Posted 3 years ago
Flippingfa…
(2 items)
here are the images of my grandmothers sewing table? Feels like something you'd sit at and do hand work? Her stuff has not been touched. My aunt had it all these years. My grandmother died at 52 in 1962 and I am 61, now looking into the draws of a woman I never knew.
Hi Flippingfablousfinds. :-)
Thank you for bring this here for us to enjoy.
I don't know if I've ever seen a Household Sewing Machine Company sewing machine before, let alone an intact installation of one in a cabinet with a complement of accessories.
Here is a bit of history about the Household Sewing Machine Company:
*snip*
Between 1873 to 1884, the Providence Tool Company of Providence, Rhode Island, manufactured “Household” brand sewing machines. In 1885, the company relocated to Dayton, Ohio and became the Household Sewing Machine Company. The company continued to manufacture sewing machines at its new location until going out of business in 1906.
Unlike other manufacturers which offered a variety of different machines, Household appears to have only manufactured a single model: a copy of the “Domestic” Mack-patent high arm.
Apart from these few facts, comparably little is known of the Household company. Having never introduced any original designs nor apparently winning any contracts with a retailer of significance (such as Sears Roebuck or Montgomery Ward), Household was in the sewing machine business for a little over thirty years and disappeared unnoticed.
Like many of the other smaller manufacturers, Household manufactured sewing machines for minor retailers-- known as ‘stenciled’ or ‘badged’ machines.
--From The Encyclopedia of Antique Sewing Machines, 3rd Edition
*snip*
https://www.geocities.ws/claw.geo/househld.html
The Mack patent:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US38592/en
Your sewing machine head looks like this one, except yours isn't a fiddlebase (which is just a cosmetic design element):
https://ismacs.net/household/1879.html
I can't quite tell what the cabinet looks like, other than it seems to be a variation on a parlor cabinet. Is it like this desk cabinet?:
https://ismacs.net/household/household_sewing_machine_desk_cabinet.html
Here is the patent for the cabinet mechanism:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US561087/en
Here is the patent for the Warren featherboning attachment:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US547099/en
Here is some explanation of how it's used from the vintage sewing machine enthusiasts at the victoriansweatshop forum:
https://www.victoriansweatshop.com/post/featherboning-attachment-7967190
Edwin J. Toof also had at least one patent, a ruffler attachment patent:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US629736/en
Now that I've gotten my second wind: could you pretty please make another post and show us the whole cabinet? I'd really like to see it.
You're allowed up to four pictures per post, so perhaps you could take a picture of the full cabinet closed and one picture of the full cabinet opened with the sewing machine head raised and one from each side (or maybe one from the back).
I'd link the two posts together in the comments section for you. :-)
Meanwhile, I did a bit more digging. I found quite a few examples of the E. J. Toof attachment set out there, although the contents seemed to vary. Here's one that's described as being of 1892 vintage:
https://www.bonanza.com/items/like/738176921/Toof-s-Attachments-for-Household-Sewing-Machine-1892-Nice-Set-In-Box
Here's an old CW post of a Domestic sewing machine (the Household sewing machine was based on a Domestic) with attachments that were made by E. J. Toof:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/158524-domestic-sewing-machine-attachments
In that post, the late great CW vintage sewing machine expert Bernadette opines on the various attachments and provides a link to a Domestic sewing machine manual for models 3 and 4 which shows attachments on page 29.
I'll link the manual directly here:
https://ismacs.net/domestic/manuals/domestic-number-3-and-4-sewing-machine-manual.pdf
Wow thank you so much for your research! I live near RI, but just over the line in CT. There is a label that says it was sold in New Haven, CT. I have the document. I got it on Facebook market place. It is NOT a desk type but a cabinet with a stunning wheel and pedal. It seems to have had one owner and the people who bought the house found it in the basement. I have to clean it a bit and put the cabinet together for shooting more photos. It has very cool steel ball rollers on the underside! There is a date of the patent pending and the number stamped inside. I will get to it as soon as I can! I did find one on ebay but it was a desk type.
Flippingfablousfinds, You're welcome. :-)
A few more tidbits of information about the Household Sewing Machine Company at sewmuse dot com:
*snip*
Household Sewing Machine Co. Est August 1882 – 1906
Factory: Wickenden Street, Providence, Rhode Island, New York.
Moved to: Dayton, Ohio.
Offices: 12 East 14th Street New York 1884, 1888
9 East 14th Street, New York 1892, 1896
President Oscar J. Rathbun 1883. Charles A Cooper
Formerly:
Providence Tool Co., Rhode Island, New York. 1858 1873 – 1882
Machine Made:
Household 1882 - 1900
Marguerie 1900 -1904
*snip*
http://www.sewmuse.co.uk/american%20sewing%20machine%20manufacturers.htm
FYI, I suspect that the name "Marguerie" is a typographical error, because it produced no search hits; however, "Marguerite" produced numerous hits.
I did find a parlor style cabinet with a similar lift mechanism and it has a fiddlebase top leaf tension Domestic No. 3 sewing machine head installed in it.
Sorry, the listing at eBay and I do try to stay away from using eBay links, because they have an unfortunate way of disappearing. I think I'm going to save copies of those pictures (text copied "as is"):
*snip*
Domestic Deluxe Parlor Cabinet Treadle Sewing Machine No. 3. CIRA 1889.
Domestic Sewing Machine Co. NY, NY
35 in. x 22 in. x 26.5 in.
Heavy
Beautifully crafted in almost perfect shape this Domestic sewing machine help transform household across the United States in its time. All mechanisms and parts operate perfectly and smoothly. The top of the line of models being presenting at the time.
More photos avaiable.
*snip*
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203839602551
Your Google Fu is excellent if you found a Household sewing machine installed in a desk cabinet, and if you have a document for your machine, that is solid gold.
I look forward to your future postings.
Flippingfablousfinds, Oh you're very welcome. :-)
I have a not altogether explicable fascination with vintage sewing machines and yours is a new make for me so I'm really enjoying it.
I see that the belt is still there, but a word of caution: the leather belt is usually the most fragile element of a vintage treadle sewing machine. Fortunately, replacements are readily available, even from Amazon and Walmart, but here are a couple of reputable vendors that specialize in vintage sewing machine parts:
https://www.vintagesingerparts.com/products/treadle-sewing-machine-leather-belt-3-16-x-72-part-p60013
https://singer-featherweight.com/products/belt-treadle-leather-for-antique-singer-machines
Here is some expert advice in fitting a treadle belt:
https://www.quiltingroomwithmel.com/2017/03/replacing-treadle-sewing-machine-belts.html
The cast iron sewing machine heads wear like, well, iron and sometimes all these one hundred plus year old sewing machines need is a little cleaning and lubrication.
Believe me, there is a ton of advice out there on restoring vintage sewing machines. This is just a sample:
http://ismacs.net/sewing_machine_articles/a_tricky_woodwork_restoration.html
https://tashamillergriffith.com/2015/11/22/satisfaction-restoring-a-treadle-cabinet/
http://www.treadleon.net/sewingmachineshop/cleaningmachines/cleaningmachines.html
As to your ancestor's Victorian table: would I like to see it? I'd love to see it. Everybody here would love to see it. :-)
Flippingfablousfinds, I figure I should give you this patent listing while I have it in my brain pan again temporarily:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US149566/
I don't know if you noticed, but the sewing machine head in that 1863 Mack/Domestic patent doesn't show a top leaf tension assembly and your machine obviously has one.
This April 14, 1874 leaf tension assembly patent is listed on the slide plates of some Domestic sewing machines, so I figure it probably applies.
Flippingfablousfinds, Wow. :-)
I was waiting for this to materialize, but ya snuck it on me in by recycling your Household sewing machine post.
That's beautiful and so clever the way it folds.
FYI, I did quite a bit of looking around and saw plenty of pot-bellied sewing cabinets, athough in a lot of them that underneath compartment tended to be made of fabric.
The one feature of yours that got me wondering was the mirror. Why would a sewing cabinet need a mirror?
I finally found something similar that might explain it:
*snip*
This American worktable was made of satinwood and served as a sewing table and writing desk as well as a vanity.
*snip*
http://www.victoriana.com/magazine/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/american-worktable.jpg
http://www.victoriana.com/the-history-of-the-dressing-table/
More pictures and details:
*snip*
Title: Work Table
Date: 1805–15
Geography: Made in New York, New York, United States
Culture: American
Medium: Satinwood, mahogany, tulip poplar
Dimensions: 29 3/8 x 25 1/4 in. (74.6 x 64.1 cm)
*snip*
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10013
So perhaps a multi-purpose table.
that is so interesting and so many uses! I did not know where or how to add the images. Love the potbelly description.
We have been very busy but hope to get the sewing machine pulled out, in daylight and cleaned up a bit.
How should I add those photos?
thank you so much!
Flippingfablousfinds, There's a limit of four pictures per post, so your best bet is to make more posts.
Because of the considerable amount of information in the comments about the Household sewing machine, you probably should create a new post for your grandmothers multipurpose cabinet table. I'll add the link for the other one I've found to that.
Then you can edit this one, remove the pictures of multi-purpose cabinet table, and re-add the ones of the sewing machine. Then edit the title, making it describe the sewing machine again and delete the comments about the multi-purpose cabinet, including this one.
As to any new pictures of the Household sewing machine and its unusual cabinet, make another post for it. The two can be linked to each other in their respective comments sections.