SteveH

I saw these on the auction site and since they had a buy it now that I thought was reasonable, I went for it.

I have seen a wooden bobbins like these before but I had no idea that they were this old and were available pre-wound with thread. What an interesting marketing idea!

When they arrive I will be trying them out ON my Singer New Family (Mina, the two foot treadle)

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J Miller

Those are neat. I wonder if they are refillable and if so how long they'd last in comparison to the metal bobbins?

Will those fit a Singer 127? That's the only Singer I have that uses long bobbins.

Joe

tessagin

Very cool!!

xxxxxxxxxx

who would ever guess there was pre wound bobbins back then. The 5D 6D must be thread size ?

You better start making glass covered display cases.

jlhmnj

I believe the size is "50" & "60" Cotton. Does look like 5D & 6D.
40-60 cotton uses size 16 needle
60-80 cotton uses size 14 needle

Jon

Rodney

Very cool! I'd like to see an empty one. I'm wondering how much thread they hold compared to a metal bobbin and how they were made.
Rodney

manicmike

That's extremely cool Steve! If you're lucky it won't be cotton but silk.
You'll certainly find out as soon as you start unravelling (it takes almost no pressure to break 100+ year old cotton). If you want to be certain, burn a little: Burning cotton smells like you're ironing your t-shirt, silk smells like hair.
They don't look black: Is this just the photograph or have they faded to a greeny brown?
Regardless, it's a rare find, and I for one am keen to know more.
The Merrick Thread Co. seem to have been decades ahead of their time. I just Googled them and there's a few interesting hits.

GEMRM

Another interesting find - where/how do you find them?

Stitchnripper

Those are cool. Who would have thought!!

ArchaicArcane

I love the pre-wounds I work with today - the tension is more consistent and there's usually more on them than something I wind myself. I bet this would be true of those ones as well. Certainly the wind looks as good or better than the best adjusted VS machine I've ever seen.