Originally Posted by
pamibell
I love seeing all the old machines on this thread. I look at all 19 pages. Does anyone know of a database online where you can see old machines? Or maybe a good book on the market to help a young enthusiast get her bearings?
Nice machine. Web searches on old machines are what led me to this board. I have an old Morse Fotomatic. There is a yahoo group called vintagejapansewingmachines which has a lot of pictures in its files as well as a number of manuals. You may not always get responses to your questions in the yahoo groups, but they are a good source of information and pictures. I think it's difficult to date the Japanese machines because many were badged with multiple names and records weren't kept on them. There are some people around that seem to know which companies made which machines. Toyota made a lot of them. I also belong to yahoo groups for Elna, Necchi, Pfaff and Singer. There are groups for vintage Brother, Viking/Husqvaarna, and others but I haven't joined them as I don't have their machines.
Enjoy your machine. There are a lot of good old machines out there. You could ask about people's favorites and get dozens of responses.