A thimble is a small hard pitted cup worn for protection on the finger that
pushes the needle in sewing. Usually, thimbles with a closed top are used by
dressmakers but special thimbles with an opening at the end are used by tailors
as this allows them to manipulate the cloth more easily. Finger guards differ
from tailors' thimbles in that they often have a top but are open on one
side. Some finger guards are little more than a finger shield attached to a ring
to maintain the guard in place. The Old English word þȳmel, the ancestor of
thimble, is derived from Old English þūma, the ancestor of our word thumb.
History A single steel needle from the time of
the Han Dynasty ancient China was found in a tomb in Jiangling, and it could
conceivably be assumed that thimbles were in use at this time also although
no thimble seems to have been discovered with the needle. The earliest known
thimble — in the form of a simple ring — dates back to the Han Dynasty ancient
China also and was discovered during the Cultural Revolution of the People's
Republic of China in a lesser dignitary's tomb. Oddly, neither the
Romans nor the Greeks before them appear to have used metal thimbles. It may be
that leather or cloth finger guards proved sufficiently robust for their
purposes. There are so-called Roman thimbles in museum collections, but the
provenance of these metal thimbles is, in fact, not certain, and many have been
removed from display. No well-documented archeological data link metal thimbles
to any Roman site. According to the United Kingdom Detector Finds Database,
thimbles dating to the 10th century have been found in England, and thimbles were
in widespread use there by the 14th century.
Although there are isolated examples of thimbles made of precious
metals—Elizabeth I is said to have given one of her ladies-in-waiting a thimble
set with precious stones—the vast majority of metal thimbles were made of
brass. Medieval thimbles were either cast brass or made from hammered sheet.
Early centers of thimble production were those places known for brass-working,
starting with Nuremberg in the 15th century, and moving to Holland by the
17th. In 1693, a Dutch thimble manufacturer
named John Lofting established a thimble manufactory in Islington, in London,
England, expanding British thimble production to new heights. He later
moved his mill to Buckinghamshire to take advantage of water-powered
production, resulting in a capacity to produce more than two million thimbles
per year. By the end of the 18th century, thimble making had moved to
Birmingham, and shifted to the "deep drawing" method of manufacture, which
alternated hammering of sheet metals with annealing, and produced a
thinner-skinned thimble with a taller shape. At the same time, cheaper sources
of silver from the Americas made silver thimbles a popular item for the first
time. Thimbles are usually made from metal,
leather, rubber, and wood, and even glass or china. Early thimbles were
sometimes made from whale bone, horn, or ivory. Natural sources were also
utilized such as Connemara marble, bog oak, or mother of pearl. Rarer works
from thimble makers utilized diamonds, sapphires, or rubies.
Advanced thimblemakers enhanced thimbles with semi-precious stones to adorn the
apex or along the outer rim. Cabochon adornments are sometimes made of
cinnabar, agate, moonstone, or amber. Thimble artists would also utilize
enameling, or the Guilloché techniques advanced by Peter Carl Fabergé.
As collectibles Originally, thimbles were used simply
solely for pushing a needle through fabric or leather as it was being sewn.
Since then, however, they have gained many other uses. From the 16th century
onwards silver thimbles were regarded as an ideal gift for ladies.
Early Meissen porcelain and elaborate, decorated gold thimbles were also given
as 'keepsakes' and were usually quite unsuitable for sewing. This tradition
has continued to the present day. In the early modern period, thimbles were used
to measure spirits, and gunpowder, which brought rise to the phrase "just a
thimbleful". Prostitutes used them in the practice of thimble-knocking where
they would tap on a window to announce their presence. Thimble-knocking also
refers to the practice of Victorian schoolmistresses who would tap on the
heads of unruly pupils with dames thimbles.
Before the 18th century the small dimples on the outside of a thimble were
made by hand punching, but in the middle of that century, a machine was invented
to do the job. If one finds a thimble with an irregular pattern of dimples, it
was likely made before the 1850s. Another consequence of the mechanization
of thimble production is that the shape and the thickness of the metal changed.
Early thimbles tend to be quite thick and to have a pronounced dome on the
top. The metal on later ones is thinner and the top is flatter.
Collecting thimbles became popular in the UK when many companies made special
thimbles to commemorate the Great Exhibition held in the Crystal Palace in
Hyde Park, London. In the 19th century, many thimbles were made from silver;
however, it was found that silver is too soft a metal and can be easily punctured
by most needles. Charles Horner solved the problem by
creating thimbles consisting of a steel core covered inside and out by silver,
so that they retained their aesthetics but were now more practical and durable.
He called his thimble the Dorcas, and these are now popular with collectors.
There is a small display of his work in Bankfield Museum, Halifax, England.
Early American thimbles made of whale bone or tooth featuring miniature
scrimshaw designs are considered valuable collectibles. Such rare
thimbles are prominently featured in a number of New England Whaling Museums.
During the First World War, silver thimbles were collected from "those who
had nothing to give" by the British government and melted down to buy
hospital equipment. In the 1930s and 1940s glass-topped thimbles were used
for advertising. Leaving a sandalwood thimble in a fabric store was a common
practice for keeping moths away. Thimbles have also been used as
love-tokens and to commemorate important events. People who collect thimbles are
known as digitabulists. One superstition about thimbles says that if you have
three thimbles given to you, you will never be married.
Known thimble makers Most of these thimble makers are no
longer in existence. Avon Fashion Thimbles
Wicks A Feaù and René Lorillon
Charles Horner Charles Iles
Charles May Anthony Stavrianoudakis
Gabler Bros Henry Fidkin
Henry Griffith James Fenton
James Swann Jean Levy
Johan Caspar Rumpe Ketcham & McDougall
Meissen Roger Lenain
Samuel & Foskett Simons Bros Co
Stern Bros & Co Waite-Thresher
Webster William Prym
Thimblette Thimblettes are soft thimbles, made
predominately of rubber, used primarily for leafing through or counting
documents, bank notes, tickets, or forms. They also protect against paper
cuts as a secondary function. Unlike thimbles, the softer thimblettes become
worn over time. They are considered disposable and sold in boxes. The
surface is dimpled with the dimples inverted to provide better grip.
Thimblettes are sized from 00 through to 3.
A finger cot is a smooth rubber "glove finger" used to protect the finger or
the item being handled. Sewing Palm
A variation on the thimble used by sailmakers and leather workers is the
sewing palm, known by various others names such as seaming palm, sail palm,
sailmaker's palm or roping palm. This item consists of a pitted hard plate set
into a stiff leather band that is worn around the palm of the hand, with the
plate resting against the first joint of the thumb. It is used by grasping a
needle between the thumb and indexing finger, with the eye end of the needle
against the pitted plate, and pushing the needle with the entire arm. This
design permits the sewer to exert a great amount of force when pushing thick
needles through very tough materials such as sail cloth, canvas or leather.
Cultural references In the Parker Brothers board game
Monopoly, first created in 1904, the thimble is one of the eight traditional
metal game pieces used to mark a player's position on the game board.
Thimbles are given as gifts in Peter Pan, who thinks thimbles are kisses.
In the 1992 movie Batman Returns, Catwoman, played by Michelle Pfeiffer,
used thimbles to create the base of her claws.
The popular TV show and comic strip Popeye was originally called Thimble
Theatre Starring Popeye. The character Elizabeth in the video
game BioShock Infinite uses a thimble to cover her severed little finger.
Video montages and series of clips are often called "thimble collections".
Auction records On December 3, 1979, a London dealer bid
the sum of $18,000 USD for a dentil shaped Meissen porcelain thimble, circa
1740, at Christie's auction in Geneva, Switzerland. The thimble, just over a
half inch high, was painted in a rare lemon-yellow color about the band. It
also had tiny harbor scene hand painted within gold-trimmed cartouches. The rim
was scalloped with fired gold on its bottom edge. The thimble now belongs to
a Meissen collector in Canada who wanted it for its lemon-yellow color.
During November 1994, Sirthey's saleroom yielded a one of a kind Meissen thimble
bearing an armorial coat of arms at the price of GBP 26,000.
On 13 June 1995, Sotheby's sold a Meissen thimble adorned with two pugs
for GBP 10,350. Additional pictures
References Further reading
E. F. Holmes. A history of thimbles. London: Cornwall Books, 1985.
J. J. von Hoelle. Thimble collector's encyclopedia. Illinois:
Wallace-Homestead Book Company, 1986. E. Zalkin. Zalkin's Handbook of Thimbles
& Sewing Implements, 1st ed. Willow Grove: Warman Publishing Co., Inc.,
1985. M. Isbister, W. H. Isbister. More about
thimbles. External links
Thimbles collection Little Thimble, Big Journey illustrated
article on thimble history Fabergé thimbles