Cat - while you are correct in your info about the original Elgin company, you are wrong to attribute that company with this machine. It IS made by Free, and they have identical machines out there under other names. Free was one of the last US sewing machine companies, and ended up with a lot of "names" from buying out others (like New Home).

That is one thing newbie collectors need to be very careful of - as uniformed and unscrupulous sellers will claim thier machine is something it is not - because of the name on it.


This is the "New Home" version of the same machine

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...psi4goyqtf.jpg

Florence is another name that once was a company (not the same as New Florence) and then White ended up with the name, so the Florence Rotary is made by White. New Leader got used by more than one company, but it's not the same as the original Leader Company.

This machine is not all that old, probably 1930-1940 era.

Thank you Jon and Cathy. I knew it wasn't Japanese and I knew it wasn't the original Elgin. I was thinking it might be this Elgin Rotary was about from the late 30s, but I didn't know.

I wonder if the serial number would be accurate in this pdf. (I hope I linked the purple word correctly).

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

correctly).

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

ETA Glenn's tutorial for reviving the cabinet is at http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...s-t109859.html

I think this is the link to Glenn's instructions:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/vintage...s-t193635.html

Good luck with your mom's machine.

Could be in the list depending on the serial number. Looks like model AAE: http://needlebar.org/cm/displayimage..._display_media

Interesting about the 206x13 needle. The original needle would have been Free Rotary or Boye 2-1/2. I hear they are interchangable but some would debate this.

Jon

Macybaby, thank you for the additional information on those machines. I stand corrected.