Posted 5 years ago
Ras180
(1 item)
So I got this sewing machine, it seems unused for the most part; love the color so much! However, I cannot seem to find much in the way of information on this brand and was hoping someone might know.
NECCHI ALCO | ||
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Keramikos, thanks for the all that awesome info.. I’ll definitely be trying to do some more research. Think I’m gonna give it a go; hopefully it works well.
My mom also owned a Necchi machine; hers was a cabinet model. She made all our clothes with it from the time she got in late 1940s or early 1950s.
Decades later, she bought a portable Singer model but didn’t like it. She always went back to the Necchi. She owned it for 67 years.
The sewing machine and cabinet were in perfect condition when it was donated to Salvation Army after her death.
That machine was built to last!
Whoever bought it got a good sewing machine and a good looking piece of furniture!
Backfilling again.
There is some pretty tangled history on Necchi-Alco Allyn International sewing machines.
About Necchi:
https://www.quiltingroomwithmel.com/p/necchi-sewing-machines.html
More about Jolson:
https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,889509,00.html
About Necchi-Alco Allyn International:
*snip*
3/26/2013 4:32 AM
Anonymous said...
I am a former employee of Allyn International. We were distributors of Necchi for North America from 1966 until 2011.
The Alco name was created by the owner of Allyn Int. to market machines made in Asia and distributed by Allyn.
*snip*
https://sewing-machines.blogspot.com/2012/08/necchi-or-alco.html
So, which Japanese company made this particular Necchi-Alco Allyn International sewing machine?
Dunno for sure, but to my eyes, it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Riccar RZ-208B. Note the forward-facing slide plate/needle plate, the placement of the "Uni Dial," the "Stitch Length Regulating Dial/Reverse Sewing Push button," and the spool pin(s) on the back side (see page 1 of this Riccar RZ208B manual for a labeled picture of the various parts):
https://guidessimo.com/document/348413/riccar-rz-208b-sewing-machine-22.html
A Riccar RZ208B:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/riccar-industrial-strength-sewing-417494935
About Riccar:
https://ismacs.net/riccar/the_riccar_story_a_history.html
I'm augmenting this, as I don't think I was entirely clear in my previous comment.
Necchi-Alco sewing machines, despite the somewhat misleading name, were made in Asia.
I found more than a couple of lawsuits involving Necchi, but they all seem to have been concerned with the Nelco brand which also involved Elna and sewing machines made in Asia.
Necchi-Alco seems to have contracted with more than one sewing machine maker, and both Sanshin and Riccar got name-checked here:
https://www.facebook.com/DrDavesSewingMachines/posts/the-sticker-on-this-vintage-machine-says-necchi-alco-but-its-not-a-vintage-itali/3974609925896948/
It's true that the Riccar RZ208B isn't an identical twin of the Necchi-Alco sewing machine in this post. It's not the same color, and the overall sewing machine head shape is more rounded.
I suspect that those differences may be due either to changes made for the customer (Necchi-Alco), or an evolution over time. In general, sewing machine heads became more angular starting in the 1960s.
However, in addition to the other similarities I noted previously, there is one more: the curious interface of the slide plate and needle plate.
Instead of the two components having simple, straight edges where they meet, they're 'keyed' to each other. There's a good picture of the slide plate and needle plate in this Worthpoint listing, as well as a picture of the back side where the twin spool pins are located:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/riccar-rz-208b-zig-zag-sewing-machine-1947213473
It seems like more than a coinky dink to me.