Family sewing history in black and white
 

I was looking through my mom's photo album, real printed on paper photos not digital images, and found these I thought I'd share. Well, they're digital now, I had to scan them in to post them.


I did not know that at one time waaaaaaay back in 1958 my mom had a Singer Feather Weight. Look in the bottom right corner, you can see the case. That's mom in the back ground. The picture in the upper right corner on the wall was a paint by number oil painting done by my dad. I still have it hanging on my wall. So far this is the only sewing machine picture I have found, but I still have tons of ancient photos to go through. I'm not sure what happened to it, but it could have been the black machine mom sewed her finger into.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/attachm...d=492132&stc=1

I've also been looking for this photo. My Aunt Dorothy has had several sewing machine shops over the years. Here's a pic of her and Uncle Charlie back in either 58 or 61. Not sure which as the letter on the back only mentions she's preggers and just beginning to show. I have two cousins so it could have been either. The pic was taken on West Van Buren St in Phoenix, AZ.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/attachm...d=492133&stc=1

I'll keep looking for sewing machine pics as I dig through the boxes of pictures.


Joe

Thanks for sharing the photos. Love to look back and compare to the present

Very cool pictures. Love the golf cart.
Rodney

Great pics!!

Looking back and seeing these pics, we can safely say that they had the best times and they had it good. Thanks for sharing. Lovely pics, lovely people.

This was before my time. When I see pictures like this, I wish I could have been there. Thanks for posting!

I love the black and white pictures.
thanks for sharing.

I was born in 61... hehehe

How special these photos are!

Enjoyed this post for the pictures/history and . . ,
1. Picked up a Singer 201 in the original #48 cabinet this summer that was first purchased around 1939 at the Singer shop on W Washington in Phoenix.
2. Born and lived in the Phoenix area since 1955.
3. Maiden name was Miller.

That kitchen reminds me of the kitchen we had growing up - way too small for a family of seven - and my mom wore the same type dresses as yours. My dad and granddad did elaborate paint-by-numbers paintings, so it must have been sort of a national fad at the time. Mom had a heavy black Singer in a bentwood case...I'm thinking you must be about my age!!

I'll have to go through the old photos next time I visit my Mom to see if we have any pics of the machine - or the paint-by-numbers!

Love those nostalgia pics, especially the cowboy in the golf cart!!!

i loved the photos! i think i have a pattern, or one similar for the top your aunt is wearing!

Wow, those are some very special photos and memories! Let's see... (weighing in my mind)... paint-by-number pic or Featherweight... just like you, I'm sure I would have missed out on the FW! Sure you treasure that painting though.

As another poster mentioned, those paint-by-number kits were all the rage for a while. I remember doing several as a child in the early 60s.

I've got tons of memories on b&w pics. I just have to find them.

I have some cousins in the Phoenix area. Don't know their names, or where they are.
Were abouits on W Washington?

Joe

Loved looking at your pictures. Old pics have a way of bringing back some forgotten memories.

I love old b&w photos. I can't even say pics, it just doesn't sound right. My mom has a big wood trunk full of old b&w photos that go way back. We were going through them one night, and while I don't remember any with a sewing machine in it, what I do remember is that every single photo that was taken indoors there was an ashtray and a beer somewhere in the photo. No matter what the occasion. Someones first day of school. Family holidays. Birthdays, including babys first one, yep, there's an ashtray and a Rainier next to the cake. How did we survive our parents, LOL.

Cari

Thanks for sharing! Those photos show a different lifestyle than we have now. Good memories!

Thank you Joe for the pics, I loved that little motor scooter thing with the Valley Sewing Center. Guess you came to all this sewing machine stuff naturally. Totally in your blood.

That is really a great memory....Hope that you figure out the mystery regarding the Featherweight.

Susie,

The mystery of the FW will forever be unsolved. My mom and everyone else is gone or so old they'd never remember it. I didn't even realize that was a FW case until I looked at the pic recently. After buying one and looking at all the pics of them it dawned on me what it was.

Joe

That's a shame, Joe. It would hold a special place in your heart if it was your Mom's. I know that I don't use my Mom's old Singer #401 or 403(brain won't work), but I won't get rid of it.

Susie,

You should service it and use it. That's great machine. My wife has a 401a and like it a lot. But we have too many machines so she doesn't use it as much as it should be used.

Joe

Thanks for sharing the photos. Special memories for you. Very nice.

Joe, I have so many machines...I use all of them at least once a year. Enough to keep things moving right.
I don't like having to pick the old Singer up....just tooo heavy. I use my TL-98 Juki everyday as it is super fast and since I sew for up to 12 hours a day....need something that is at least semi industrial. I would feel just awful if I hurt the machine by using it for so many hours.
Someday, I will have time to just quilt for me....then I can use whatever machine I feel like using that day.

Susie,

Keep your oil bottle handy to keep it oiled and you'll never hurt it. The are all steel inside, zero plastic. Also their bodies are aluminum, so they are not that heavy. Repeat that every time you pick it up. :D Seriously I have a couple Japanese ZZ machines that way a lot more than the 401s do. :(


Joe