This is the little gem I picked up yesterday ---I almost missed this one – do you see how it is buried beneath the big foofy feather-edge pillows?? Next to a HUGE Iron skillet??
When I see things like this it gets my heart racing ----it’s like game show “The Price Is Right” -- and the “What’s Behind Door #3?!” And the guy ends up giving away something decent for the allure of what COULD be behind that door, and it ends up being a donkey. LOL!
Was this going to be a Donkey??
Not a donkey! A “Household”, a badge I had never seen before. Copper and greenish-grey two-tone!
There is a bit of a bad spot right by her fabric "darn/silk/norm" dial --like someone put something hot against it at some point. But for being 60 years old, she looks pretty good otherwise!
And as always…sewing machine oil is a great conditioner to rub on…..wipe off, especially on decals because it keeps the surface from becoming dry and brittle.
This machine was made in Japan in the 1950s. I LOVE how it reminds me of the cars of that era! She is a simple straight-stitch-only machine, my favorite of all machines.
And I want to confess something here – as much as I love my featherweights for traveling, I much prefer to stitch on a full sized straight stitch machine – and these Japanese imports can outsew a featherweight hands down in speed and in motor power. Featherweights are great, cute, and they do the job for travel, but there is a reason that they stay in their cases when I am at home. I need a heavy duty machine!
Oh, and the price on this one? $25.00.
Top view! Love the indentation for the spool to sit recessed!
Test block! Doesn’t she look sleek?? I love the body style!
Somewhere, some how –someone has etched this number on her bed in TWO places GA259366649 A serial number? I couldn’t find it under her bed anywhere…..so was this a machine from a school or something? I am assuming the GA means Georgia, where I picked it up.
Great stitches top and bottom!
She sure cleaned up pretty! And her name?
That was easy – PENNY of course!
I’m home for the next 9 days! There will be a whole lot of piecing going on in the basement as I continue to work on the projects that will fill the pages of my next book! My manuscript needs to be done by October, and there are lots of busy trips coming up, so I need to concentrate pretty hard and heavy over the next several months to get that ready.
Our next Quilt Cam will happen Sunday afternoon at 2pm Eastern! I need just a couple of days free to settle back into life here and tackle some important projects behind-the-scenes after being gone a week. I look forward to spending some piecing time with you then!
33 comments:
She's a BEAUT! What an awesome find; you lucky gal! :)
Bonnie-- While reading this post, I thought of all the cool vintage machines you own and how it must be hard to decide which one you will use when you sew. Then I thought how fun it would be if you hosted an event where people would all be sewing on your machines! What is your count at?
Oh my.... Penny is gorgeous and I love her name. Love, Penny
Such an interesting machine! Love the cutout for the thread. I wonder if that number is a driver's license number or social security number? Our local police used to encourage us to engrave our drivers license number on our valuables.
I was thinking the same thing as Betsy about the number. I remember my dad doing that... Love this machine - straight stitch only is the way to go. good luck with gettin stuff done!
The engraving is probably a social security number, the machine I inherited from my grandmother has her social security scratched into the machine. Before we became so concerned about identity theft it was common practice to identify "expensive" or important household equipment that way, made it easier to identify your stuff when it was sent out for repair.
How sleek!
Love it.....what a great find! I can see this Golden Gal is a Cadillac in your eyes, she found the best home. :-)
Oh Penny is a beauty! I think I like old sewing machines as much as I like old cars! Great find!
Or "Golden Guy?".....in fact since you found it so close to the Academy Awards when this week is all about "Gold"...maybe you should name this one "Oscar"....lol! (of course when you live in So. Calif. this whole week is about the Oscars/Academy Awards) Enjoy!!!
She is a beauty! Wish I could find the bargins that you find.
Another pretty machine. It's great to see so many machines that you have been able to uncover. I would love to have a bit more info on how you clean and maintain your machines, unless there is something already posted on your site. I so have a couple of my own and just want to be sure that I keep them in tip-top shape! Thanks.
I have a couple of old machines that I might part with...how do you know what they are really worth when people will get rid of them so cheaply?
The number scratched on the machine could be a driver's license number. My Dad did that to his tools, etc. so if they were ever stolen they could be identified. That may be what the original owner of Penny had in mind.
Can't believe your luck at finding machines!
I noticed your pressure knob (on the top left end) is very high. Is that where it needs to be for cotton weight fabric on this machine? I don't think we have them on the new machines but they are common on the older ones.
A number of yrs. ago (30 plus) our police dept. assigned specific ID numbers to each family which we needed to permanently apply/scratch to important items in the house and then if there was a burglary and items were recovered, the police could identify the owner.
Enjoy all your beautiful machines....and keep on quilting
I LOVE this machine! That stitch gauge in a glossy arc with a red indicator pin reminds me of all those sci-fi movies of the 50's, and the gauges reading the rocket ships fuel, as they head into space! LOL So atomic-age! What a find! Enjoy your basement time, Bonnie.....I know you'll get so much accomplished! :o)
Gorgeous. Love Penny as we have disowned the Penny in Canada. As for the letters and numbers scratched on it, back years ago we were told to put our sin numbers on all our items in case of theft. Social Insurance Number. You still see items today with this on them. This is a guess of course and the GA could be someones Initials. If I was to see this in Canada that is what I would think. Penny is great and may you have many a fine time sewing with her!
Shari
Opps, I see lots of people have posted the same thing about the scratch. Well there you have it, all are close to the same thing and reason. Enjoy Penny!
Beautiful! Wish our flea markets had such great finds...especially at those prices! It used to be common to etch or engrave your valuables with your state's two letter abbreviation followed by your drivers license number. Ahhh...the good old days when we didn't worry about identity theft. We didn't even know what that meant! Thanks for sharing all that you do....so inspiring! Get well soon.
If your manuscript has to be in then...then what does that translate to in terms of when the book gets published and is for sale for all of us anxious buyers.. :) I was just curious on how the whole process works. Your new machine is a cutie and Penny is a perfect name. I just retired my Bernina. I have hated the thing ever since I found an old Singer 717 and started sewing on it. The Bernina is working fine for filling bobbins...What a price to pay for a machine that is just filling bobbins!?!?!
Penny is lovely. You have sharp eyes.
Penny is wonderful! I love the story and thrill of the hunt. Thanks so much for sharing. I have a theory on the burn -- my Nana use to smoke Bellair ciggies when she sewed. When she got to the edge of a garment, she would set her ciggy down on the bed of the machine while she finished up the garment!! Perhaps someone tuning in works at the GA department of motor vehicles and could look up the number for you? Good that you are setting priorities and taking time to sew on the quilts for your next book. Take your time, I'm still trying to make all the other ones and catch up on the mysteries!! I told Cindy during our Sew Day, "just make them all" AND so we are!!
Reading about all your great old machines makes me wish I had kept my grandmother's old New Home machine when I sold mom's house. I know now the broken check spring in the tension is an easy fix, yet I left the machine with the house. Maybe I could beg the buyer to let me have it back??? Somehow I doubt if he sews. On the other hand maybe it's better I don't even let the collecting bug get a start.
Absolutely stunning...Gorgeous machine...You lucky duck what a great find.
I'm thinking the numbers are probably for tracking in case it's stolen. Here in Canada, people engrave stuff into their valuables in case they're stolen and attempted to be pawned off. If there are numbers, then the pawn broker has to legally call the police and notify them they have had stolen goods brought into their store. Then the number can be traced back to the owner and they get their stuff back
What a gorgeous machine! I've never seen one in those colors. And yes, quite sleek and glamorous. LOL
If those numbers ARE a social security number (which seems likely) it is definitely a Georgia number, so that seems logical. Very pretty machine. I think I should open up the case that I have similar to that ... a machine that my Mom purchased and that I used during my teenage years ... 50 years ago!
Oh what a beauty! Love the colors so unique. You are one lucky penny yourself finding all these great vintage machines. The only ones I seem to find are very worn or missing all kinds of part and still their price is crazy for such a machine in poor shape. Enjoy your basement time and we will see you on Sunday. I have a sewing weekend planned myself .
Penny is a great name! The more I sew on newer machines, the more I appreciate my 1950's Japanese sewing machine. She's so darn fast and not finicky at all!
Beautiful machine - lovely color. I own a similar heavy duty pewter gray machine that my mom bought for me when I started (trying) to use her OLD treadle machine when I was 13. Penny is so pretty! OH, & I'm retired & 71 now.
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