Textile equipment: Thimble belonging to M. Lavinia Warren
Sewing tool
1863 – 1900 (Date manufactured/created)
Gold
Gold sewing thimble that belonged to M. Lavinia Warren, wife of Charles Stratton, known as General Tom Thumb. Virtually every young woman was taught to sew in centuries past--a thimble was an essential part of one's sewing equipment since much of the sewing was done by hand. According to Lavinia Warren's autobiography, her mother instructed her in cooking and all manner of housekeeping, including sewing, just as any normal-sized girl would have been taught at the time.
The tiny thimble has the characteristic honeycomb texture in the upper portion, and is engraved with a series of diamond shapes encircling the lower part. There is a central diamond-shaped cartouche with the engraved initials "L.S." for Lavinia Stratton, her married name, thus the thimble dates to 1863 or later. The other diamond shapes feature starbursts in their centers. The thimble was photographed with a U.S. cent (penny) to show its small size.
Mercy Lavinia Warren (nee Bump) Stratton (October 31, 1841 - November 25, 1919), then Mercy Lavinia Magri, was a well known entertainer during the latter half of the 1800s. She first became a schoolteacher, but at the encouragement of a relative, she began her career as a performer on a river boat (Spaulding & Rogers Boat Shows); exhibiting little people (people with dwarfism) was profitable at the time. Warren signed with showman P. T. Barnum when she was 21. In December of 1862, Charles S. Stratton (General Tom Thumb) began courting Lavinia and their whirlwind romance led to their famed marriage, "The Fairy Wedding," just two months later on February 10, 1863, with Lavinia's younger sister, Minnie Warren as bridesmaid and "Commodore Nutt" as best man. The Strattons worked and toured together as celebrities, and had a happy marriage. Following Stratton’s death in 1883, Warren married Primo Magri, an Italian entertainer of a similar stature, on April 6, 1885. Magri and Warren toured, and also operated a roadside stand in Middleboro, Massachusetts, her home town. Warren died at age 78 on November 25, 1919. She is buried beside Stratton at Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The tiny thimble has the characteristic honeycomb texture in the upper portion, and is engraved with a series of diamond shapes encircling the lower part. There is a central diamond-shaped cartouche with the engraved initials "L.S." for Lavinia Stratton, her married name, thus the thimble dates to 1863 or later. The other diamond shapes feature starbursts in their centers. The thimble was photographed with a U.S. cent (penny) to show its small size.
Mercy Lavinia Warren (nee Bump) Stratton (October 31, 1841 - November 25, 1919), then Mercy Lavinia Magri, was a well known entertainer during the latter half of the 1800s. She first became a schoolteacher, but at the encouragement of a relative, she began her career as a performer on a river boat (Spaulding & Rogers Boat Shows); exhibiting little people (people with dwarfism) was profitable at the time. Warren signed with showman P. T. Barnum when she was 21. In December of 1862, Charles S. Stratton (General Tom Thumb) began courting Lavinia and their whirlwind romance led to their famed marriage, "The Fairy Wedding," just two months later on February 10, 1863, with Lavinia's younger sister, Minnie Warren as bridesmaid and "Commodore Nutt" as best man. The Strattons worked and toured together as celebrities, and had a happy marriage. Following Stratton’s death in 1883, Warren married Primo Magri, an Italian entertainer of a similar stature, on April 6, 1885. Magri and Warren toured, and also operated a roadside stand in Middleboro, Massachusetts, her home town. Warren died at age 78 on November 25, 1919. She is buried beside Stratton at Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
1981.004.009