Learn the history of sock monkeys with new book and Long Grove museum

Dee Lindner, award winning photographer and author/artisan known as the “Sock Monkey Lady,” has promoted and immortalized sock monkeys through various channels including radio, television and publishers such as Andrews McMeel, Peter Pauper Press, Peaceable Kingdom, Galison and Bradford Exchange. Her latest undertaking, “Red Heel Sock Monkeys: Pop Culture Icons,” a colorful, comprehensive 390-plus page nonfiction book, is the result of three years analysis of her personal collection of sock monkey memorabilia amassed over 35 years, stitched with studious research.

Thankful to myriad people, including Arlene Okun, proprietor of the Sock Monkey Museum in Long Grove, whose input helped make this edition inclusive, Lindner hopes this work will bring smiles to people everywhere.

The Sock Monkey Museum, a champion caretaker of the tradition, officially opened in 2022, and their interactive playscape connects people with America’s rich heritage that began in Illinois. Those up-to-date on sock monkey lore know the world’s largest award-winning collection of sock monkeys resides at the museum amid an atmosphere that exudes fun and makes learning about the history of sock monkeys’ pleasurable.

“There is so much enthusiasm for the sock monkeys and their story, by young and old alike,” museum proprietor Arlene Okun said. “I believe people want this tradition preserved. It makes me happy to know we have created something that appeals to so many people, near and far, from many different states, as well as countries.”

Okun’s assertion echoes the very reason why Lindner underwent the enormous mission to document the journey of our sock monkeys. The result is sock monkey enthusiasts, collectors, and educators now have a detailed go-to book source packed with sock monkey minutiae all about the people, places, and things behind the endearing Red Heel Sock Monkey Tradition.

“Avid sock monkey enthusiasts know Original Rockford Red Heel socks were first manufactured in 1932 by the Nelson Knitting Company in Rockford, Illinois, unofficially known as the Home of the Sock Monkey,” Lindner said. “They know Fox River, Osage, Iowa, has been guiding the manufacture of socks with the red heel trademark since 1992.”

However, Lindner believes that few know the incredible details about how Nelson Knitting Company’s socks became number one in the nation and world, and how the socks currently rank after Fox River acquired the red heel trademark. Nor do they know particulars regarding how America’s gangly, long-limbed red heel sock monkeys fashioned from these socks became popular icons with worldwide charm. “America’s love for sock monkeys may very well be one of the biggest yarns in the world ever told,” she said.

“Dee Lindner is more than a sock monkey evangelist — and the seamstress who created Rockford’s Nelson,” John Groh, President/CEO of Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. “Dee Lindner is the historian of America’s sock monkey tradition.”

Information about Dee Lindner’s work and the Red Heel Sock Monkey Tradition can be found on sockmonkeylady.com.