Abracadabra...The Magic of Sock Monkeys at Sock Monkey Madness!

Sponsored in part by:  OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center  http://www.osfsaintanthony.org/

An original one-of-a-kind event,  the Sock Monkey Madness Festival, will return as a unique celebration of Rockford's past by highlighting its once thriving knitting industry and boom of the stuffed sock toy made from Rockford Red Heel Socks which continues as a large part of America's pop culture.  The 6th Annual Sock Monkey Madness Festival hours are 11:00 am until 5:00 pm Saturday & Sunday.

The Sock Monkey Madness Festival was awarded a national 2009 Leadership in History Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History for excellence in educational programming!

Admission is $8 adults; $4 children and students (3 to 17)

Midway Village Museum members are free 

Come and shop for charming Sock Monkey merchandise!  You'll be able to purchase merchandise from these vendors:  Hol-Hardt Press, Happy Hybrids, Beth Myers, Amazing Arts Rubber Stamps, Shock Monkeys, J.R. Kortman Center for Design, Smonkeys and others.


The Nelson Knitting Company of Rockford manufactured and sold Rockford Red Heel work socks from 1932 to 1992 which were used starting during the Great Depression to create a folk art sock monkey stuffed toy.  Aware of the sock monkey craze, Nelson Knitting included the sock monkey doll pattern with each pair of Rockford Red Heel Socks sold starting in the early 1950's.  In recent years, the sock monkey has gained a come back and is sold in department and specialty stores world wide.  However, the interest in creating  a uniquely American handmade doll from Rockford Red Heel Socks is still around to this day.

At the musuem's family festival, vistors have the opportunity to use their own talents and imagination to construct a sock monkey of their own from scratch with the help of our talented museum staff at the Make-a-Monkey or Make-An-Elephant workshops($20 additional fee...allow about 2 hours) or adorn ready made monkeys with clothing and accessories.  Attractions at the event also include:  an exhibit featuring the local history of Rockford's knitting industry and the origins of the sock monkey doll, children's crafts, book signings, the Truly Remarkable Loon Comedy Juggling Show on Saturday, the annual Ms/Mr Sockford 2010 Beauty & Talent Pageant on Sunday (with adult & youth divisions), free medical check-ups and minor surgery for well loved vintage sock monkeys at Sockford General Hospital and the annual sock  monkey international film festival.  The museum store  and other sock monkey vendors will also sell locally crafted sock monkeys,  accessories and themed out-of-the ordinary sock monkey & Rockford Red Heel Sock merchandise.

Featured this year:

Affordable food and snacks available all day from Burritt's Meat Products

.  The Truly Remarkable Loon Comedy Juggling Show on Saturday at 1:30 pm www.trloon.com
.  The Fourth Annual Sock Monkey International Film Festival (short fun films with sock monkey themes running all day long each day)
.  (2) Ms./Mr. Sockford 2010 Sock Monkey Pageants (youth and adult categories)on Sunday
.   Sock monkey crafts for children
.  How to make a sock monkey or sock elephant workshops ($20 fee) call to register & reserve at time slot (workshops are offered every 1 & 1/2 hours from Noon to 5:00 pm each day)

For a vendor application or for more information, contact: jessica.macdonald@midwayvillage.com

Film Festival Guidelines
To submit a film to be juried,  mail a DVD of your film to:

Midway Village Museum
6799 Guilford Road
Rockford IL  61107

Attn: Film Festival

Deadline for submission:  Postmarked by March 1, 2010
Your family-rated film should be 5 minutes or less in length.
Films selected for the festival will be screened at Midway Village Museum
on March 6 & 7, 2010.

Watch an original Film Festival video featuring Miss Sockford and Gerry, a sock monkey crafted by Barbara Gerry, a Rockford native and great granddaughter of the Nelson Knitting Company founder!  Click on the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etq3dPIPK-w to view this fun Sock Monkey video.

See you at Sock Monkey Madness!

Dream Joyride.....airs on SuperBowl featuring the beloved Sock Monkey.  Look who's driving the car!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFvldSyNyXc.