Mrs. SewNSew

I see them here and there advertised as toys. Were they really toys? I can't imagine a working machine with a needle as a toy. Were they useable machines, demos?

oldsewnsew

Toys. Folks weren't so concerned with safety and law suits. Maybe they were prepping em for sweat shop labor? German factories needed justification for tooling up also, I'll wager.

SteveH

Oh they were very serious about getting these in to the hands of kids. It was viewed as preparation for adulthood.

The early Singer #20 boxes are really funny to read...

Mrs. SewNSew

ok yeah I guess that makes sense, not having near so many restrictions on things a way back when.

delma_paulk

Some of the machines that people think are toys are actually Salesmen Samplers....salesmen took them around with them to show prospective buyers how well they were built and how well they sewed.

I have seen childrens machines with a tube/protector that covered the needle above the foot of the machine ( the sewing foot, not the pedal).

SteveH

Ya know, I have heard this said by LOTS of people, but in ALL of my research I have never seen ONE example of a "salesman's sample" in sewing machines. No literature, no Ad's, no mention of this concept from any source other than folks selling toys that way.

IF there is any truth to this concept, I would REALLY like to see any form of evidence.

here is an example of the annoyance...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111406878051

NOT a salesman's sample.

path49

It was a toy. I had a toy sewing machine as a kid. I don't remember getting stuck with the needle BUT, I'm sure that if I did, I'd have lived thru it & I wouldn't have done it again! There were a lot of "dangerous" toys....Easy Bake Ovens got hot enough to bake a cake! Personally, I think that we don't give kids enough credit for intelligence nowadays...

oldsewnsew

Be like going to the car lot and test driving a pedal car to convince you to buy the real thing. However, some of the branded miniatures like Brother, Necchi, I think Bernina, may have used them to get folks to look at the real deal. But I dunno 4 sure.

SteveH

Again... hehe Lot's of rumors, lots of repeated "I was told", but no evidence...

Mizkaki

I remember being told that the toy Necchis were given to the kids when the parents were buying the 'real' machine. Great PR!
I have never seen a toy that was such great quality that it would make me want to buy a 'real' one. In fact the toys are such terrible sewers that they have turned many a child off from ever wanting anything to do with sewing.