By Carol Duvall
It's been quite a while since I've made any mention of the sock monkey on the show. He is obviously in evidence around here but I've not done any updates on his continuing notoriety . . . and certainly, that seems to continue. During the past months I have continued to receive correspondence from our viewers pertaining to the sock monkey. From all over the country I have received newspaper clippings that contained articles and frequent photographs of the monkey. Included have been articles from The Kansas City Star, The St. Paul Pioneer Press , the Columbus Ohio Dispatch and the Orange County California Register . The article in the register mentioned that there are hundreds (that's right, HUNDREDS) of sock monkey Web sites ! I checked out a few. They are there all right. I have also received sock monkeys in various shapes and sizes from all over. From Bonnie Schuitema and Clover Lynn Alderink of Holland, Mich., came a very funny little guy obviously made from SOME kind of sock monkey red-heeled socks but I can't imagine what size they were. This guy was much smaller than the standard size, but larger then the mini ones I've seen. He was also wearing a Santa hat (figure A). From another Michigan viewer, this time Jo Ann Stratton of Plainwell, came the tiniest sock monkey I've ever seen. He doesn't measure more than two inches high and is attached to a key ring (figure B)! Very cute. Quite in contrast to the other two was the very elegant glass sock monkey Christmas ornament (figure C) that I received from Jane Beard, our regular guest from the Museum of Modern Rubber. Jane said she found him in a small shop in Los Angeles but when she went back the very next day to get another one they were sold out! He also came in an elegant red silk box. A hand-crafted item using pictures of commercial sock monkeys arrived from Jennifer Kindler of St Clairsville, Ohio. Jennifer painted an empty coffee can black and then decorated it with white polka dots and many sock monkey pictures cut from the pages of the Gooseberry Patch Catalogue (figure D). From other viewers came pictures and letters . . . like the photo of some monkeys from Peggy Moody of Los Angeles. Peggy said they were but a few of the 16 monkeys she has made for her grandchildren so far. She also mentioned that she had made a bunch of the little ones for a baby shower using the tiny red heeled socks. And Sharon of Lander, Wyoming sent a photo of the very first monkey she ever made although she said she has since made many more. She started making them because she thought so fondly of the sock monkeys her grandmother had made for the grandchildren when she was one of the grandchildren. Now she is carrying on the tradition. Of all the snapshots I received I think that my favorite had to be the pictures from Anita Spencer who is one of six art teachers in Lapeer County Michigan community school district. Part of the curriculum is to have the children do some still life drawings, so the different teachers bring in their stuffed animals. You can guess what animal Anita brought to class. The different versions that the children drew (figure E) complete with outfits and colorful backgrounds were great fun to look at. Yet, as different as they all were, they were all recognizable as sock monkeys! The monkeys that brought a smile to all of our faces, however, were the monkeys loaned to us by Michael Murphy of Los Angeles. Michael collects different versions of the "See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil" monkeys and after seeing the sock monkey on our show his mother made him a set of three of them in the appropriate poses (figure F). Very funny. Funny too were the sock monkey masks that our very own Potato Princess Mary O'Neil brought to us the last time she came to tape a show. Mary had taken a picture of the monkey's face, had it enlarged to a human sized face and printed on card stock. She cut out the eyes (figure G), stapled a painter's stirring stick to the back for a handle and brought 30 of them to the studio . . . so every one of us could be a sock monkey for a few minutes. They were VERY clever . . . and made a big hit.
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