Hi! This is an old post so I'm not sure if you'll be checking this thread any longer but I am a new member of this site, which I found because I was researching Butterfly Sewing Machines, and because I didn't see the answer you were looking for here I thought I would tell you what I know about these types of sewing beauties. I live in Shanghai, China and recently read an article about them which I will copy for you to read here:
August 2011 issue of That's Shanghai
Just as young couples in CHina today consider an apartment and a car prerequisite possessions for marriage, so too did the sewing machine enjoy the same status from the '60's to the '80's. Along with a watch and bicycle, it was viewed as one of the three necessary items, and the Butterfly Sewing Machine had the most female friends of them all.
We can hardly imagine the excitement collecting this small machine from the store would have caused. These were the days of the planned economy and a purchase went like this: people first had to register for one with their company; if their application was approved they would then wait up to two years for it to be distributed; and finally, when it arrived, they would head to the store, ticket in hand.
Created by Shanghai Xiechang (pronunced she-chaang) Sewing Machine factory in 1942, the Butterfly slowly broke out of it's cocoon to emerge in all it's glory. In order to liberate women from manual labor, the nation attached great importance to the sewing machine industry, so that women could make and fix clothes at home. With full government support and mature technology, Butterfly soon flew into common people's homes.
Hudie (how Shanghainese say butterfly) has the same pronunciation as Wudi (invincible) in the Shanghai dialect, a name chosen to indicate that the product would be unbeatable inthe market. And so it proved; the sewing machine may have cost RMB130- roughly five times the average monthly salary- but enthusiasm for the Butterfly never faded, and demand always exceeded supply.
Butterfly wasn't confined to the domestic market, either, with healthy exports. The company also become embroiled in an unexpected, 8 year long, international lawsuit in 1994. It was a scramble for the Butterfly trademark between China and Indonesia, one of it's major importers. In an age when intellectual property was almost unheard of here, it was by no means easy for Butterfly to win the lawsuit, but finally succeeded. The case not only assured Butterfly's overseas sales, but also set a precedent for intellectual property protection in China.
Today the ready-made clothes industry has seen the Butterfly- and sewing machines in general- fade into history. In the early '90's Butterfly produced 1.4 million units a year. Now annual sales are down in the tens of thousands. But while Chinese demand for sewing machines may be on the wane, with retro winds plowing and locals seeking some nostalgia, it's not impossible that the Butterfly can fly back.
---end of article
I hope this helps a little bit! Maybe you've already learned the year it was made or were able to find out a bit more about it's history but perhaps this will lead you to more research. I'm in the market for one of these antiques and am not going to stop until I find one. I think they're mostly still in Chinese homes of the original owner. Maybe I'll spot one through a window and make a bid?
