Sock Monkey Madness returns to Midway Village Museum in Rockford for 20th year
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A celebration of the city’s once thriving knitting industry and the iconic stuffed sock toys it produced returns to Midway Village Museum this weekend for its 20th year.
The annual Sock Monkey Madness festival, which debuted in 2005, is slated for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Midway Village, 6799 Guilford Road. This year’s festival features a Rockford sports theme to recognize the multitude of franchises the city has hosted. Fittingly, Kegel’s Bicycle Store and the Rockford IceHogs sponsored this year’s event.
“For the last 20 years, we have celebrated Rockford’s industrial and manufacturing past by highlighting a unique part of our history – the Red Heeled work sock manufactured by the Nelson Knitting Co.,” said Kristine Adams-Wedemeyer, community engagement coordinator at the musem. “Adding the theme of our local sports teams and athletes will add to the fun for the whole family.”
Festival visitors will be able to stuff and sew their own sock monkey with the assistance of museum staff. Midway Village can also offer help fixing any worn or torn sock monkeys at its Sockford General Hospital.
Other highlights of the festival include face painting, games and pictures with Hammy, the Rockford Ice Hogs mascot, as well as Babs, the Midway Village Museum sock monkey mascot, the Lil Peaches of the International Women’s Baseball Center and the museum’s Rockford Peaches reenactors. You can also explore the exhibit on Rockford’s knitting industry and the origin of the sock monkey doll, or take a self-guided tour of exhibits on the Rockford Peaches, Olympian Janet Lynn, and the newly-opened exhibit “You’re in the Army Now: Camp Grant, Rockford’s Legacy.”
There will be food and drinks from Sassy Mac Boys from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Rockford was once home to multiple sock factories that outfitted soldiers during World War I. Nelson Knitting Co. used red yarn for its heels to separate itself from the pack. The Rockford Red Heel work sock was manufactured and sold by Nelson Knitting Co. from 1932 to 1992. During the Great Depression, mothers started using those red-heeled socks to stitch together dolls for their children.
Nelson Knitting Co. won the patent for the sock monkey design in 1955 after litigation between multiple companies.
If you go | Sock Monkey Madness
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 8
Where: Midway Village Museum, 6799 Guilford Road, Rockford
Admission: $12 for adults; $8 for children ages 5-12; free for children 0-4. The Make-A-Monkey Workshop kit is an additional $25 material fee.
Info: Midwayvillage.com
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
