Vintage

[nevadabob]

    http://reno.craigslist.org/atd/5526819332.html

No dog in this hunt but thought I'd share...maybe someone could elaborate its history.

[shoepatcher]

Navadabob,

That is a model 35-1  hand held sewing machine for rugs by Singer.  Nice but not worth $875.00 by any means. Hope that helps.

glenn

[cdthayer]

...to go a little further on what Glenn said.....

It looks to me like it’s a Singer 35-2 because it has thread tension assemblies.  The 35-1 had tension applied to the wooden thread spools, a more primitive arrangement that didn’t last beyond the initial model.  

These sewing machines weren’t actually held by hand, but hung vertically on the edges of two carpet sheets supported by clips on an overhead cable.  The hand crank allowed operation of the machine from one side of the carpet “curtain”, and the hand wheel allowed operation from the opposite side of the curtain.  A leather belt is missing on that machine that would connect the hand wheel to the pulley at the opposite end.  The sewing process had to constantly be interrupted to remove a support clip, advance the machine past where the clip attached, and then re-clip the carpet for support once the machine had sewn past the clip.

As far as I know, these machines were used mostly in a warehouse setting where carpet sections were sewn together to provide carpets that were larger than could be woven on the machines of the time.

They’re an interesting machine, but I don’t know of any in use these days.  I have a 35-1 hanging on my wall for decoration, but I don’t have the rigging to hang the carpet sections on.

CD in Oklahoma

 

Edited May 4, 2016 by cdthayer

[nevadabob]

Thanks guys for the comments.

Edited May 5, 2016 by nevadabob