I just sent away for one of Jeff McBride’s Sleight of hand DVD’s, primarily because of his Miser’s Dream routines. It also features numerous thimble routines.

Now, I’m sure there are many in the fraternity who can work wonders with these antiquated finger condoms, but are there any other more common props which would substitute for thimbles? Few people today sew or mend their own clothes – and if they do the certainly don’t use brightly colored plastic thimbles. IMHO magical looking props, while appropriate for larger shows, tend to get in the way of close-up. One of the reasons I prefer coins, or cards, is that they are everyday objects.

Is there anything else I can use in the place of thimbles to accomplish the same effects?

I've got some GREAT ideas and it'll cost you only $500 an hour (smile).

For some quick bits with a single thimble, the cap from a ChapStik can be a great substitute for the thimble. Also, the ChapStik tube itself can be manipulated much the same as a cigarette, pocket knife, or other similar sized object.

Greg

I took fingertips and rolled dollar bills around them. You first fold the bill in half along the long axis, then roll it around the tip, then glue on and put a rubber band around the center for looks (and grip)

You can use lids of various small items, like the chapstick as mentioned...

But, I would still use thimbles after explaining what they are.

Ask anyone if they know what a Darning Needle is, and if they know what it is to "darn" socks. And show an "antique" thimble, a device to protect your fingertips, blah blah blah.

Sharpies are popular, though small, you can use the caps, and come in different colors.

I had some wooden thimbles, ( I think you can still buy them at craft stores in the section that has all the little wooden eggs and numbers and other decorations.) I painted them green and then painted little shamrocks on them and called them Leprechaun Hats.( They're wee ) I would talk about how hard it is to catch a Leprechaun, because it's their hats that give them the magic. I would take a thimble and make it vanish and reappear and so on. For a finish I would drop a gold coin from the "Hat". The reason I used wooden thimbles, is that they have a bigger lip and it looks more like a hat brim.

Joe

McBride's tape wil give you several more ideas-I do a one-thimble routine with a fakini in walk-aorund an drefer to it as a coffee creamer.
David

That idea about the thimble being a Leprechaun hat is great!! I will be using that one.

I have a machined aluminum thimble I bought from Johnny Paul's family after he died. They brought in some memorabilia and some of his things to one of our magic meetings.

(I'm still kicking myself for letting a set of his cups go to another bidder )

It has deep "V" shaped ridges around the perimeter and although I haven't had a need to use it, it feels like it would be a breeze to manipulate.

Does anyone know anything about the thimbles he used?

I saw a Magician perform a Thimble routine using the tips of pool cues. his entire routine was related to pool, from his closeup pad being a little pool table to the "thimbles" he used.

Wow! Everyone has some fantastic ideas about thimbles, I love manipulation. I have done a sort of 3 shell game using thimble as shells and go into a short thimble routine from there,color changes etc.

I haven't gone the distance to create a routine around this yet, but I'm thinking about it. My kids love to play with the Playmobil characters. Most of the characters have different hats which are thimble-like in that they fit on your finger. I love to sprinkle some magic into playtime with the kids and have often vanished/transformed/transpoed the characters hats when playing with them. For a routine, you could choose some characters (for example the a wizard, a knight, and a princess) and work around some trouble of getting the magic hat back to the wizard.... If you don't know playmobil, this probably sounds weird, but I think kids would like it.

I remember in Bill Severn's "Big Book of Magic,"
a routine called "Bewildering Bandage" using what appeared to be bandages around the finger tips. You manipulate them just like thimbles. Cute idea

Yah, I forgot about the Band Aid's on your fingers... I remember Severn talking about the idea.

If you could get a really good fingertip made that is painted so good you can't tell it is on your finger... you could PAINT the nail bright red, and by doing thimble moves the painted fingernail would jump from finger to finger, hand to hand... and at the end all fingernails could be painted different colors.

Hmmmm... gotta work on that one.

Pete,
Did you catch my message here a few days ago in this thread? What do you know about the thimbles Johnny Paul may have used? Were they unique to him? Or a standard dealer item? I've never seen any like them before or since.

Didn't Karrell Fox ( is it ok to use the word "Fox" without getting sued?) have a bit with a thimble where it grew really long ? ( Like Pinoccio's nose)

Joe

Dave: I never saw any of the thimbles Johnny Paul had.

Karrell Fox used MY thimble invention... "Pete's Peeper" where a thimble jumps from finger to finger in a hide and seek kinda funny way, then at the end it grows to about 7-inches in length.

I am considering re-issuing this item.

I'll see if I can post a picture, for educational purposes. Maybe somebody will recognize it.

Hey Pete,

Consider it some more will you ?

It sounds like a good walk-around trick.

Joe

I often thought that instead of thimbles, which are not very manly, that I would find some electrical connection caps. These are the ones that you use to join wires,also call a wire cap. They come in different sizes and you could get the largest and machine out the inside to fit. They are brighly colored and are plastic so they could be repainted.