Original Pre 1945 Singer Decals

[Constabulary]

This nothing technical but I just wanted to share this.

I recently have found sheets of original pre 1945 SINGER decals. I assume these are rub on decals.

I wonder if they still work?

How do I know that they are pre 1945?

Well - SINGER made sewing machines in Wittenberge, Germany (East Germany) from 1904 until June1945 when the Russians and disassembled the factory and took it as war reparation.

And on the backside of the decals sheets the maker of the decals is mentioned which was AUGUST JUETTNER from Saalfeld. Saalfeld also is a town in former East Germany which was known for their printing factories and JUETTNER also made decals for GDR (German Democratic Republic - or just East Germany) bicycle brands.

So there is no relation between Singer and Germany between 1945 and 1958 and due to the political situation between the 2 German countries I´m sure the decals were made before the factory in Wittenberge was disassembled in 1945.

And the kind of font they used for the makers stamp on the backside is typical for the 1st half of the 1900´s

[BDAZ]

Wow, Germany seems to be a treasure trove for you of sewing machine ephemeris!

Tschuess!

Bob

[SLudlow]

Definitely get some high resolution scans of these! Great find.

[Constabulary]

@ SLudow

I guess you mean for making reproduction decals, right?

There already is a guy who makes Singer decals. I bought some when I was restoring my Singer 111G156 but they look a bit different but maybe he offers different types.

I have a VERY (very) old Singer 17 floating around somewhere, maybe I sould bring it back to life, give it a new paint job and try one of the vinatge decals

[SLudlow]

I've seen those about here and there. The more people who have good scans and images of different decals from different periods the better.

I do have a bit of a love affair with restored Singers, give that 17 a go!

[Constabulary]

will do that for sure sooner or later. I´m not a brand fetishist but I meanwhile really like the vintage Singer machines.

I just figured out they are water transfer decals but sliding off the paper was not a good idea. Seems I have to let them dry before I can remove the paper but I don´t know for sure. I just tried one on my vintage sewing machine table.

Does someone have instructions for these vintage water transfer decals?

They do not have a slide or transfer film or what ever it is called these are just the letters applied to a paper background.

So How do I apply them correctly?

Soak them in water, apply them, let them dry, and then remove the paper? Or how does it work correctly?

[SARK9]

In the historical video "Birth of a Sewing Machine" I believe it briefly shows one of their ladies applying the factory decals... whether or not they are the same type may be problematic, but you can see her technique if you look REAL fast! One thing for certain is it *IS* the authentic factory method. The process starts at about 16:47 into the video.

-DC

http://ssa.nls.uk/film/1592

Edited February 14, 2014 by SARK9

[Constabulary]

Thanks for the hint SARK9!

I should have known since I posted the video a while ago.

Seems they let it dry for a while since the Lady has a body with applied decals to her left. But I wonder if the decals she applies are wet already.

I wish they had shown the complete process step by step. Unfortunalety the scenes are interrupted.

[Anne Bonnys Locker]

The guy making repro decals relies on being able to find something worth reproducing.

There are thousands of original sheets of decals in the museum in Kilbowie Scotland that I would love to scan

[Birdsview]

I have a Singer 29K3 patcher.  In doing some restoration work, it looks like the decals may have been silver instead of gold.

Does anyone know if this is correct?

Thanks

[shoepatcher]

Decals were made with both silver and gold leaf.  Then lacquered over them.

glenn