You know, things like that happen. I have a Singer from the 50s. It is a really sweet machine and I loved the way it sewed. I stored it in the garage six years ago and took it out to see how it was. It turns out that cockatoos throw their water everywhere and it's seized up. I felt terrible, because it seems like it was in my care. I haven't tackled the motor to see if that's the issue. The head seems to work and I might be able to recover it.
The truth is, the world is awash in sewing machines. Some of them are going to be scrapped. It makes sense for us to try to save rare ones and those in excellent shape. If we can recover a few more, that's great, but they may wind up scrapped when the next generation gets them.