SteveH

LOL, That is AWESOME!

ThayerRags

Might not be too bad with a little garlic on them.....now you’ve made me hungry...

CD in Oklahoma

Alawai

Excellent post Miriam! You all nailed it right on the head. The biggest reason for me is mainly the historical factor. It connects me to my Mum who taught me how to sew on her black industrial singer. When I am at these machines, I especially feel a deep connection to all the seamstresses who came before me. Who sat at the very same machine. The women who sacrificed and pinched pennies in order to make a living for themselves and their families through their efforts. I always marvel at how something humans created could be so aesthetically beautiful and functional yet amazingly simple! They remind me of strong black horses that carried their riders through everything but nevertheless were put to pasture too soon. Even under generations of dirt/rust/grime, the old black sewing machines look so radiantly noble to me.

ETA: Miriam, please ship ThayerRags a chicken nugget. Even the thought of garlic roasted lizards is making him hungry!

jlhmnj

Fun, inexpensive hobby which has practical everyday uses.

Progress is a journey where you might be further along but not necessarily better off---and you can't go back or at least I can't.

Jon

iadhikari

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

Jeanette Frantz

Because these machines "speak" to me -- there's history behind each and every one and I sure wish they could talk -- they could tell things that no one else knows -- I can almost picture the pioneering women of this country sewing to clothe their families-- it reflects the spirit of America!

Jon, I sent you a PM on another matter!

Jeanette

miriam

I always wondered what those nuggets were made out of... as soon as CD posts his address we can all send him a nugget...

Yooper32

'Cause it's a love affair.

Mrs. SewNSew

Yes yes and yes! You all feel what I feel! My people. ♥ And I have hope that in refurbishing and using these machines I can teach a lesson to the younger people today about pride in workmanship and making things to last.

Too much today is being made to fail, being made to be disposable and fill up the landfills and waste our resources. Who in there right mind would ever teach someone to make a product like that?

maviskw

I have often thought of this: what will happen to me, to my kids, grand-kids, and now great-grand-kids? I've read a lot of books on the collapse of society, and the thing to do is to teach your grand-kids how to saddle a horse. We have Amish living near us, and I know and they know that their "technology" is the one that is sustainable. We have lost the knowledge of how to live without all this modern stuff.
So next to my old sewing machines, the things I like best now are my Prius and the Bluetooth that came with it. They are fantastic. LOL

Sew, getting back to this thread, those old machines make a thrill go through me. Even if they are covered in crud.