sewing sailors
 

My husband sent me this-he's retired Navy and I sew, so the email header was 'when our hobbies collide'. :)

Anybody want to take a WAG at which model these are?

oh, I love the picture!! Hope someone is able to identify the machine.

Just guessing- Singer 31

http://www.sandman-collectibles.com/...1-15-Pic-1.jpg

I think it is an industrial machne. I think it is a singer 31 because of the wooden table it is on.

Too funny! My db is retired Navy. When he heard I was R & R old treadles he gave me some ribbing. But then he goes on to say that all the ships he worked on had 'old Singers' right up until the mid 80's.

best,
d

Now that is what I call a story picture. I Love it!!!

Great picture, you gotta love them singers.

I like those machines - I want a light like that.

A lot of ships still do-less to go wrong at sea, and easier to fix themselves. The sail loft at the Pearl Harbor shipyard still has 'big black Singers' too. I've never been in, but Hubby was in an out of that shop during his last tour in the yards there.

And going home was where they were going; the caption (that I forgot to include) was that these guys were sewing on discharge emblems at the end of WWII.

Might be Singer 68, think that was the number. Friend of mine has one setting in her basement, selling it. I have yet to run it and see how it goes. Been trying to do research on it for her. Called a belt sewer.

My husband's uncle was in the navy. He made extra money fixing clothes, doing alterations, etc.

Good pic.
J J

They both look like Singer 31-15 machines to me. It was a very popular machine for the Navy, as well as the other branches of the service during the mid-40s.

I’ve seen photos of other military machines that were similar, but built into a heavy wood box for portability. The box looked sturdy enough to drop by parachute without hurting the machine. I’m not sure that they ever did that, but it looked possible.

CD in Oklahoma

My dad was Navy around that time. He learned to sew while he was in and never forgot it. My mother sewed garments, but my dad did mending, sewed draperies and lots of other utilitarian projects.

I think I'll share that photo with my dad... maybe it will bring back memories!

I want one !!!

Not a 15. The tension is on the front and it looks like a drop in 66 bobbin. Did ya'll notice the motor under the table? Definitely an industrial setup.

Thank you for sharing. My husband is retired Navy as well and he is going to appreciate this!

so fun..my dad is retired Navy. First he was FLeet Navy and he sewed on board ships, then he went to Viet Nam and he sewed where ever they found a machine, then he retired, and now has a Juki industrial like the Singers in the pix.
THose machines in the pix were made for the garment industry! Thanks for sharing!

Those are some handsome swabbies and boatswain, but my eye is on the terrific lighting on the machine. (My DH was Navy too.)

That picture is a classic! Thanks for sharing it.

31-15? Someone posted a 31-15 that was marked as a WPA sewing machine.

I found one of them on CL yesterday. The set-up was just like these. That one is coming to live at my house soon!

Neat collision of worlds! My brother was in the Navy, but I never heard stories about sewing on board.

Just went and checked my 31-15. Yep, they're 31-15s all right.

Sweet. Can't wait to see what she does.

best,
d

Is the machine on the left set up with a "Knee Lift" ? look at the linkage on the back plate.

I was invited to help trouble-shoot a sewing machine problem for the local WWII Airborne Demonstration Team that is headquartered here at the local airfield, which was an Army Air Field back in the 1940s . Today, the team members parachute out of a restored C-47 named “Boogie Baby” that was built back in 1942, and was actually involved in WW2 combat missions. They do jumps and demonstrations all over the USA and Europe. Their website is: http://www.wwiiadt.org/

The Rigger (guys that repair parachutes and other equipment) was having problems with his industrial sewing machine, and another local sewing machine mechanic and I were able to get it going for him. The machine that we worked on is fairly modern, but while I was there, I noticed a Singer 31-15 setting in a wooden transport box. They believe that the box (missing its cover) is an authentic military-issued “crate” used to transport a Singer 31-15 or similar machine for movement. The machine setting in now is a 1938 Singer 31-15 that could possibly be the original machine housed in the transport box.

The 31-15 is currently not being used, but most agreed that it would be neat to get it back into service looking like machines would have been used back in the 1940s. So now I’m on the hunt for photographs of Riggers and their sewing machines in action from that period in history, so we can come up with the correct stand and/or table-top base for it. I have some older Singer equipment, but I’m not sure what would be the most authentic for the time period. I’ve found some photos of Sailors and Army Airmen on-board ships, but I don’t find many photos of Riggers in other scenarios. Anyone know of any?

CD in Oklahoma

CD, I've got The Husband looking through his stuff (he's got a ton of old military photos) to see what he's got. If he turns up anything, I'll PM you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MrsBoats (Post 5167933)

... Husband looking through ... old military photos.

---

Thanks Mr & MrsBoats,

I suspect that most of the Riggers Lofts, Huts, Rooms, etc. had benches for their Singer 31-15 machines. I’m hoping to find out if they were commercial benches or built-in benches. Ships may have been built-in, but hangers? I’m not sure. If commercial, I hope they used common industrial benches from the period. I have a couple of them. Straight-leg metal stand with a slab wood surface. No Formica top and no folding extensions.

CD in Oklahoma

My DH's dad was career Navy, made Chief, from WWII thru 1970. His DB is also career Navy Reserve, and just made Chief a few months ago. I will ask them if they know anything about this. The dad sewed at home after he retired from the Navy, so its possible DH and his DB know something.

My father-in-law said the guy with all the money was the one that had sewing skills...lol He was in WWII

I don't know what that machine is but look at all that room for FMQ!

If all else fails maybe you can go to a military museum and talk to the curator. I once need to sew a WWII officer's wall tent. I went to the museum at Ft Knox, KY and asked the curator if he had any information. He had microfilm and he let me fool around with it as long as I wanted. I found what I wanted. Then I asked him how I could get the blue prints and he sent me to the library with the film and they printed it out for less than $1. They had blue prints for everything under the sun in there. Tons and tons of things.