Originally Posted by
themadpatter
OK, I have a question that all of you probably already know the answer to. Why do so many of the old machines have a band of cloth around the horizontal arm? Inquiring minds want to know...
As OurWorkBench said, those are pin cushions. They also talk about "pin rash" If you take that piece of cloth off the machine, sometimes the decals have been ruined by all those pins and needles constantly poking them. That's "pin rash".