Posted 5 months ago
Brimbe2023
(1 item)
1920 Shapleigh Rotary Sewing Machine , Trying to sell ASAP brimberrymatt at gmail dotcom......PEORIA IL USA.................................................... UNSURE ABOUT REST FOR NOW Shapleigh Rotary Sewing Machine .......................................................... UNSURE ABOUT REST FOR NOW Shapleigh Rotary Sewing Machine .......................................................... UNSURE ABOUT REST FOR NOW Shapleigh Rotary Sewing Machine .......................................................... UNSURE ABOUT REST FOR NOW
Its a 1920s sewing machine trying to sell ASAP
Hi, Brimbe2023. :-)
Cool vintage sewing machine.
Just so you know, Collectors Weekly Show & Tell is not a venue for selling or buying anything.
That would be eBay, etc.
As long as you're here, I might as well give you a few tidbits about your VSM.
Your VSM is what's known as a badged sewing machine. That is, the name prominently displayed on the horizontal arm isn't that of the manufacturer, but rather that of the retailer that contracted with the manufacturer.
Possibly the best known example of a badge name in the USA would be the Sears Kenmore line of appliances. Over the years, Sears contracted with many different manufacturers to supply them with appliances that would be badged Kenmore.
I think the actual make/model of your VSM is National Rotary B:
https://web.archive.org/web/20151011030338/http://www.needlebar.org/main/national/rotary/06/index.html
It's true that yours doesn't have the front-mounted light, but I suspect that's either an optional accessory, or an evolutionary feature.
What yours does have that's similar to the National Rotary B seen at needlebar dot org: 1) a rectangular slide/bobbin plate 2) a large screw in the needlebar part of the body 3) a stitch length mechanism on the bed in front of the pillar.
I'm not certain how you arrived at the vintage of 1920, except maybe that, per needlebar dot org, the internal motor was patented October 5, 1920 by Charles H'Doubler
Here is a sibling with a serial number of "B327659," and certificate of warranty dated October 5 1935:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/144959026479
Here is a manual for a National Rotary B at scribd:
https://www.scribd.com/document/698599677/Eldredge-Improved-Rotary-B-Sewing-Machine-Instruction-Manual
Here's the 'money' shot: a drawing of the front of the sewing machine head on Page 6 Figure 6, and it even has the same decals as yours:
https://html.scribdassets.com/9jb5suciyobw636q/images/7-f1ba982727.jpg
Here's the National Rotary B at the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society (ISMACS):
https://ismacs.net/national/rotary_b.html
Here's a sibling at CW S&T (Bernadette opined that it was a National Rotary R40, but I suspect that's wrong):
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/151404-shapleigh-model-b
About the National Sewing Machine Company:
https://ismacs.net/national/from_eldredge_to_national_to_janome.html
As to the Shapleigh badge name, I don't see it in the list of known badge names for National at needlebar dot org:
https://web.archive.org/web/20230108021641/http://needlebar.org/main/makers/usa/national/index.html
However, that doesn't mean much. Badge names are legion.
About Shapleigh:
http://www.thckk.org/history/shapleigh-history.pdf
https://unseenstlouis.substack.com/p/not-just-another-abandoned-warehouse
Hi again, Brimbe2023. :-)
I thought I'd follow up with a few more tidbits (I ran short on time yesterday).
In taking another look at your machine, I see that it has a serial number at the base of the pillar: B418889.
I also see that there does appear to be a patent date inscribed on the slide plate near the circular hole, and it does look like 1920.
I haven't been able to run that specific patent to ground.
I did find a couple of other patents by Charles H'Doubler that have to do with internal sewing machine motors and/or rotary motors:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1442217/en
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1472588A/en
https://patents.google.com/patent/US1813290/en
Why I haven't been able to find the October 5, 1920 patent could be attributable to a couple of possible causes 1) the patent date on the slide plate is wrong 2) I'm not holding my mouth right. };-)
Seeing as Charles H'Doubler did have at least one motor patent filed or granted circa 1920, I'm going to say: close enough.
I think we can probably say that National made the Rotary B model at least as far back as circa 1920, and at least until circa 1935 (because of the one I found with a serial number of B327659 certificate of warranty dated October 5, 1935.
Incidentally, here is another link for that same warranted National Rotary B machine (because I don't trust eBay listings not to disappear):
https://alsquaredcostumes.com/historical-tailoring/damascus-grand/damascus-grand-rotary/
It also makes reference to the October 5, 1920 patent on a plate.
The serial number on yours is higher than the one with the certificate of warranty, so that probably means that the vintage of your VSM is circa 1935 or later.