It is made in 1929 and make sure the needle is threaded from the right to the left and it will pick up the bobbin thread unless there is another problem. You also may have a piece of thread in the bobbin area. Do you have a manual? I lucked up a found a featherweight that looked brand new and I love it. I have the manual if you need
help with the threading or anything. I have 20 machines and this is the only one that threads the needle from right to left. Let me know if I can help ........... Hilda