I found a new/old treasure for $25.00! It is a beautifully hand painted treadle head.
Did you hear that??
Yes, I fell off the wagon of not buying any more vintage machines.
But as
Bonnie Hunter (bad influence LOL!) says -
"What good is a wagon if you can't fall off once in a while?" HA!
I discovered that the Federation machines were made by the Jones company. Apparently if there is a large screw head on the top of the arm between the two spool pins, it's a Jones C.S. machine.... and there is.
This is what is called a "badged machine" which means the manufacturer (Jones) puts a fancy label on the machine with the retailers name (CWS) on it.
There is no information on what this serial number means (records are not as good as Singer's).
According to the Sew Muse website:
Jones produced machines with badging for various retailers in this case for the Co-operative Wholesale Society. Dating to around 1925 it has beautiful floral decals and a scrolled C.W.S. Federation badge to the bed.
An interesting side note is that the Jones company merged with Brother in 1968.
There is a machine I found in the Beamish collection in the UK that looks exactly like mine, and dates it to the 1920's, so that's the date I'm going with.
This machine has a cylinder shuttle instead of a bobbin. It's like my Singer treadle, only the shuttles are not interchangeable since they are different sizes.
This old gal needs a lot of TLC, is covered in dirt and grime, and her paint is chipping off. But she is so happy to be in my herd where she will be loved and cleaned and treasured... and restored to full use.
Of course she will be named, and her name is "Frieda" Federation!
