One of the World’s Largest Sock Monkey Museums is right in Illinois!

There’s some fun monkey business going around the Sock Monkey Museum in Long Grove. Established in 2019, the museum holds thousands of sock monkeys that have been collected by owners since 2006. Whether they were donated, from estate sales, garage sales, antique stores, previously amassed collections, heartwarming gifts, or purchased from the internet, the collection needed an entire building of its own.

The collection continues to expand, as more Sock Monkeys find their way to the Museum. For the last 16 years, the museum has been fortunate to discover over 2,000 sock monkeys. In addition to housing sock monkeys, the museum also offers events where you can make your own sock monkey in remembrance of your trip. The origin of sock monkeys was even in Rockford.

John Nelson settled in Rockford in 1857 and formed the Nelson Knitting Company in 1880. They produced what they called “Celebrated Rockford Hosiery” and sold them under the name of the “Nelson Sock”. Production of these brown socks with the tan toe, heel and top, reached 450 dozen pair per day in 1904. In 1932, the Nelson Knitting Company added the trademark red heels to their durable work socks to distinguish them from their competitor’s.

During the Great Depression, money was scarce, so families found ways to make things at home, including toys for their children, with items they already had. Cutting and sewing a pair of worn out work socks, they created their own Sock Monkey dolls. They stuffed them with what they had on hand at home, such as sawdust, foam, rice, or nylons and decorated them to their own liking to make them unique. The red heels became the mouth and bottom of each sock monkey, and from there the famed sock monkeys rose to popularity.

Notable Birthdays: Distinguished Illinois figures born in January

As January comes to an end, let’s celebrate those who were born in Illinois in the month of January! Many birthdays of note from people born in Illinois occurred in January. From actors and actresses to the famous, historic, or otherwise distinguished figures who can track their birthplaces back to Illinois in January are as follows:

- Betty White: American actress and comedian, born on Jan. 17, 1922 in Oak Park

- Michelle Obama: Former First Lady of the United States (2009-2017), lawyer, and writer born on Jan. 17, 1964 in Chicago

- John Belushi: Comedian best known for his role on Saturday Night Live, actor and musician born on Jan. 24, 1949 in Chicago

- Michael Peña: American actor known for his roles in Ant-Man and Crash, born on Jan. 12, 1976 in Chicago

- Carl Rogers: Psychologist whom is one of the founders of humanistic psychology and pioneered the field of clinical psychological research, born on Jan. 8, 1902 in Oak Park

Chicago woman awarded for her Notre Dame fundraising efforts

Chicagoan Dr. Carla Knorowski was an avid Paris traveler and fell in love with the city as a young woman. She has traveled to nearly every city named Paris to connect her love for the city around the world, amounting to nearly 89,000 miles of flying over the years. In her efforts, she has been hailed as a nonprofit leader and scholar and advocate for culture, education and the arts. However, five years ago marked an absolute shock to her and everyone across the globe.

In April 2019 when the Notre Dame Cathedral had endured fifteen hours under flames, Knorowski was in completely devastated. Being a prolific fundraiser, she put together an event to raise awareness and restoration funds for the iconic cathedral to expedite the construction and ensure that it would keep its classic French Gothic architecture in place. With the success of the event she raised a total of $500,000.

The event she created was a global virtual fundraising event whose participants included cellist Yo-Yo Ma, actress Glenn Close, and Notre-Dame Cathedral’s titular organist Olivier Latry as well as others. Her efforts toward its reconstruction promoted her to the rank of Officer in its National Order of Merit (L’Ordre National Du Mérite) by the Republic of France, which was officially signed by President Emmanuel Macron. It is the second national Order of France, the first being the Legion of Honor. The Order recognizes distinguished civil or military service. Annually it is awarded to approximately 3,000 French citizens and 300 citizens of foreign nations.

The construction and restoration of Notre Dame was in the process of being renovated as it was nearing 850 years old. Luckily, many sculptures had been placed in an alternate location before the fire had begun and a lot of the stained glass was saved with the firefighters help. Thanks to Knorowski and her love for Paris and French culture, Notre Dame is closer to its 2024 reopening date in time for the next Olympics.

Illinois has the only museum devoted to surgery in all of North America

“Progress is made by trial and failure; the failures are generally a hundred times more numerous than the successes, yet they are usually left unchronicled,” said scientist William Ramsay. However, when it comes to the science and art of surgery, the trial and error is an important part of its history. It is amazing how doctors and surgeons can easily save lives today, especially for procedures that would have been life threatening a century ago. However, someone had to first learn about the human body and how to fix what they could not see. The International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago is the only museum in all of North America to show the history of how modern surgery came to be, with both failures and accomplishments.

The Mission of the Museum is to enrich people’s lives by enhancing their appreciation and understanding of the history, development, and advances in surgery and related subjects in health and medicine. Dr. Max Thorek founded the International College of Surgeons in 1935, and in 1950 his efforts led to the museum’s collection growing. The Museum opened to the public on September 9, 1954. Today the museum’s four floors hold many marvels from the art of healing.

Some people think of surgeons as miracle workers. Illinois has the only museum in all of North America that chronicles how those miracles came to be. To plan your visit to the museum visit here.