It looks like a toy to me also. Probably one made in Germany.... the tension on the top is the giveaway for me. I tried to google 'how to thread a vintage child's sewing machine' but couldn't find the link to a site I saw a week ago. It had several threading diagrams for child's machines and good information, too. I know that the search sites locates things for you..... not always the sites you want to find. I'll keep looking and see if I can find it. I bought a child's machine at an auction a couple of weeks ago and got it stitching with the help of that site.