Wow great answers! I guess I think ALL those things! Sometimes I get a little emotional knowing how old a machine is and that someone probably sewed clothes for their children or things for their home on it.
The machine i just got-the 301 LBOW had newspaper clippings in the accessory box. One was a simple clip a Hint from Heloise about putting foil on your ironing board, but the others documented a family tragedy. There was an accident with 3 teen boys and one was killed. In another article a bartender admitted to selling them liquor and in the third One boy's family was suing another (I assume the driver of the vehicle). Apparently Gramma had saved the clippings to document the family history but had secreted them away with her sewing machine.