I enjoy reading about the history of everyone’s sewing machines and family histories. As I said, I am lucky to have some of my family machines, but I can identify with those who have had some get away or have less than happy sewing memories.
My Mom sewed through her finger with the White VS Treadle when she was a girl, and her Father forbid her from ever using it again. That sounds harsh, but then, she was the oldest of his three children, so I kind of think he may have been trying to keep an outside ranch helper at the time. He had three girls.
My wife bought her first sewing machine out of the Wards catalog in 1975. The 3/4-sized basic zigzag for $44. She used most of our wedding gift money to buy it. Trouble is, Wards sent two of them, one by freight, and one by mail. When she returned one of them, Wards gave her all of her money back. It took her a very long time to convince them that the money was theirs, that she still had one of their machines, and to quit sending the money back.
I cut a hole in an old desk that we bought at a yardsale to mount that machine in. We sold the set in our yardsale in the early 90s when she got a new freearm machine out of the Penney catalog. We still have the Penney, but her first machine got away from us. Of course, that was back long before we knew that I’d be collecting sewing machines. A lady down the block that had two girls bought it, but they don’t live there anymore.
Speaking of outside ranch helpers and family history, Fred Harman worked for my paternal Grandparents as a ranch hand. Fred went on to Red Ryder cartoon fame, but my Dad once told me that Grandpa wanted to fire him because all he wanted to do was sit around and draw pictures. Grandma wouldn’t let him because she liked his drawings.
CD in Oklahoma