It is a badged White built for sears. The knob on the end is the clutch used to disengage the sewing mechanism while you are winding a bobbin. The machine is straight stitch only. Do you have the cord and foot controller? They can be tricky to match up to the built in plug on the machine Clean it up, give it a good oiling where metal meets metal and see what happens. I believe it is cast iron. Don't hold me to that though. Candace might pop in and have a bit more info.