Originally Posted by azwendyg
You are just having way too much fun! Very nice machines too; what is that first one?
Potato Head is a Singer 15 CLONE as are the others pictured. Potato Head borrowed Ms Federal's nose to see if the tension worked. It actually fit - I was surprised. DH made the comment that it was like a Potato Head - you can switch out parts - hence the name Potato Head.
The Singer 15 was cloned in Japan after WWII to kick start their economy. Many different stores would sell those machines with their own 'badge' on them - so they all have different name plates but are really clones of the Singer 15. Potato Head's name badge says 'Kingston' and the motor is labeled 'Brother'. What they seem to ALL have in common is the placement of the tension on the nose of the machine. They are wonderful machines especially for FM. Did you notice Ms Stella is set up for FM - it is a bit hard to tell from the picture. She does it very gracefully too. Miss Stella is badged 'Commander' by Sears. Miss Stella was a wedding gift to our neighbor lady. The neighbor did not use Miss Stella because she favored an old treadle she had learned on.