Monday, January 24, 2011

Vintage Machine Week

So Far I have been reviewing a mixture of new and vintage machines, so I have decided to dedicate this week to vintage machines only. Not antique machines - that will happen, I promise, but vintage, as in 20th Century; 1940s-1970s (maybe 80s if it comes up.) I would love to make it a more specific challenge and limit it to American manufacturers, but that is tricky, because many machines in the 70s were made overseas. I'll see what I can muster.

I learned to sew on a converted Singer treadle machine, meaning it had been converted in the 1920s or 30s from a foot pedal to a knee pedal. I loved sewing on that machine, but it was far from modern. Then sometime in 1977 I went shopping with my mother. We brought this fancy Kenmore 158 16250 home and embarked on a world filled with zig-zag stitches and blind hems! I still have this machine and have used it with my students. It is a solid, mechanical machine (remember this means all pullys and levers and gears and such) and my only complaint is that the tension knob seems to be useless.

I plan to scour the web for interesting vintage machines with stories attached. If you have one, send me an email! I hope to find some great stories about machines and their humans to blog about. I am looking forward to what else comes up in my quest.

3 comments:

  1. It's a sad day for me when the machine I bought new is now considered vintage. :-)

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  2. Why is that sad? If you bought a Dior suit from the 70s wouldn't you say you got a "vintage Dior suit?" Or maybe you found some cool 70s vintage wallpaper, now that wouldn't be sad, and it would be cool! How would you describe this machine?

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  3. Sad because I'm OLD. This model? I would still refer it as an older model. But the word vintage is just another adjective. "used, old, really old, retro, etc.

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