pocoellie

I have 2 of those cabinets and have heard that little hole to be an "ink well", don't know why they'd need ink with a sewing machine. LOL As for the real purpose, I have no idea. Nice cabinet

deedum

dk about the jar, but I love the machine. I have 2 of them and they are my work horses!

montanajan

This is an old question, but I do have an answer. This "Art Deco" cabinet was sold to house a Singer machine (e.g. 201), and was advertised as a letter-writing desk/sewing machine cabinet. It was intended to be a dual-function cabinet, back in the days when women actually wrote letters. The piece you wondered about is an ink well! You'll notice on left drawer edge, there is a place to store your pens. Some models also had a slot in one deep drawer for the writing paper.

montanajan

This machine desk was sold to be a dual-purpose piece of furniture ... sewing cabinet and letter-writing desk. I have Mom's Art Deco cabinet with same feature. There is a narrow shelf in top left drawer for pens and some machines had a slot in one of the right drawers for letter-writing paper.

Jane Quilter

lucky find.....congrats

humbird

I have the "other" style cabinet. There are built in pegs for bobbins on mine.

fktsewing

My Granny had one and she used it for broken needles---this way she had a bowl to dump them from and not drop them from her hands since they are so small.

Bebe2Ten

I have that cabinet and machine (found at a farm auction for $20). It has the same jar and top -- I just assumed it was an inkwell. I'd be interested in knowing what it is, too.

Ioftheneedle

[QUOTE=Debd;2865498]Went to the Habitat for Humanity

My first job was in a bank and the were containers at every station for using glycerin to moisten your fingertips. There was a rollerball in the top that looked somewhat like the picture. Maybe this is the answer.

Colorful1

The glass jar was an inkwell; it held ink for fountain pens. This cabinet was designed to be multi-purpose: as a desk for writing, as well as machine cabinet for sewing