One of my lovely family objects is a Simons Brothers silver-nickel thimble. It came from my Grandmother's house but I have no idea who it belonged to or when. The inside is stamped "USA SBC" and a "7" for the size. I could not get a clear image of the inside as it is very worn.
Wiki has this lovely etymology for thimble: "The Old English word þȳmel, the ancestor of thimble, is derived from Old English þūma, the ancestor of the English word thumb". The letter thorn is pronounced, "th".
The pattern is a leaf-and berry ring around the base, with a smooth rim and dimpled crown and sides. This website is a compilation of vintage silver thimble maker's marks, in case anyone has a piece they are trying to authenticate. A tidbit states: "Prior to 1870 silver was scarce and so coins were melted down and the thimbles made of this silver were marked 'coin'". My thimble is not marked coin, and the article goes on to state that the SBC makers mark (as opposed to a shield or other shape) indicates it is a nickel-silver alloy. All I can gather about this piece is that it was made after 1900 which doesn't really help me narrow down whose it might have been!
Simons Brothers is an old US-based manufacturing enterprise, dating from 1839. View more of their history here. They were a family business until 1969, and still produce thimbles today. The book Findings: The Material culture of Needlework and Sewing by Mary Carolyn Beaudry says that flat-topped thimbles are an "American development of the 20th century".
Related resources: this is an excellent interview with thimble collector Sue Gowan of Australia, and here is her webpage with tons of in-depth information on various types of thimbles. Sadly my item did not seem to be represented there, but perhaps yours will.
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