The Sewing Machine Page
For anyone with a mechanical inclination, sewing machines must surely have a special place in the imagination. Frequently made of cast iron and steel, these machines are marvels of the inventive mind and the machinist's hand. With their many cranks, eccentrics and levers, to me they are more like model steam engines than tools for stitching cloth together.
Davis Frister & Rossman New Home Singer Willcox & Gibbs Links
Davis
Model N
The 3/4-sized Model N was the companion to the full-size model M. The N, like the M, is a vibrating shuttle machine and uses a small bullet-shapes shuttle to carry the lower thread. This is an underfeed machine, it uses conventional feed dogs opposed to Davis's "Vertical Feed" designs. The machine you see here was made between 1910 and 1912. With the cast iron base and simple leaf-spring top tension, this was the cheapest machine in the Davis line. One nod to convince usually not seen in this class of machine is the tension release lever The Manhattan name on the arm may have been a badge name sold by Sears, or any number of other catalog or department store retailers. Sears did sell this machine with the Minnesota name on the arm in 1912 for $5.95. A difference between the version sold by Sears and this machine is the needle bar. This machine lacks a stop in the needle bar, which means the needle height must be set every time the needle is installed. This machine uses a 20x1 needle, which is about 1/8" longer than the standard 15x1 needle used today.
Model T
Davis's Model T is basically a 3/4 size version of the underfeed vibrating
shuttle Model D. Depending on the year or price range the machine was being
sold at the Model T can have manual or automatic tension release for the upper
thread tension. The machine pictured here has manual tension release, the spoon
shaped button under the tension discs is the tension release. This example was
made for export. I say this because of the decals and I bought the machine from
a seller in the
Frister & Rossman
This machine was made around 1924 to 1926. It was made by the German Frister and Rossman Co. It is a copy, more or less, of a Singer 28 or 128, the 3/4-size version of the full-size 27 or 127 vibrating shuttle sewing machine. As you can see this machine is in remarkable condition, and I wonder if it saw much use. A feature unique to vibrating shuttle sewing machines in this machine is the ability to sew in reverse.
New Home
New National Type T1
This 3/4-size vibrating shuttle Type U machine was one of the cheapest sewing machines in New Home's line of offerings in 1912, the year this example was made. 3/4 sized New Home machines were usually called 'New National' by New Home unless bought with a different name specified by the purchaser. When fitted with a conventional balance wheel and hand-crank as seen on the Type U shown below, these machines were known as the Type T2.The usual arrangement was any purchaser who bought a quantity of machines, say 20, could have the name of their choice stenciled on the arm at no additional cost. This allowed small retailers and other concerns to offer their customers a "house brand". This model of machine was produced for quite a number of years, from the 1890's to the 1930's, by which time it would have seemed quite old-fashioned and out of place. The machine was cheap to produce and sell, and would have sold for about $6.00 in 1912. As you can see it lacks a cabinet, resting instead on a simple cast-iron base. Tension for the upper thread is via a simple leaf-spring tension system, which despite its primitive appearance is robust and simple to use. In keeping with the character of a machine in this price range, there is no tension release lever for the upper tension. The name Ideal stenciled on the arm was for the customer who bought the machine. The Type T1 uses a 20x1 needle.
New National Type U See This Sewing Machine Demonstrated (via YouTube)
The New National was the name for New Home's line of 3/4-sized machines. Shown here is the vibrating shuttle Type U. These were available with cast iron bases or bentwood carrying cases for an increased price. Two different styles of hand-crank were also available for these machines, the conventional arrangement seen here with a normal balance wheel, and a version like the hand-crank shown on the Type T1 shown above. The Type U machines when fitted with a Type T1 hand-crank where known as the Type U2. The Type U machines were also available with stenciled badges to suit customers who purchased them in quantity, but they are less common as such. This example, being an unbadged machine, has the New Home greyhound logo on the bedplate. As a step-up from the Type T machine shown above, it also features a tension release lever. This example was made around 1910 and uses a 20x1 needle.
Singer
What sewing machine collection would be complete without a Singer Machine? Here are a few in my collection.
New Family
Introduced in 1863 and made until about 1900, this is the machine generally credited with putting Singer on the map. Singer's aggressive marketing and sales techniques also help the company make its name a virtual synonym for sewing machine, but it all started with the New Family. It's often said the third time is the charm, and the New Family was Singer's third attempt to introduce a domestic machine. Around 1882 several improvements were made to the New Family and the company began referring to the machine as the model 12. My New Family was made in 1872 and still works like it would have when new. It uses a boat-shaped transverse shuttle. The needle is a 12x1 and must be manually set in the needle bar, no stop is provided to hold the needle at a standard height.
71-1
Not your average domstic model Singer here, this is a full-on manufacturing machine. Introduced in 1903, the model 71 is designed to sew the reinforcing stitches around a buttonhole. Several variations in differing levels of automation of this machine were made. This example, the dash 1 version, is the basic model. By pressing a foot pedal it sews the pearl stitch and after the stitching is completed, a knife cuts the hole and the machine stops, ready for the next hole. The operator must manually cut the thread tails.
99
The 99 is a 3/4-sized version of the 66, a very "modern" machine featuring a drop-in bobbin. The machine shown here is a 99K made in 1916. The K means the machine was made at Singer's UK factory at Kilbowie, in Clydebank, Scotland, as opposed to the main factory in Elizabethport, NJ. Because Singer adopted armory practice in manufacturing in the 1890's, the machines are the same regardless of the factory of origin. A few nice features of this machine is the use of 15x1 needles and the ubiquitous Class 66 bobbin.
128
This Singer 128K was made in 1912. Singer's 128 was a 3/4-sized version of their 127. The 128 was an updated version of the older 28, a renamed VS3 (vibrating Shuttle 3). These were Singer's answer to the many other companies making vibrating shuttle machines which were very popular with the public. Despite selling for three to four times the price of competitor's machines (and really not being a better machine in any significant way), Singer's aggressive marketing combined with various monthly payment schemes resulted in the 28/128 being very popular machines.
Willcox & Gibbs
Machines made by Willcox and Gibbs are the most common of the "unconventional" sewing machines seen today. These machines lack the appearance associated with antique sewing machines and many non-sewing machine people would not recognize them as sewing machines. As you can see the machine is made in the shape of the capital letter G, after its inventor James Gibbs.
There are many retellings of the Willcox and Gibbs Company online. Here is my condensed version of the story: In 1855 James Gibbs saw a picture of a sewing machine in an advertisement and wondered how it worked. Theorizing from the picture that it used only a single thread, Gibbs imagined how the machine must loop the thread back on itself to form the stitch. Gibbs lived in Rockbridge County Virginia, just across the county line from where Cyrus McCormick was working on changing farming forever with his mechanical reaping machine. In 1856 Gibbs stepped into a tailor’s shop where he witnessed an early Singer sewing machine in action. Gibbs noticed how clumsy the Singer machine was to use, and thought back to his idea for a machine and realized that he had an idea for building a machine that was completely different. He set to work building a wooden model with a thread looper carved from twisted mountain ivy. In four months Gibbs completed his model and soon after applied for a patent, which he was granted. In 1857 he met James Willcox in Philadelphia and a partnership was soon formed. James’s son Charles Willcox would be a key person in the future of Willcox & Gibbs. The firm of JR Brown & Sharpe was engaged to make the machine and the first Willcox and Gibbs machines to go on sale were made in November 1858. James Gibbs was 28 years old when these first machines were made. After the Civil War, Gibbs would remain a tireless promoter of the company and machine until 1886. Gibbs died a wealthy man in 1902. In 1868 Charles Willcox made improvements to the thread tension mechanism and the Automatic was introduced. Charles also invented the rubber check-ball used in the treadle stand to prevent the machine from turning backwards. Willcox & Gibbs chainstitch machines were made by Brown & Sharp until 1946. From 1878 to 1890 Henry Leland, the founder of both Lincoln and Cadillac, was superintendent of the sewing machine department at Brown & Sharp.
Automatic
This W & G Automatic was made in 1878, 100 years older than me. This head I use on a treadle stand which I have pieced together over the years. It started with the treadle irons I purchased at the consignment auction in Rogers Ohio in 2004. My stand is complete except for an oak coffin top to match the rest of the wooden parts of the stand.
My hand-powered Automatic was made in 1889. This machine had been spray-painted gold by a previous owner. I have since stripped the machine and most of the hand crank. The baseboard is mahogany. The machine would have been sold with a small wooden box to keep the machine in when not in use or for transporting it. Compared to most sewing machines it is truly portable and is smaller and lighter than a Singer 221 Featherweight.
Eventually Willcox & Gibbs offered the Automatic with electric motors. This example was made in 1929. Note the machine is direct drive. What is remarkable is how little the Automatic changed over the years. From 1868 to about 1956 the original Automatic was made with virtually no changes.
Some Sewing Machine Links
International Sewing Machine Collectors Society
Antique Sewing Machine Information
Antique Sewing Machine Virtual Museum
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