1880s American Hand Sewing Machine

 

       Today I present to you a sewing machine that I just purchased yesterday and I'm really excited to add to my collection.  It's a Hand Sewing Machine made by the American Hand Sewing Machine Company.  AM.H.S.M.Co. manufactured these machines in Bridgeport, Connecticut while their primary office and showroom was located in New York.  Patents were granted to A.M. Barber under two patents (306713 & 306966) on October 21, 1884.  I've read that these machines were sometimes sold as "travel" sewing machines and were often referred to as "sewing shears" due to their resemblance to scissors.  It's believed that these machines were only manufactured and sold for a short period of time during the 1880s and 1890s.  

     This particular machine was found at a small antique store in New Alexandria, PA.  The machine is in excellent shape and almost looks like it was only used a few times.  It appears to be complete right down to the spool tension spring that so often tend to get lost on sewing machines.  The machine came in it's original wood box with a paper illustration of the machine on one side of the box and paper instructions adhered to the other side.  The machine also came with a separate one page set of directions with an illustration of the machine, a small screwdriver, and two additional curved needles.  Lastly, the machine did include it's original (very small) shuttle and one bobbin.  At first when I saw the bobbin I thought it was made of plastic and might be a replacement, but I checked with a fellow collector and their bobbin was exactly the same.  I'm still not sure what it's made out of but it appears to be original.  

     This machine doesn't really need a restoration.....just a good cleaning.  Although not really visible in the pictures, there is a good but of dust and dirt in places that I assume just came from sitting in it's wood box for 100+ years.  The box will need a little bit of work just to minimize loss of the paper illustration as there are a few spots where the paper has lifted off of the wood.  

     The below pictures were taken immediately after arriving home with the machine.  I'll probably take more after I clean the machine but to be honest, I'm not sure you'll be able to tell the difference between the before and after pictures!