Antique Minnesota Sewing Machine
#12
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 3
This Minnesota was made by Davis for Sears mail order catalog in 1903. Perhaps Great Grandmom was married then? A couple years later the models were renamed and this became Minnesota A which was the top of the line. The Davis neeedles are not made anymore but old stock and modern substitutes are available if any sewing is planned. I'm certain everyone here would encourage you to take the old sewing machine for a spin.
Jon
Jon
Kristin
#14
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Dallas area, Texas, USA
Posts: 3,050
Just want to say welcome! You've come to the right place for information about your machine. I don't know much about them at all, but enjoy reading what the knowledgeable people post. Among the few things I've picked up as a newbie when it comes to antique machines is don't force anything. If you get that needle plate off and can't get it back on, be sure to ask somebody. The reason so many of them are lacking the plate is that people living out in remote farms on the prairie or wherever got stuck and didn't have internet pals to help them figure things like that out. There's probably a simple trick to it. Also, don't use anything to clean the black surface, or especially the decals without first checking here. There is a lot of information available about how to do things and where to get parts, and there always seems to be some generous and patient soul who will share knowledge.
It's wonderful that you know exactly who the original owner of the machine is. Be sure to type out that information and leave it in a drawer of the machine for posterity. In fact, maybe decoupage it inside the drawer (though some might cringe at that idea). Include her full name, dates and location. Someday your heirs will be grateful that you did. This machine might have been common in its day, and it may not even be very unusual now, but what makes it special as a keepsake is the connection to the history of your family, and that is worth preserving. Also, if parts are available and rust is prevented, it will still sew a hundred years from now. My computerized machine is a marvel, but I'm not placing any bets that it will sew a stitch 20 years from now.
Thanks, Janey, for the workaround for the search box glitch.
It's wonderful that you know exactly who the original owner of the machine is. Be sure to type out that information and leave it in a drawer of the machine for posterity. In fact, maybe decoupage it inside the drawer (though some might cringe at that idea). Include her full name, dates and location. Someday your heirs will be grateful that you did. This machine might have been common in its day, and it may not even be very unusual now, but what makes it special as a keepsake is the connection to the history of your family, and that is worth preserving. Also, if parts are available and rust is prevented, it will still sew a hundred years from now. My computerized machine is a marvel, but I'm not placing any bets that it will sew a stitch 20 years from now.
Thanks, Janey, for the workaround for the search box glitch.
#16
I understand some thread is not very good to begin with, but sometimes I think that if that was the thread that used to make clothes and quilts that are still around today without popping seams, why wouldn't it be okay to use??
Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
#17
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Dallas area, Texas, USA
Posts: 3,050
I agree with Janey. I have a glass candy jar full of old wooden thread spools. Once in a great while if I don't have the right color except in that jar I have used those old threads for things like making a buttonhole in a kitchen towel (great for hanging) or to sew decorative stitches. I would be a little nervous about using it in seams, just because of all the words of caution that come up. A lot depends on how arid your climate might be. You can give thread a good yank and see whether it breaks easily. I haven't had problems with the machine while using it. If anything, it's less fuzzy than some modern cotton thread. I also have a little group of short spools of silk thread that my mother had for handmade buttonholes. I haven't found a use, but like the look of them. She would have been 100 years old this month, and learned every intricate detail of hand sewing in school as a child.
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