Socks, Socks and More Socks!

In the early 1800s, Fort Payne was built around the coal and iron rush - that was until everything went bust and people went elsewhere. The ones that did stay, had to find another way to make money. One might ask, how does a small town in Northeast Alabama bounce back? On its own two feet of course ... Literally! When living in the cold mountains, momma must put socks on those little toes running around the house and with a state full of cotton people got creative. So in the late 1800s, with just one machine in the basement or personal garage people started to sew. With every click click click back and forth of the sewing machine socks rebuilt the town of Fort Payne. For some reason I can hear Jeff reciting lines from The Three Amigos right about now (when they asked the people of the town what they were famous for and they said "we can sew"). From people's houses to manufacturers and mills, Fort Payne soon became known as “The Sock Capital of the World.” The town is credited for creating the athletic sock as well as decorative socks.

At one point, this teeny town nestled in mountain country was responsible for making one in every eight pairs of socks around the world. Up until 2000 virtually 75% of all socks in the US were made in the US! That’s when outsourcing to China really affected the town of Fort Payne. Two decades of sock production overseas has really affected this once booming high-quality, hosiery industry. Now the manufactures are only family mills, mostly because of wages. Workers In Alabama make $8 to $12.00 an hour, but in China they make $0.40 an hour (with no health benefits or business restrictions). There's no way Alabama can compete! Now it is up to the consumer to determine the sock industry. 

While doing research for this blog, I've come to realize losing socks in the wash is a "serious" issue. Over the years my passion for folding socks has faded and quite frankly, I have no time for things that cause me undue stress - thus socks tend to lie in a pile "waiting" for their mate. Short socks or tall socks, faded or new socks, socks with holes in them (heck I don’t even waste my time with them, they find the trashcan ASAP), colorful socks, white and black socks, printed socks or fluffy socks - I can lose them all! I have no idea how they "walk" away without their mates. Maybe there's a secret escape route. Maybe they are in fear of the "stinky feet" or maybe the cat is hiding them one-at-a-time under my bed. How about the sneaky sock that finds it way under the dryer and just when I think I've found a match it ends up being a fabric softener-scented bliss instead. Of course, there's always the white sock that found the red towel - and now it's officially the "pink" sock! And yes, there's only one - not a matching pair. There's the white sock that went hiking and found a puddle of mud, or the pair that went camping and sat in a dirty clothes bag for two days and whew .. oh heck no!.. I'm not even trying to wash that pair! Why do socks have to be so complicated?

Socks can have memories too: I have a bag full of baby socks (I know, I know, my kids are no longer babies) and I have Christmas socks and cat socks, and even fluffy dog socks. Some people sew socks as gifts and some people mend socks (my mending abilities tend to leave lumps and bumps in the toes - it’s a better idea to send them to the land of lost socks). Some people make sock monkeys or sock monsters. I have good memories of getting socks on Christmas morning as a child. I give them now as gifts every year to my boys; at least I know they will have matching pairs at least once a year.

Socks can go on hands to keep them warm - or to keep babies from scratching chicken pox (although now there's a vaccine for that). I hated wearing socks as a kid (still do to this day) and I would go barefoot anytime I could, including winter when it was snowing! I have memories of socks being lined up by the back door drying after my brother, David, and I would go out and play in the snow. We would wear two pairs of socks and play in the snow until we couldn’t feel our toes. My mom would have hot chocolate ready for us to warm up and two more pairs of clean socks to do it all again.  

I remember later in my mom's life she had a saying about socks. She recommended you start your day out with a pair of socks that don’t match. Why? This was to help remind herself it's okay not to be perfect. While I was in college I would purposely wear mismatched socks on days of tests to remind myself it's okay not to be perfect. As years have gone by and I've started visiting my doctors more often I would wear mismatched socks. Some of them would look at me oddly, others would bluntly ask if I was aware I was wearing mismatched socks. When you have a brain injury it's kind of "fun" sometimes to see how the brain doc reacts to mismatched socks. It's a good reminder though… especially to someone with my personality (the perfectionist type) … if you can look at your feet (and gasp) and can be okay, it somehow makes it easier to except the reality of imperfect moments. Maybe now that my mom has passed on - she is the one hiding all the missing socks to play "sock-ball" with the angels? Hey, you never know…     

People still make that pit stop through Fort Payne. It is the home to the band Alabama.There's a famous museum and statues of each member of the band stand still for the perfect photo op. Just down the road from Fort Payne is a Walmart packed with cash registers buzzing and in the clothing section more than half the socks are made in China. More importantly, you can still go to the "mom and pop" local stores throughout the town of Fort Payne and buy those unique and fun socks. Maybe you can even buy a extra pair just in case.     

Stay safe everyone - Enjoy Your Journey! 

Excuse me while I remove my socks...

💜