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Thimble, Thimble, Who has the Thimble!
January 2, 2021
"For years I have been collecting thimbles, beginning with ones from my family. The idea came to me of making an historical collection within my personal collection. These thimbles, which belong or have belonged to pioneer ladies in the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado, I can enjoy now. They are to be placed in the Saguache County Museum at my death. Information, when available, is listed on a card for each lady whose thimble is in the small type drawer, housing forty-two thimbles.
Thimbles of aluminum, china, silver, gold, copper, brass, plastic, and steel; advertising, jeweled, and children's thimbles all are there.
One of the oldest appearing thimbles was found up Taylor Canyon by Jerry and Kenola Wintz in 1971 in the ruins of a homestead. The thimble has been bent and burned, but I treasure it, for its owner was no doubt the pioneer lady Taylor.
Many of the thimbles have been given me by the ladies themselves, while others have been given me by members of their families. I purchased only one of these historical thimbles.
How nice it will be for future generations to be able to locate and see an ancestor's sewing thimble in the museum in Saguache and perhaps add some personal information to the cards there. If anyone would like to place a lady's thimble in this collection, please contact me at Villa Grove, Colorado. Thimbles are easy to mail and easily lost in a home environment. In the museum they will be permanently on display for everyone's enjoyment. "
Elaine Woodard
Villa Grove, Colorado
Thimbles of aluminum, china, silver, gold, copper, brass, plastic, and steel; advertising, jeweled, and children's thimbles all are there.
One of the oldest appearing thimbles was found up Taylor Canyon by Jerry and Kenola Wintz in 1971 in the ruins of a homestead. The thimble has been bent and burned, but I treasure it, for its owner was no doubt the pioneer lady Taylor.
Many of the thimbles have been given me by the ladies themselves, while others have been given me by members of their families. I purchased only one of these historical thimbles.
How nice it will be for future generations to be able to locate and see an ancestor's sewing thimble in the museum in Saguache and perhaps add some personal information to the cards there. If anyone would like to place a lady's thimble in this collection, please contact me at Villa Grove, Colorado. Thimbles are easy to mail and easily lost in a home environment. In the museum they will be permanently on display for everyone's enjoyment. "
Elaine Woodard
Villa Grove, Colorado
Article originally ran in the 1985 SLV Historian, Volume 17, Issue 1
Update on this collection -- The Saguache County Museum has a nice display of Mrs. Woodard's Thimble collection that includes origin stories for the thimbles. The museum is hoping to open for the 2021 Memorial Day Weekend. Read more about the museum, its collection and the history of Saguache County @ Saguache County Museum's
webpage.
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