What’s Going On On The Porch…

You won’t believe what a bad antique mommy I’ve been!

This is what I’ve been working on, on the porch…

The backstory – A while ago (like last year), a good friend of my husbands gave us his great grandmother’s old treadle sewing machine, in the table. It had sat out for a while at his house and the veneer was peeling on the top. I gave it a quick look and said ‘Store it on the porch’. Yeah. Really. So then, a couple of days ago, I was looking at it (took the tarp off – thank goodness I used a tarp to protect it through the year) and realized the machine is in great shape and the table in very near to great shape once I took off the old veneer which was too badly lifted to redo.

I looked her up. She has a one letter prefix in her serial number and was manufactured in 1906 in Elizabethport, Elizabeth, New Jersey, as part of 10,000 machines (model number 27) destined for montreal. Makes perfect sense since the grandmother in question and our friend’s family come from Cornwall, Ontario.

Here are some progress photos…

I used the old favorites to clean the machine – baking soda, vinegar, toothbrush, elbow grease 🙂 Oh, and lots of rags to protect things that weren’t getting cleaned!

I used murphy’s oil soap and steel wool on the wood…I’m still in the process of getting it all cleaned down. My ultimate plan will be to oil it with a mixture of boiled linseed oil/turpentine/red wine vinegar. I think she will be gorgeous!

Wow. Ok, picture heavy post.

I shall soon be back with a more finished look, I hope! 🙂

Antique Treadle Sewing Machine

Very cool, and it works, but I have no idea who made it. The cabinet seems to be (possibly) White, as the handles match all of those I have seen in pictures of old white cabinets. However! The only maker I’ve read about which use a chain/pulley to support the machine when opening and closing the leaf is Raymond, another Canadian manufacurer. A mystery, to be sure.

It’s clearly marked ‘Albion’ but my searches have turned up exactly nothing, save a reference for a machine named the same, made in the UK, which looked completely different than this. Albion is in quotes, making me think it was the name rather than the manufacturer.

The light is electric and was added on, by the looks of it.

The cast iron treadle and legs are plain and seem to match up with some I’ve seen made by White. There is no name that I can find, anywhere!

The top is in beautiful shape 🙂

Another fabulous find, from the local flea market!

If anyone knows anything more about this, where it came from, who made it, Anything!, I’d love to hear from you – please leave a comment 🙂