for years I would tell quilters of the wonderful machine I inherited from my great grandmother. I went on the web site to get the year of this Singer Treadle- 1880-1885. I was so excited I went to my Dad and told him the year, he was looking at me strangly and said "what are you talking about?; My grandmother didn't sew, it was my GRANDFATHER - he was a shoemaker in Brooklyn NY, he used the machine to sew the free motion fancy swirls on the leather shoes worn by wealthy men on 5th ave in New York City" - I was totally shocked! He made 12 pairs of shoes a year and raised 10 children on what he made. Teresa