The Chicago World's Fair was held from May 1933 to November 1933 and May 1934 to October 1934. The fair celebrated Chicago's centennial and is also know as A Century of Progress International Exposition. The Singer Manufacturing Co. had a display at the fair in the Electrical Building displaying their sewing machines and electrical accessories. Singer sewing machines that were either purchased or ordered at the fair were adorned with special badges commerating the fair. There were two separate badges that commorate the Chicago World's Fair, one for 1933 and one for 1934.
Today I'm sharing with you my 1932 Singer 99 badged for the 1934 Chicago World's Fair. The machines serial number is AD443325 which dates it to January 6, 1932. I'm sure you're asking yourself why a 1934 Chicago World's Fair badged sewing machine dates as far back as 1932. It was common for previously manufactured machines to be badged for these special events. There are sewing machine enthusiasts that are keeping a registry of these specialty badged machines and at one of the 1934 badged machines dates as far back as 1929! These machines are considered fairly rare considering their low numbers and can be fairly valuable. Chicago World's Fair badged Featherweights have been sold for thousands of dollars! There are currently thirty 1934 Chicago World's Fair badge Featherweights on the registry but only three 1934 badged 99's (including mine) making them obviously more rare.
I discovered this machine in a Facebook Marketplace ad listed in southern Georgia. I quickly contacted the seller and expressed my interest. Next, I contacted my son who lives in northern Florida to try to convince him to travel 2+ hours (one way) to pick up the machine for me. It took some persuading but he agreed. When you find a machine like this it can be very stressful until the transaction is complete. It's a race to secure the machine before someone else does! In this particular case, I had contacted the seller and made arrangements but then someone else saw the ad and posted it on a Facebook sewing machine group for all to see! You never know what a seller might do if someone offers them more money for the machine. Trying to avoid competition I contacted the person who posted it on the Facebook group explaining that I was in process of making a deal on the machine and asked them to delete their post....and they graciously did! Whew! That was close! I quickly finalized the deal with the seller and arranged for my son to pick it up. Needless to say, I was relieved and could now relax given that the machine was in his possession. Since my son lives in Florida and I live in western PA, I now had to wait until the next time he came up to PA to get my hands on the machine! A few months later he and his wife came to visit and safely delivered the machine. Below are some pictures of the machine in the state that it was purchased.
The 99 came in a No. 49 cabinet that sorely needs to be refinished. The machine itself was dirty and had a little rust on some of the bright parts but was in overall good condition. I went through my normal clean up procedures and I was amazed at how well it turned out. The machine also came with a cool foot shaped Singer controller that I also restored.
Well, just this past weekend I found an appropriate bentwood case for it. Below are pictures in the bentwood case mounted in a No. 301 combination table. To my knowledge, both the bentwood case and No. 301 table are age appropriate. This machine sews a great stitch and surprisingly it's one of the quietest machines I own! I hope you enjoy the pictures.
A Truly Fantastic Treasure! You’ve done a Wonderful job bringing the set back together!
ReplyDeleteThanks J.C.! I was going to reference you in regards to your registry but I didn't know if that would be cool or not. Thank you for maintaining that registry. It's awesome!
DeleteNice machine and great table. I've never seen a table like that before. It's a treasure, too. How do you get the chrome parts so shiny and new looking again? Mine never turn out nearly as good as yours do.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I use several different polishing wheels and their corresponding polishing compounds to achieve the level of shine that I'm looking for.
DeleteI love how beautiful you have made it. The story of how you found it is awesome!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the story.
DeleteBeautiful! I found a 1929 model 99 in a 301 table locally. It was being sold by the son of the original owner. The mfg date was just a couple of months before the 1929 stock market crash.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Congrats on your 99 and 301 table!
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