Antique Domestic Sewing Machine | ||
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Posted 2 years ago
Ladyrunner70
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Looking for any information about this and the company. Also personal stories and memories. My mom just gave this to me and I’ve found limited information.
Thanks
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Thank you
Hi, Ladyrunner70. :-)
Beautiful.
So, let's see what we have:
A treadle-mounted vintage sewing machine
The name Domestic on the horizontal arm
A curvy machine bed plate (typically referred to as a fiddle base)
Top leaf tension assembly
Circular needle plate
Dual slide plates
A peculiar doodad that looks a bit like a tennis racket near the needle bar
I don't know what you've found so far, so please indulge me if I cover ground that you've already been over.
From the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society (ISMACS) website:
https://ismacs.net/domestic/thoughts_on_the_domestic_sewing_machine_company.html
Courtesy of David Best's sewmuse dot com website, some Domestic Sewing Machine Company tidbits:
*snip*
Domestic Sewing Machine Co. Est 1869 – 1924
Factory: Norwalk, Ohio 1869 – 1924
Offices: 96 Chambers Street, New York to Nov 1872.
Broadway, Cor 14th Street & Union Square From Nov 1872 - 1893+
16 & 18 Exchange Place, New York 1902
Also Newark, New Jersey 1897 - 1909.
Presidents: Orlando B. Potter to 1876. David Blake 1876 +
Gold Medal - Pan American Exposition, Buffalo, 1901
Formerly:
W. A. Mack & Co. 1864 - 1869
Aquired:
Grover & Baker Sewing Machine Co. 1875
Became:
New Domestic Sewing Machine Co. 1899 - 1901
Purchased by:
White Sewing Machine Co. 1925
Machines Made:
Domestic 1871 - 1877
New Domestic 1901
Domestic No. 1 1879, No’s 3 – 9 13, 14, 15 varied only in cabinet work 1891. No 1, 2 , 3, 4, 10, 11, 1891. no.4. 1887. no.7 1909. no. 8 1901
No’s 9, 10, 11 Manufacturing machines
Little Domestic AKA Domestic A 1887 - 1891
Reliable 1884 became Domestic B 1885 -1891
Domestic D 1910 -1911
Domestic Rotary 1930 1931
Production: 1874 - 22,700, 1875? - 21,452, 1876 - 23,587
*snip*
http://www.sewmuse.co.uk/american%20sewing%20machine%20manufacturers.htm
ISMACS has a manual for Domestic models 3 and 4, which yours looks a lot like (so yours is likely a vibrating shuttle, vintage circa 1875-1891):
https://ismacs.net/domestic/manuals/domestic-number-3-and-4-sewing-machine-manual.pdf
Per fiddlebase dot com:
*snip*
Domestic was one of the premier manufacturer of vibrating shuttle sewing machines from the 1860s through 1880s, at a time when Singer only manufactured reciprocating shuttle models for domestic use.
*snip*
https://www.fiddlebase.com/american-machines/domestic-sewing-machine-company/
The inactive needlebar dot org website has a Domestic slightly younger than yours (judging by the serial number, 1558824) with that 'tennis racket' mechanism:
http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php?title=File:Domestic1558824c.jpg
http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php/Domestic
Here's a Domestic at CW S&T that looks similar to yours (but not exactly the same):
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/73105-unknown-domestic-sewing-machine-model
The closest I can get to personal stories is that I've found out a couple of the vintage sewing machine enthusiasts I've linked here in this post are no longer with us.
I found out in March 2021 that the creator of fiddlebase dot com, Enrico, is gone. I'd emailed the webmaster with some patent listings, and was informed by his wife that he'd recently passed.
Even more recently while surfing the Internet, I stumbled upon information that suggests the person I regard as the premier vintage sewing machine enthusiast here at Collectors Weekly Show & Tell, Bernadette, passed in November 2018.
I'm sorry if I seem like a bit of a downer, but I just wanted to honor the memory of a couple of people I've never met, but who have helped me a lot through their dedication and knowledge. :-(
In case I'm forgetting anything, here is my collection of vintage sewing machine links:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/285089-vintage-sewing-machine-help
However, it's a lot to sift through, so if you have more questions, just ask them here in a comment.
Hi again, Ladyrunner70. :-)
I probably should have linked sewing machine expert Alex Askaroff's webpage about the Domestic Sewing Machine Company:
https://sewalot.com/domestic%20sewing%20machine.htm
I really love the way the center drawer pivots and has the holes to keep all the bobbins organized. I haven’t seen that before.
I have an antique Singer machine I posted on CW recently….it only took minor tweaking, cleaning and oiling to get it running like new.
It’s a joy to sew with it. I hope you use and enjoy yours also.
I was saddened to learn from Keramikos’ comment that some folks who have shared their knowledge of these antique machines have passed away. That makes me want to teach sewing on a treadle machine to every young person who enters my house!
Don't ask me how I've managed to miss this great piece on the Domestic Sewing Machine Company's flagship building in New York City thus far, but here it is now:
https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-lost-domestic-sewing-machine-bldg.html
It has a detailed description of the building, plus a story about a Domestic repo man who alleged that a customer, one Mrs. Dalton, assaulted him with a shovel in defense of her sewing machine.
Watchsearcher, Yeah, that little center drawer on a pivot point is great, isn't it?
I recall helping somebody some time in about the last year with a treadle machine that they wanted to restore, but the center drawer of the cabinet was detached.
The new owner was having trouble making sense of how it attached to the cabinet, because most vintage treadle cabinets have the style of center drawer that tips out and down as seen on old Singers.
I was able to find pictures online of an intact sibling, and the light came on for both of us. };-)
By all means, pass the knowledge torch by teaching young people about these fantastic old machines built to last a hundred years and more. <3
Whoops, I noticed I linked the wrong picture the other day. Here is the better picture of the take-up mechanism that resembles a tennis racket:
http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php?title=File:Domestic1558824b.jpg
That Mrs Dalton was not one to be messed with! She was probably right in the middle of some big sewing project….so scram!!
Watchsearcher, Yah, do not mess with Babs. };-)
All kidding aside, it isn't nice to whack somebody with a shovel, unless that somebody is trying to whack you with a shovel.
I do wonder about that incident. Here's coverage at the NYT, but you need an account to read more than a snippet:
https://www.nytimes.com/1888/03/06/archives/the-installment-plan-again.html
Perhaps Mrs. Dalton was a widow trying to make her living by sewing.
FYI, I checked, and Mrs. Dalton's address is now in the area occupied by the United Nations.
Ladyrunner70, To summarize, I think that you have a Domestic Model 3 (as opposed to the Domestic Model 4, based on what I see in the manual), probably made some time between 1876 and 1891
FYI, I initially misread the patent information on your slide plate. The newest patent is actually May 16, 1876.
The slide plate from the one close in age to yours (serial number 158824) at needlebar dot org isn't very readable:
http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php?title=File:Domestic1558824f.jpg
However, here is a very readable slide plate from a Domestic Model D:
http://needlebar.org/nbwiki/index.php?title=File:Domesticd2046046d.jpg
So, Mystery Solved? :-)
Ladyrunner70, Apparently, I can't stop. Not yet, anyway. };-)
I was noodling around in Google Patent, and found a dozen or so for which the Domestic Sewing Machine Company was the assignor.
Some of them don't pertain to your particular model, but at least a couple of them do:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US149566/
https://patents.google.com/patent/US367920/
That first one for the tension device wowed me, because so many sewing machine makers at some point used that style of 'leaf' tension assembly mounted on top of the horizontal arm.
The second one sure looks like the stacked drawer assembly on your cabinet, except that it shows three drawers instead of two.
Ladyrunner70, I neglected to mention why I think the treadle cabinet patent is important: it potentially pushes the age of your machine forward to at least 1883 (when the patent application was filed).
Judging from that manual at ISMACS, the only difference between the Domestic models 3 and 4 was the cabinet in which the sewing machine head was mounted.
For the model 3, the sewing machine head was mounted in a treadle cabinet with five drawers (one center drawer, and two banks of two drawers on either side).
For the model 4, the sewing machine head was mounted in a treadle cabinet with seven drawers (one center drawer, and two banks of three drawers on either side).
The manual also mentions the tucker marker, so if your machine came with one of those, it could potentially push the age of your machine forward to 1885, when the patent application for that attachment was filed:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US370869/
I can't tell whether any of your bobbins are of the variety covered by this patent (it does look like you have more than on variety):
https://patents.google.com/patent/US774188/
If they are, then those ones are of 1904 origin; however, it seems a bit iffy whether that would move the age of your machine forward. At least in the modern era, additional bobbins are something sewers buy all the time.