Artifact: Thimble from Arell's Tavern
Materials: Brass
Dimensions:
Date: Post 1760
Origin:
Collection: Alexandria Archaeology Museum
License: Public Domain
Ledger Entry: Thimble
Department: Sewing
Customer: Daniel Talbot
Ledger Page: 124
Imported From:
Product Description
Humble and utilitarian or ornamental and personalized, thimbles are tools used to protect the fingers from developing calluses when hand stitching. Though the basic design of colonial thimbles did not vary greatly, the size and weight of a thimble was dependent on the size of the user's hands and the type of stitching. Intimate gift, valuable possession, or aesthetic pleasure, thimbles were often engraved with initials and were one of few commodities a woman might literally call her own.
Citation: Ivor Noël Hume. A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), 84-86.;
Historical Price: 1 pence; Modern USD: $0.94
Product Variations
The databases record twenty-nine thimbles. Most purchases were for 1 or 2 thimbles, but Henry Vanmetre purchased a dozen thimbles on December 6, 1753. Their prices ranged from one pence for a single unspecified thimble to two shillings for a dozen thimbles.
