Logo Thimble. This will show you an enlarged picture of just the thimble.

Mrs. William W. Hoppin

If the printing is too blurry to read: "Mrs. William W. Hoppin, founder and president of Amateur Needlework of Today, Inc., with her collection of thimbles gathered from many corners of the world."

Would you vote for this man?

This picture is from a website called worth1000.com. They have contests for people who can manipulate photos with Photoshop. This contest features a photo of the Big Thimble up in Toronto. Some of the entries are clever, some not so much.

Patent: No. 308462: Blotting Thimble

Patent No. 308,462, Alice B. Bromwell, Washington, DC,
Nov. 25, 1884.

Silver Kitty Thimble

This cute little kittycat family thimble can do more than grace your finger or collectibles shelf. With each purchase of this thimble through The Child Health Site*, a donation is made to improve the lives--even save the lives--of nine children. It is from Lima, Peru, and is available for $24.95, plus S/H.
*If you prefer, you can purchase the thimble through--and benefit--any of the following related sites: The Literacy Site, The Breast Cancer Site, The Rainforest Site, The Animal Rescue Site, The Hunger Site.

American Silver Thimbles

Gay Ann Rogers, author of American Silver Thimbles, has a blog here on Blogger. Yay!
I have this book. I think it is now out of print and usually costs a gazillion dollars through second-hand resources. There is a companion price guide called Price Guide Keyed to American Silver Thimbles, which I would like to have, even if it might be out of date, but can't find anywhere.

Recipe: Swedish Thimble Cookies

Swedish Thimble Cookies
1/2 cup butter
1 beaten egg yolk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
Ground walnuts

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cream butter, add sugar, egg yolk and flour.
• Roll into balls and then roll balls into crushed walnuts.
• Make indentation in middle with thimble.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• About halfway through the baking, put jam into the hole and finish baking.

The World's Smallest Detached House

This is Thimble Hall, the "The World's Smallest Detached House," per the authority on such things, the Guinness Books of World Records. It is in in Youlgreave, England, and is eleven-feet-ten-inches by ten-feet-three-inches by twelve-feet-two-inches. It was purchased in 1999 by the local (Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England) ice cream maker, Frederick's. It is under renovation and will be a little gallery for local high-quality crafts. It will also have a thimble display. Yay!

How much would you pay for this thimble?

OK. Nothing is not an option.
This recently sold on eBay for $356.25. I have seen this style sell on eBay and at other venues for much more. . . $500-$750.
I have one that I got at a local "antiques" shop for $30.00. I wasn't looking for one, didn't care if I ever got one, but there it was, I didn't have one, and for thirty bucks, it was reasonable to me to get it.
I do not understand the fascination others seem to have for this particular thimble. It's a fine design, but not that beautiful, above and beyond others, to incite such a desire to acquire it. Do collectors just want it because they're told it's rare or beautiful or desirable? This or the "Salem Witch" or any of the thimbles that collectors spend big money for? Or any work of art?
I have a lot of thimbles, but not thousands of them. I buy what I like and can reasonably afford. I have many that I think are much more beautiful than the "Stitch in Time."