Dorcas thimble boxes - Thimbleselect Catalogue

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THERE ARE 22 PAGES OF THIMBLES & OTHER ITEMS TO BUY
aluminium 1 - books 1 - brass 1 - china 6 - display cases 1
gold 1 - needlework tools 2 - other collectables 1 - pewter 1 - plastic 1
silver 3 - steel & metal 1 - unusual materials 1 - wood 1

Dorcas boxes

In 2000 the members of the Needlework Tool Collectors Society of Australia [NTCSA] made their Dorcas thimble boxes available for recording. Lee Bateman and Sue Gowan undertook this to coincide with Lee's presentation on Dorcas thimbles. It is only with a good quantity of items for comparison, that any research becomes possible.

Copies of the photographs were placed in the library of the NTCSA and a second set given to the Dorset Thimble Society. Originally the boxes were photographed against a ruler, but this has not proved satisfactory in showing the actual measurements of the boxes.

It is now time to share these boxes with the wider thimble collecting community in the hope that further examples will turn up and to stimulate further research. More importantly, it is necessary to record this information for future collectors as these boxes are fragile and the information on the bases has been lost or worn to illegibility.

I am often asked whether one should keep the boxes in which thimbles are supplied. Without the boxes produced with the Dorcas thimbles, our knowledge would be poorer.
Similarly, if no "Nifty" thimble boxes remained, there would be no link to Australia's "Nifty" sterling silver thimbles, as it is only on their boxes that the word 'Australia' appears.
In modern collections, where space is of a premium, it is more difficult to retain modern thimble boxes, but if those needlewomen hadn't passed down their Dorcas thimbles in their original boxes …

Charles Horner, of Halifax England, patented his steel-cored sterling silver Dorcas thimbles in March 1885 and they were made from then until 1947. They have the beauty and comfort of silver with the strength of steel. This was a major change in the way thimbles were made and Horner took advantage of this with clever marketing. He soon offered an unconditional guarantee on these new thimbles. It was the first time that thimbles had been sold with an unconditional guarantee. This guarantee was placed on the underside of the cardboard thimble boxes that Dorcas thimbles were sold in.

For those who own a Dorcas thimble in its original cardboard box, you are indeed fortunate. Because they are not common, you may not be aware how wide the diversity of boxes is and how the guarantees changed over the years.

We do not know which thimbles were supplied in which boxes. There were several different patterns on Dorcas thimbles, but again no specific box matched a specific design.

To date we know of 20 different types of Dorcas boxes with 4 composite Dorcas boxes. Sometimes, it is just a different colour for the guarantee; sometimes a different coloured inner velour or velvet lining, on the bottom half only. Most of the boxes have a white trim around the edges of the lid.

The interest tho lies in the lettering on the front of the boxes and in the different labels on the base of these boxes. There are two forms of guarantee and together with the first label which has no guarantee, they would roughly correspond to three phases of Dorcas thimbles production. Guarantee 2 always names the size as '10', no matter what size thimble the box contained.

The 9-carat gold Dorcas thimble boxes differed from those for the silver ones, in that the gold thimble boxes are hinged. There is no guarantee on those boxes. So if your box is hinged, it would originally have contained a gold Dorcas.

Horner did not use the name Dorcas on his newly patented thimbles. Initially they were only marked with the word PAT (for patent) plus a number (the size). The early Dorcas thimbles produced had no guarantee of exchange. The boxes with label 1 would be on the earliest boxes and they do have the name Dorcas on them. Once he gauged the popularity of his thimbles, the guarantee was added.

What seems unclear from the current thimble literature is when Horner began to use the name Dorcas, but probably during the 1890s. When he did, the thimbles were marked DORCAS, with C.H. and the size. The boxes with guarantee 1 would be used on the next era of boxes. After approximately 1898 the British thimble trade began to use 'British Made'. Up to around 1905 the Dorcas thimble apexes were domed, which would have necessitated having a bigger thimble box and may correspond to the box sizings.

Horner introduced the Improved Dorcas in 1905: it was a completely new process. It was after this that the apexes become flat. The fit is very snug for these later thimbles in the smaller boxes produced after 1905. The words "Improved Dorcas" appear on these guarantees: see guarantee 2

Horner also produced The Little Dorcas with its own box and label - there were no guarantees on the bottom of these boxes, which were housed in these little cardboard thimble boxes. The rarest Dorcas box that has recently come to my attention is for The London Dorcas. It is difficult enought to find the London Dorcas thimble, never mind finding the matching thimble box!

Since being sent photos of the Dorcas composite boxes, this section is now growing with an undreamed of selection when I began this little undertaking. These would probably have been used by haberdashers or salesmen to display the range of sizes and patterns of Dorcas thimbles.

So popular were the Dorcas thimbles that Horner's competitors started producing their own steel-cored silver thimbles after Horner's patents expired - in the 1920s - Dreema by Henry Griffith and Son, Dura by Walker & Hall and Doris by Charles Iles and the metal thimble The Dorothy by Charles Iles. I have included the Dura (finally a rare Dura Box has turned up!!), Dreema, The Dorothy and Doris boxes for comparison. None have Horner's unconditional guarantee.

I encourage you to seek out the four references listed at the end of these pages, to find out more about Dorcas thimbles and the related steel-cored sterling silver thimbles.

As I don't own any of these boxes, I need help with the sizing in millimetres, please.

DORCAS BOXES - OTHER BOXES
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Click on a photo to see a bigger picture

Dorcas boxes

Label 1

The
"Dorcas" Thimble
STERLING SILVER
Made in three parts, the inner
and the outer being Silver,
and the intermediate Steel, giving
a resisting power not obtained
in Silver only.

The Dorcas
Grey blue box
with white trim
italic gold writing diagonally
maroon paper label
blue velvet lining
The Dorcas
Grey blue box
with white trim
italic gold lettering diagonally
blue paper label
blue velvet lining
The Dorcas
Grey blue box
with white trim
italic green lettering diagonally
maroon paper label
blue velvet lining

The Dorcas
Lilac box
with white trim
italic gold lettering diagonally
blue paper label
blue velvet lining
The Dorcas
Lilac box
with white trim
italic gold lettering diagonally
green paper label
dark blue velvet lining

Guarantee 1

GUARANTEE
Exchanged free if ren-
dered useless from any
cause whatsoever.
Made of Sterling Silver
with interlining of har-
dened steel.
None genuine without
the name 'DORCAS' C.H.
BRITISH MADE

THE
DORCAS
Dark blue box
bold gold lettering
green paper guarantee
white velvet lining

The Dorcas
Cross-hatched blue box
gold lettering diagonally
green paper guarantee
blue velvet lining
size 27x25mm
The Dorcas
Cross-hatched blue box
gold lettering diagonally
black paper guarantee
white velvet lining
size 27x25mm

THE
DORCAS
Cross-hatched blue box
gold lettering
black paper guarantee
blue velvet lining
Dorcas
Cross-hatched blue-green box
gold lettering
green paper guarantee
creamy-white velvet lining

The Dorcas
Bubbly, grey box
maroon lettering
white paper guarantee with blue lettering
green velvet lining
size 30x27mm
The Dorcas
Steel-blue box
red lettering
green paper guarantee
green velvet lining
size 31x26X20mm
The Dorcas
Cross-hatched blue box
raised gold lettering diagonally
green paper guarantee
ivory velvet lining
size 30x27mm

Guarantee 2

MADE IN ENGLAND
Improved Dorcas Thimble
Sterling Silver - Steel lined
will be exchanged FREE OF
CHARGE if rendered useless
from ANY CAUSE.
None Genuine unless stamped
DORCAS together with
INITIALS C.H.
& SIZE NUMBER CH. 10
on the rim as shown. DORCAS

The
Dorcas
Dark blue box
with white trim
gold lettering
green paper guarantee with gold lettering
white velvet lining
The Dorcas
Crackled grey-green box
gold lettering
green paper guarantee
white-pink velvet lining

The Dorcas
Cross-hatched blue box
gold lettering
black paper guarantee
white velvet lining
size 28x25mm
The Dorcas
Cross-hatched blue box
with white trim
gold lettering
maroon paper guarantee
white velvet lining
size 28x25mm
photo Irene Schwall
The Dorcas
Cross-hatched blue box
with white trim
gold lettering
green paper guarantee
white velvet lining
size 28x25mm

THE
IMPROVED
DORCAS
Cross-hatched blue box
with white trim
gold lettering
maroon paper guarantee
green velvet lining
THE
IMPROVED
DORCAS
Cross-hatched grey box
with white trim
gold lettering at lower edge
white velvet lining
The Dorcas
Yellow box
with white trim
gold lettering
brown paper guarantee
white velvet lining
size 30x27mm

GOLD DORCAS

9-carat gold steel-lined Dorcas box
The Dorcas
Pinky grey box
with white trim
gold lettering
green velvet lining
The box is hinged and has no guarantee
9ct GOLD is lettered on inside lid
size 32x26.5mm

THE LITTLE DORCAS

The Little Dorcas label

MADE IN ENGLAND
"The Little Dorcas"
Sterling Silver - steel lined.
None genuine unless stamped
LITTLE DORCAS

THE LITTLE
DORCAS
Grey blue box
with white trim
gold lettering
maroon paper description
pale blue velvet lining
THE LITTLE
DORCAS
Grey box
with white trim
gold lettering
maroon paper description
with Guarantee 2 for standard Dorcas thimbles
grey velvet lining
THE LITTLE
DORCAS
Purplish-grey box
with white trim
green lettering as gold has worn off
maroon paper description with Little Dorcas guarantee
grey velvet lining
size 30x25x24mm
photo Irene Schwall

THE LONDON DORCAS

The
London
Dorcas
Olive drab green box
with white edging
deep grey lettering slightly diagonally
dark blue velvet lining
there is additional lettering that looks like
S F & Co
size 34x26x25mm
there is no guarantee label on the bottom
Click to see this very rare thimble
London Dorcas
photo Irene Schwall

COMPOSITE DORCAS BOXES

glass-topped Dorcas display box
"DORCAS" THIMBLE
STERLING SILVER
HORNER'S. PATENT
with RD No.116254 on the box under Horner name

glass-topped Dorcas display box
"IMPROVED DORCAS"
HORNER'S. PATENT
STERLING SILVER
with RD No.116254 on the box's front edge

black Bakelite Dorcas display stand
with sized spaces for 12 thimbles
115mm in height
BUY THIS RACK

glass-topped cardboard Dorcas display box
for "Improved Dorcas" displays
on the base are sizes with inside measurements
12 smaller boxes with no covers - all have the red Guarantee 2 label
with green velvet lining
size 3x7 inches

cardboard The Dorcas Thimble box
size 165X65x25mm
also shows Charles Horner's trademark on the bottom R-H corner
photo Irene Schwall

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Other boxes

THE DORIS

The
"Doris" Thimble
STERLING SILVER
With intermediate steel
Lining, very strong, and
well finished.
MADE IN ENGLAND

The Doris
Grey blue box
with white trim
italic gold lettering diagonally
maroon paper description
green velvet lining
The Doris
Grey blue box
with white trim
italic black lettering diagonally
cream paper description
green velvet lining

THE DOROTHY

THE DOROTHY THIMBLE
cream box
no guarantee

DREEMA

The Dreema label

The
'Dreema Thimble.'
STERLING SILVER
This thimble has a
steel lining between
two layers of solid
sterling silver.
The beauty of silver
with strength of steel

DREEMA
THIMBLES
Cross-hatched grey box
with two gold stars
gold lettering
grey paper with green lettering
blue velvet lining
DREEMA
THIMBLES
Grey box
with two gold stars
gold lettering
grey paper with green lettering
red velvet lining
DREEMA
THIMBLES
Grey mottled box with white trim
with four blue diamond shapes
blue lettering
grey paper with blue lettering
red or blue velvet lining
DREEMA
THIMBLES
Grey dimpled box with white trim
with two gold curliques
gold lettering
grey paper with green lettering
blue velvet lining
DREEMA
THIMBLES
red box with white trim
with two gold stars
black lettering
white velvet lining

DURA

DURA
Finely dotted grey box
with white edging
italic deep grey lettering diagonally
no guarantee
black velvet lining
size 32.5x25mm
DURA
Finely dotted mauve box
with white edging
italic gold lettering diagonally
no guarantee
white velvet lining

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DO YOU KNOW ANY MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE BOXES LISTED ABOVE?
DO YOU HAVE ANY ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS POSED?
EMAIL thimbleselect@bigpond.com TO SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE.

Contributors

Janine Affleck, Lee Bateman, Clarice Birch, Helen Burgin, Sue Christensen, Margaret Estano
Rosalind Forster, Margaret Hendriksen, Doreen Levy, June Lewis, Ray Nimmo, Paul, Irene Schwall, Helen Shyers, Sue Wilson

References

Charles Horner of Halifax (2002) / Tom Lawson
History of thimbles (1985) / Edwin Holmes
Identifying steel-cored thimbles (1993) / Diane Pelham Burn
Zalkin's handbook of thimbles & sewing implements (1988) / Estelle Zalkin

This listing of Dorcas thimble boxes does not purport to be complete or accurate in all aspects.
Rather it invites comment and contribution to add to our knowledge of these highly prized items.
My thanks to the other contributors.

Enjoy!

Any questions or comments?
thimbleselect@bigpond.com
I do not offer any type of valuation or advice on prices.

Last updated 12 November 2009
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