- Free Westinghouse Sewing Machine Serial Numbers And Dates
- Free Westinghouse Sewing Machine Serial Numbers
A good rule of thumb for determining the desirability of an early sewing machine (pre-1880) is its serial number. A sewing machine by any maker with a serial number of 500 or less would be considered early, desirable and pretty rare. Low serial numbers by more obscure makers would be even better. On the plate of the machine, it has a sting of 5 or 6 numbers which is normally followed by some letters. The letters can be before or after the number. This is your model number on the sewing machine. Now that you know this number you can go to the site I have listed above and find the manual for the machine and other information about this.
Free Westinghouse Sewing Machine Serial Numbers And Dates
| Object Name | Machine, Sewing |
| Caption | Number 5 treadle sewing machine made by The Free Sewing Machine Company |
| Description | Number 5 treadle sewing machine made by The Free Sewing Machine Company. Patent dates listed on bobbin cover:1902, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910. Purchased c.1912 by Grover and Mabel LeMaitre Finney, grandparents of donor Charles Reiner. Mabel used the machine to make clothes, pillows, rag rugs and so forth. Her name was listed as a knitter and a sewer in the Hutchinson branch of the American Red Cross, McLeod County Chapter. She completed a suit of pajamas in October, 1917 for the war effort of World War I. Mabel was born June 17, 1888. She and Grover Finney were married in Hutchinson on December 25, 1909. Mabel died on August 17, 1972. Grover was born July 23, 1885 and died July 11, 1966. The machine is set in an oak cabinet with curved lines and rounded surfaces. It has an automatic lifting lid and three side drawers on each side. When lid is closed over the machine the side drawers automatically lock. The word 'Free' is on the head and designed into the treadle. The stand legs were described as being of French design, nicely curved to conform to the furniture. Includes original illustrated instruction book, guarantee envelope and metal box of numerous attachments. Drawers contain thread, bobbins, needles, needle wax, chalk, ruler, buttons, razor blade, beads & cord, early drapery hooks and early picture hangers. The St. John Sewing Machine Company, founded in 1870, was the predecessor of the Free Sewing Machine Company. In 1883 it was renamed the Royal Sewing Machine Company. After the company relocated to Rockford, Illinois it was renamed again in 1897 as The Free Sewing Machine Company after company president William C. Free. Most machines made by the Free company were for sale by mail-order companies. In the mid-1920s Free became associated with Westinghouse and machines were labeled Free-Westinghouse. In 1927 the Free company merged with New Home Sewing Machine Company. |
| Catalog Number | 2016-0179-001 |
| Search Terms | Sewing machines Free Sewing Machine Company, Rockford, Illinois |
| Subjects | Sewing machines |
| People | Finney, Grover Finney, Mabel LeMaitre |
Free Westinghouse Sewing Machine Serial Numbers
- I have a Free Westinghouse. I have the instruction book that came with the machine.It does not date the machine. It says it was made in Rockford Ill. The machine is brown in color and styed like the old singers. If you need instructions for a machine like mine, I would be happy to copy mine for you.
- If you have a machine manufactured by New Home or Free Westinghouse and want to know the year of manufacture, please send the serial number to the New Home Sewing Machine Co, PO Box 25901, Los Angeles 25, California. The serial number for your machine is the AL3614864 number.