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April 7, 2007

Sock monkeys are still loved

By MONICA JOSEPH

The gift of a blue sock monkey to a child years ago eventually led to a collection of artwork and the compilation of a book dedicated to the folk art.

Goshen native Bonnie Kraus Connelly recently published “Everything’s Coming up Sock Monkeys” — a book dedicated to the history, art and business of sock monkeys.

The book outlines the history of the sock monkey, from humble work sock to popular craft, and features people with large collections, sock monkey makers and artists who feature the monkeys in their work, including the author.

According to the book, the origin of the first sock monkey is not known, but Nelson Knitting Co. officials — the company that made the distinctive red heeled socks starting in 1932 — became aware that people were creating monkeys from their product around 1951.

In 1955, the Rockford, Ill., company was awarded the design patent for the sock monkey doll and began including the pattern in packages of Red Heel socks.

Connelly said sock monkeys are special, because “even though the sock has always been mass produced — the toy is not. It is handmade. That alone makes it special. It was and still is born from the individual makers’ ‘love to create’ — it is born from a beautiful and positive desire to ‘give’ to another person to enjoy. From a heart to another heart. To me, that is what is at the core of the sock monkey’s magic or mystic. Each one is unique.”

Connelly’s love of the stuffed animals started when her grandmother made her a sock monkey in the mid-’50s.

When Connelly’s daughter, Erin, was born, Bonnie’s aunt, Mildred Kraus, made Erin a blue sock monkey. About 17 years ago, that blue sock monkey became the focus of Connelly’s artwork.

The professional author/illustrator/graphic designer has since created a large portfolio of blue sock monkey illustrations, greeting cards and children’s books under the registered trademark “My Monkey and Co.”

In 2005, she was in a meeting with her husband and his partners when a coffee table children’s book was mentioned.

The idea of a sock monkey coffee table book popped into her head. In the middle of the night that night, she woke up thinking “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” an American idiom and song title, and she had her title and was off and running.

To compile material for the book, Connelly “chose people who had already had a lot of press,” including collectors Ron Warren and Arne Svenson.

“Then I Googled (Internet searched) every way I could Google sock monkeys,” Connelly said.

She said she was overwhelmed by the response from the people she contacted.

“Every single person I contacted was so open, trusting and giving,” she said. “That inspired me, so I kept going on and on.”

People who didn’t have digital files sent her original photos. Two sock monkeys on the book’s cover date back to 1959. The monkey’s owner “without a second thought, stuck them in a box and sent them to me,” Connelly said.

The project was created quickly, like it “was meant to be,” she said. “Every time I tried to contact someone, I got an immediate response.”

She gathered so much material, that a second sock monkey book is in progress, which will focus on movies, television, fashion and greeting cards related to the sock monkey. She hopes to publish that book in September.

“Everything’s Coming Up Sock Monkeys — The Art History and Business of the American Sock Monkey” — can be ordered online at Amazon.com or from booksellers, including Borders and Barnes and Noble, Connelly said. Christian Light bookstore, 119 E. Lincoln Ave., Goshen, also plans to carry the book.

The book was published by In My Own Dream Publishing. The large, hardback book has 160 color pages.

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