AboutIrene Schwall Expertise I have been a collector of antique sewing tools and thimbles for over 30 years. I am also a dealer in this field and sell on eBay under the name -- serengeti2.
Please note:
I am NOT, and I repeat NOT an expert on antique or vintage domestic household sewing machines used for everyday home sewing -- I can offer help when it comes to TOY or miniature collectible sewing machines ONLY.
Experience My expertise is in ANTIQUE sewing or needlework tools & thimbles, gold, silver, brass, ivory, bone etc. Modern thimbles are not necessarily my strong point but I may be able to help so don't hesitate to ask. I am also very well versed in the identification of Hallmarks on sewing collectibles.
Organizations Thimble Collectors International
SCTC - Southern California Thimble Club
SDTC - San Diego Thimble Club
OTS - Ohio Thimble Seekers
Priscilla Nutmeggers - CT/MA/NH
Dorset Thimble Society - UK
Rund um den Fingerhut - Germany
www.925/1000.com
Cyberthimble on Yahoo
Publications I belong to Thimble Collectors International & I chair the committee 'Publishing/Grants' and oversee the research and publication of booklets relating to sewing tools and thimbles.
I have also had articles published on needlework related topics.
Expert: Irene Schwall Date: 5/25/2007 Subject: Betsy Ross Machine
Question I realize you usually deal with miniatures, but I'm at my ends with this one. All of the searches that I have done lead me to the popular Betsy Ross Kid's sewing machine...what I have is a large floor model (in cabinet) Betsy Ross Model sewing machine. I believe it was manufactured by the National Sewing Co., but cannot find ANY info on anything else. In your wisdom, have you ran across anything for the large models?
Answer Hello Shawna,
No sorry I have not run into the Betsy Ross floor model. I can give you a bit of history about the company -- The Betsy Ross Sewing Machine Corp. was originally at 666 Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, Illinois. From research that I have, it appears that this company merged with Gibraltar Manufacturing Co. Inc., 403 Communipaw Ave., Jersey City 4, New Jersey. This company was last listed in the New Jersey Industrial Directory in 1965. They then moved to South Plainfield, New Jersey in 1966 and finally went out of business in 1971.
You might want to try to contact The International Sewing Machine Society at http://www.ismac.net -- they might be able to help you.
Sorry I could not answer the specifics of your questions.
Regards,
Irene
You might but I am going to send your query to someone I know that might be able to help us
