What prize does Alice receive after the Caucus-Race?

After the Caucus-Race, Alice receives a thimble as her prize.

The race takes place after Alice and the animals emerge from the pool of tears. The Dodo invents a circular race with no starting signal, fixed direction, or clear finish. After everyone becomes dry, he declares that everybody has won.

Alice distributes comfits from her pocket as prizes to the animals. When the Mouse points out that Alice should receive something too, she reveals that she has only a thimble. The Dodo ceremoniously returns it to her as an “elegant” prize.

The joke depends on the ceremony being more important than the object. A thimble is useful sewing equipment, but it is an absurdly modest reward for a race in which nobody competed under recognizable rules. The comfits are the sweets Alice gives away, not the prize she receives.