My "Show and Tell" item for today is something that was commonly used by our grandmothers or great-grandmothers. Even though many folks have suffered pretty serious setbacks due to our economy, I doubt these will come back into use. The items pictured below are sock darners, and they were used to help mend the toe or heel of a sock. You would stick the darner inside the sock and it would provide a sewing surface to mend the hole:
No matter how bad our finances get, I think most of us just throw out socks with holes. Things were so much more precious years ago, and the woman of the house took time to mend items that were damaged. Shoes were re-soled, patches were put on worn out shirt elbows, and before any piece of clothing was finally put to rest, the buckles and buttons were removed and put in the household button box.
Not all sock darners are wood. Etsy seller Quite Right, Slick is selling beautiful hand-blown glass darners:
A while ago I came across a sewing box with an item that looked like a miniature baseball bat. I couldn't figure out what it was at first, until something I was reading mentioned a "glove darner". Then I put two and two together! Of course, the long skinny item was for the finger of a glove. It could be inserted into the finger and the tip could be repaired. If you sew, I'm sure you can imagine the difficulty involved in repairing the fingertip of a glove.
I think everyone should have a sock darner in their home as a reminder to appreciate the plentiful times we live in, recession notwithstanding. You could mount it right above a picture taken during the Great Depression. And if anyone in the household forgets to appreciate the things they have, you could give them a light bop on the head with it!
Mitzi
