Originally Posted by quiltingcandy

My family never throws anything away. My parents was given one of those huge machines with the giant roller which was used to iron the linen table clothes, sheets and mens pants (to get the proper crease in them) when she was married in 1950. They also had one of the huge roasters - it was huge, it had its own stand. Both machines had been down in the basement for YEARS! My mother was telling a neighbor that she wanted to get rid of them because all they did was take up space. The neighbor said her church would love it, so when they came to pick them up the guy asked if her if by chance she could tell him how they worked, she said she could do better than that, she still had the instructions books. She even knew where the books were! This happened in 2005. Both items still worked, so the church was thrilled to get them.

She gave me her Singer machine - and yes, she still had the manual too. Which I keep with the machine.