I have to agree with the people who talked about the vintage machines being a connection to the past. I found an address label inside the lid of one of my Featherweight cases, belonging to someone in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. When I googled the name, I found someone with the same name and hometown who was born in 1913 and died in 2008. She never married, and had no survivors (nieces, nephews, etc.) listed in her obituary.
The machine was made in 1938, and I wonder if she bought it new, what she sewed with it, how it ended up on eBay six years after she died... so many little mysteries. It made me love the machine even more, and made me feel like I'm its caretaker.
In my when-I-win-the-lottery future, I'm going to compile stories, no matter how short (like mine), about these old machines.
Ila