I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but on occasion, my husband and I go to estate sales on the weekend. We like going because frequently you can get great prices on items. Kind of a morbid sort of thing, if you think about it, so I don't. We pick the estate sales from listings on the internet. We have found that there are three types of estate sales: 1) estate sales that are really yard/garage sales; 2) estate sales run by a company; and 3) estate sales run by the family of the estate. For the first type, I feel rather duped and have not found these sales to be particularly worthwhile. The second type are also not particularly worthwhile, because the company selling the items are trying to make money, not get rid of everything in the house. The estate sales run by family members tend to be the best. The people running the sale just want to sell everything. If they don't sell EVERYTHING, they have to do something with the left overs. These people are also usually, really nice and pleasant to talk/deal with.
But I digress. We went to several this weekend and I found some pretty cool stuff.
I got several items for my $1 goal from
the list -- a Mouse Trap game ($.50), a puzzle of the U.S. ($.50),
Madeline in London ($.25), and two baby toys ($1 each). The baby toys were not a super good price (for yard sales) but still were much less expensive than if purchased new.
But the thing I was most excited about was this:
This is a Franklin rotary sewing machine (apparently sold by Sears & Roebuck before the Kenmore brand). I don't know how old it is. I believe it was made by White (same manufacturer as my treadle machine). The scroll work is really intricate .. lots of Egyptian stuff, scarabs. I didn't get a good picture. I need a manual though to figure out how it works. If anyone out there has one or knows where I can get one, please point me in the right direction.
This is the cabinet the sewing machine sits in. It needs a little repair but is kind of nice. My YD needed a table/dresser in her bedroom and this fits perfectly. I thought she would hate it, but she loves it!
Here's a shot of the inside of the cabinet. There are about 20 different attachments for the sewing machine -- I have no idea what they are for. Maybe I'll take pictures of all of them and see if y'all can tell me what they do.
Oh yeah, the cabinet/sewing machine cost $30. I feel pretty good about it.
4 comments:
WOW! That machine is gorgeous just on the basis of the art alone! And the cabinet too! What a great deal - good for you! I hope you can get it up and running or find someone to help. Have you ever visited the site www.briansews.com ? He has restored some older machines to new beauty, as I recall, and has what may be some helpful videos. I think he told me he uses a type of car wax or detail product to shine them up, and I want to say it's available at Walmart, though I can't recall the name. Anyway, lucky you!
How cool! A new sewing machine and a new table/dresser in one. Very smart shopping.
Super fun! I got a featherweight at a thrift store dirt cheap and the thing was in mint condition. Sometimes you find bargains.
a beautiful machine~! and cabinet~!
looks like quite a bargain to me.
i enherited an old (?) rotary White (brand) from my great grandmother. it's quite basic in it's appearances. plain black and appears to be cast iron. it's also EXTREMELY heavy. seems to be in good condition but i've never attempted to sew with it as one of the cords looks like it needs replacing (unless i want to burn the house down).
it is in a a wooden cabinet that is simple but pretty.
there is a "use and care" manual/book tucked into the cabinet (edition 9-10-37) and it describes how to use a few of the extra bits . . . also an additional hemstitching and picoting attachment booklet . . .
i wonder if the two machines are somewhat related?
and after looking at the machine and book again i'm wondering if i should do some more research on it.
hhmmmm
:-)
libbyQ
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