For me, it's the history. The nice stitches are important to me, but the thought of another woman, long ago, beaming with pride as her then new sewing machine was brought into the house and she sat down at it to sew...I love antiques, and often imagine the homes that they first "resided" in, and often wonder about the lives of those who owned them. I'm the same way with my cast iron as I am with the sewing machines. Who owned them...did they sacrifice and pinch pennies to be able to have them? How many Sunday dinners did my 130 year old cast iron roaster cook? How many Easter dresses did this "new to me" Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine sew? What little girl learned to sew on it? Did she learn as I did, making first an apron, and patching her daddy's work clothes? Did her grandmother help her? Her mother? A favorite auntie? I imagine that little girl sitting on the floor at her mother's side, waiting for her mama to finish that seam so that the hem can be pinned.
It's those thoughts that run through my mind when I see the old machines in the shops or on the internet...and it breaks my heart that someone either didn't care enough about the family history of the machine to treasure it, or "had" to part with it either for space or money. I know that I'd so love to have my grandmother's machine, or my great grandmother's machine...