This Little Birdie is a Long Way From Home (15K80 )
 (click to enlarge) |
It’s happened twice now in the past year or so. A classic sewing machine made for the European market has somehow found its way to me in Ohio, 220 volt motor and all. I rarely know the history behind any machine that crosses my path, but these world travelers really spark my curiosity. |
| The first machine that I ran into like this I purchased form a local man. The machine was a 99K, and I noticed the odd plug right away. So, I asked the seller why the machine had a 220 volt motor. He said that he bought it on a trip to England as a “antique souvenir”. He planned on using it as a display piece. I eventually turned this particular machine into a hand crank. I had to modify the bobbin winder to work with the spoked hand wheel, which was a real pain.
The real prize that came with this machine was the Swiss zigzag attachment. These weren’t market in North America. It sold quickly. (The file on my back-up DVD won’t open, so no photos- sorry) |
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 click to enlarge The label from an Essex sewing machine shop that was on the machine |
The second “world traveler” machine, I just found recently. This is the "little birdie" that inspired the title and this article. The machine was in the sellers detached garage and it was a lovely sub-zero day in northern Ohio. It was really frigid out in the garage and dark too. However, I noticed the weird looking, white & gray motor on the back of the pretty 15K80 wasn’t an original Singer motor, and I was already planning on taking that ugly thing off the machine. The numbness settling into in my toes and fingers prevented me from inspecting the machine further. My guess is the seller felt he pulled a fast one on me. There is no clue as to how this 220 volt machine made its way to frigid northern Ohio. As you can see it cleaned up really well and seems very happy with it's new, 110 volt motor, and rewired light fixture. . |
I have a soft spot for birds, so I wanted to get my hands on this machine regardless of the motor situation. It has the prettiest, 'bird in flight" decals and lovely floral scroll work on the metal bits. I love the overall, well balanced, yet intricate design. I am aware that this decal pattern has been nick-named by some collectors with another name, but out of respect for the intelectual property of others, I am not repaeating it here.
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Speaking of birds…..I thought you might get a chuckle out of this: |
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More info on an INSTANT marked needle plate for any vintage machine!
Categories: Sewing Machine Reviews, This 'n That
Love the birds, how fun! Thanks for sharing. Is this recent and do you still train birds?
Beautiful machines!
The article is from Woman's World Magazine, 2001 (??). The birdie show biz had gotten to a point that it would require travel away from my young children to really make a go of it. I opted to forgo the travel and get a real job that would allow me to be with my family every day. I no longer do the bird shows, but I still have the cockatiel. I sure had fun doing all of it though!
Hahaha that's hilarious Jenny! I imagine that was quite fun!
Jenny, you totally rock. You have no idea how fast I'll be beating a path to the next estate sale where I know all the WWII brides live (and die) with sewing machines they brought to the US 70 years ago.
Christine (from Sewing Mamas)
I've seen two of the Singer 15's wiht the RAF decals in my searching over the past several years. I only purchased this one.
The other one had an original 110v Singer motor. I don't think this came over with a war bride. Even back then, they knew that the machine wouldn't operate correctly on our 110v 60Hz current, and I'm sure if they did bring one, they would have converted it LONG ago.
This one probably made it's way over in a contatiner of "antiques"- likely purchased at auction as part of a larger "lot" of goods.
I think there is a good chance your 'Little Birdie' originated in China, the style of bird decoration is typical of that source, the Chinese have a passion for naming mechanical utility items after birds or flowers, especially the Bluebird and the Rose.
I just searched and found another 'Little Birdie' on ebay it's a treadle machine with a lovely Art Deco style dating around 1940 so your machine might well have a war-bride connection after all.