Sock Cuties

A sock monkey is a cute stuffed toy made from socks and fashioned to look like a monkey. These stuffed animals are a fixture of folk art and kitsch. The iconic sock monkeys made from red-heeled socks emerged around 1932, the year the Nelson Knitting Company added the trademarked red heel to its product. This red heel gave the monkeys their distinctive mouth. Nelson was awarded the patent in 1955, and began including the pattern with every pair of socks. In 1958, the craft magazine Pack-O-Fun published "How to Make Sock Toys", a guide to making different sock animals and dolls with red heeled socks. The red heel sock is still in production by Fox River Mills.