A thimble

A thimble is a protective shield worn on the finger or thumb. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 628 KB) Source: http://sxc. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1944, 628 KB) Source: http://sxc. ...

Thimbles are most usually made from metal, leather, rubber, wood, glass or china. Early thimbles were sometimes made from bone, horn or ivory. Metal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Modern leather-working tools Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides, pelts and skins of animals, primarily cows. ... Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer which occurs as a milky emulsion (known as latex) in the sap of a number of plants but can also be produced synthetically. ... A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is an organic material found as the primary content of the stems of woody plants, especially trees, but also shrubs. ... The materials definition of a glass is a uniform amorphous solid material, usually produced when a suitably viscous molten material cools very rapidly, thereby not giving enough time for a regular crystal lattice to form. ... Grays illustration of a human femur, a typically recognized bone. ... Horn may refer to: horn (anatomy), a hollow, pointed projection of the skin of various animals Horn, Austria horn (diacritic), a diacritic mark used to indicate that a normally rounded vowel such as o or u is to be pronounced unrounded horn (instrument) horn, a slang term for any wind... Ivory is a hard, white, opaque substance that is the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth, etc. ...

Originally thimbles were used solely for pushing a needle through fabric or leather as it was being sewn. However they have since gained many other uses. In the 1800s they were used to measure spirits (hence the phrase "just a thimbleful"). Women of the night used them in the practice of thimble-knocking where they would tap on a window to announce their presence. Thimble-knocking also refers to the practice of Victorian schoolmistresses who would tap on the heads of unruly pupils with dames thimbles. During the First World War silver thimbles were collected from "those who had nothing to give" by the British government and melted down to buy hospital equipment. In the 1930s and 40s red-topped thimbles were used for advertising. Leaving a sandalwood thimble in a fabric stores helps to keep moths away. Thimbles have also been used as love-tokens and to commemorate important events. A miniature thimble is one of the tokens in the game of Monopoly. The word needle has several meanings: // Sewing Needles used for sewing In sewing, a needle is a long, slender, object with a pointed tip, usually made of metal. ... Cloth Fibre Channel fabric ... Events and Trends Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). ... Measure can mean: To perform a measurement. ... Spirits redirects here. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services, such as oral sex or sexual intercourse, for money. ... Queen Victoria (shown here on the morning of her Accession to the Throne, 20 June 1837) gave her name to the historic era The Victorian Era of Great Britain is considered the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... The United Kingdom is a unitary state and a democratic constitutional monarchy. ... // Events and trends The 1930s were spent struggling for a solution to the global depression. ... // Events and trends The 1940s were dominated by World War II, the most destructive armed conflict in history. ... Generally speaking, advertising is the paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas by an identified sponsor. ... The branches of a young sandalwood tree found in Hawaii Sandalwood is the wood of trees of the genus Santalum. ... Cloth Fibre Channel fabric ... A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly. ... Monopoly is one of the best-selling commercial board games in the world. ...

People who collect thimbles are known as digitabulists. Digitabulism is the practice of collecting thimbles. ...