Wednesday, December 08, 2021
"Vintage" Morse Fotomatic ZigZag Sewing Machine. 12.8.21
Yesterday we made the trek to Portland and tried out a Morse sewing machine that was offered on Craigslist. It works differently and it will take some time to learn sewing on it as well as the maintenance. However, it has a wonderful sound and feel, and I'm sure I'll enjoy learning to use it, very much.
Morse sewing machines were made from the late 1940s to the early 1960s, as far as I can determine from internet histories. The company owner, Philip Morse, imported them via his own company, from Japan. They removed the Japanese factory labeling and marketed the machines as American made. Eventually, the FTC got on him and the company jyst sort of vanished. As far as my readings, Morse sewing machines were made by Toyota, Brother, and Pine factories in Japan. There is no way, apparently, to tell who made this one.
The fraudulent labeling was because American thought at the time was that Japanese goods were inferior to American. However, they were very high quality, solid, innovative sewing machines. Some modern sewing enthusiasts are quite fond of their Morse sewing machines. This machibe must weigh 45 pounds, has an enameled steel body over a cast iron frame, and I bet it will outlast my new-ish digital Brother sewing machine. Also, that new digital machine is very picky about the thread, tension, and needle, and often skips or messes up stitches that the 1990s non-digital Kenmore has no problem with. I hope this Morse is just as good.
Even though I read that the Japanese labeling was removed from Morse sewing machines, mine does show country of origin.
The previous owner told me she recently oiled the machine, so I have a little tine to learn before it needs it again.
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I enjoyed this post, Daniel. Are your sewing and machine interests passed down in your family? They're part of my family history. Per the Quincy Journal in an article dated 20 Jul 1893, my great grandfather, Daniel H. Helser was regional manager for Singer sewing machines in Quincy. He had the misfortune of being in charge when one of his sales men was murdered in the village of Kingston in Beverly township SE of Quincy. The salesman had been caught up with a woman of ill repute there. Near as I could figure my grandfather was let go from Singer because the incident tarnished their name. Never talked about I always wondered why, and on finding the article and concluding great-grandfather had been scape-goated, I embarked on a study of vintage Singer machines and bought some memorabilia to honor and redeem my great-grandfather's reputation. Fast forward 100+ years, I married a Home Ec teacher who loves sewing on her digital Husqvarna-Viking, and my mother-in-law ran a sewing store and Viking dealership in Hoopeston for over 40 years before she retired at 88. Sewing and especially quilting are huge in my wife's family - her creations displayed in several rooms of our home. Those old machines sure are fascinating! And built like tanks! I often tease my wife and mom that the next evolutionary step of digital sewing machines will be one you can simply throw fabric at it and it will spit out a quilt. I haven't decided that I can tell the difference between a hand-made quilt and a digital one - but imagine if I looked close, it might be evident.
ReplyDeleteCorn Dawg, thanks for the interesting information. Truly fascinating!
DeleteI grew up in Quincy. In the SE part of town, German Town, the homes where my great grandparents lived. My paternal grandparents were born in that part of town (E. Payson Ave and E Jackson Street). My dad was born in a house on the North side of town, where his parents had moved in an attempt to have independence from their parents. The house where I grew up was walking distance from Electric Wheel factory, where my dad, his brothers, my mom, and great aunt worked.
Back to your great grandfather, that's very interesting history. While it wasn't amusing at all to him and your family, it does show the foibles that can be found in all families and all generations. It's a wonderful piece of history that humanizes your ancestors. To be honest, it wasn't the greatest place to be if someone was at all different. As a teenager, I worked as a page in the Quincy Public Library, a handsome building on lower Main street that now houses a museum. That was my escape, and when not shelving books I often sneaked into the stacks and read books about other places, and books from other times, and books that would not have been allowed for a 15 year old high school student. That, and military service, saved my life and launched me to other places.
As for a family sewing tradition, it skips a few generations, then yes. I have a quilt made by my great grandmother in that house on lower Payson Ave.
As for whether the new computerized sewing machines make things different from old vintage ones, yes I think they do. However (1) they are more picky, and jam up if everything isn't perfect (and I am ham handed.) (2) I think they won't last nearly as long. My new Brother machine does not have user serviceable parts, so if anything wears out, it's basically expensive disposable. Like most modern appliances. (3) my Brother machine can do a lot more fancy stitches, dozens of types Flowers, vines, and stitches that supposedly look hand sewn. The old ones are mostly straight stitch, zig zag, button hole, and maybe a blind stitch, and adjust the sizes of those. That's actually all I want or know what to do with. Maybe that will change. Also the old machines seem to handle denim better.
By the way, the other machine I looked at on Craigs list and ALMOST bought was a Viking.
Oh, my mother used to say that in Quincy, every corner had a tavern, a church, and / or a gas station. Not quite true of course but there is an element of truth. When I was in high school, people claimed (urban legend, maybe) that Quincy had the highest suicide rate in the state. My grandfather said people were just dying to leave. There were no major highways there - people called it "Forgotonia"- true, it's in wikipedia. I used to say there was a "Corn Curtain" - like the Iron curtain, it was isolated. My house couldn't get radio from Chicago or St. Louis. Im sure it's much better now!
DeleteBy the way, my grandfather, who was born in the late 1880s, had an old Singer sewing machine. Maybe he bought it from your grandfather :-)
One more thing, oops. That was W Payson Ave and W Jackson street, not far from the river. Not East. Living in NW has completely messed up my mental compass LOL.
ReplyDeleteI always meant to get down to Quincy when I lived in Princeton and later Granville ('99-'14), but never made it. My wife worked long hours as a high-school Home Ec teacher - and often I helped out with the nightly grocery shopping she did for her foods classes. Even now when we fly into OHare or take the Amtrak out of Edmonds to Chicago Union Station, we catch the train to Princeton which goes on to Quincy. The Illinois Zephyr or Carl Sandburg.
ReplyDeleteI looked up the genealogy records I have for Quincy roots ...
My great grandpa, Daniel H. Helser from 1889-1891 was age 35-37, and worked as Collector/City Manager for Singer Sewing Machine Co. (per 2 consecutive Quincy City Directories). The family lived at 224 N 12th, Quincy, IL.
My grandfather Fred Daniel Helser was born, March 21, 1892, in Quincy, IL (Per draft record and 1900 census).
The business address of Singer Sewing Machine Co., on July 20th, 1893 (per Quincy Daily Journal article, page 5, "A Quincy Man Shot Dead"), was 526 Maine St., Quincy, IL.
After the murder of the salesman and his apparent dismissal from Singer, the family moved back to Huntington, IN where Daniel H. and Caroline Bietler (sp?) met and married (in Hamilton, ON).
What's eye-brow raising to me about the newspaper article, the men who murdered the salesman dressed in blackface and apparently were protecting their interest in the woman of ill repute. Sounds like a wholesome place to raise a family! ;)
My wife still has a large family back there - and we bought an inexpensive 2nd home in Paxton to be able to visit/stay there 5+ months a year. Mostly for her mom who is 90. We've gone back and for to IL for each of our parents to be near and spend time / help during their final years. Though I'm a native of Auburn, WA, the IL roots become apparent in the way I was raised. The PNW - at least the south King communities where I spent 40 years, often seem solitary and isolationist to me - whereas mid-central ag communities seem more relational? Though I wouldn't call them tolerant nor accepting. I was always a "left coast liberal" to the natives there - didn't matter what I was really - that's just the label that was habitually applied. Likewise the "you don't know AG" put down ... didn't matter that I had worked in aerospace on the space station, shuttle, and various weapon system programs - I was an idiot because I wasn't one of them.
So I just wrote funny songs about them and performed them locally. I'm passive aggressive that way, I guess. ;) BTW - the new quilt your working on is very nice. I love how colorful it is and the pattern is eye catching.
Added some info below
DeleteAbsolutely fascinating history! And it shows what a small world we live in. The public library where I spent my high school week nights was at 3rd and Main - two blocks from your Singer Sewing Machine store. I'm not sure, but I think that was the Montgomery Ward store when I was growing up there. That neighborhood was sort of accursed, had some stories of murder and the like during my time there. While I was in high school there was "The Meter Maid Murderer". Also a guy chased a poor woman through the Carson Pirie Scoot store on that corner, and shot her. There were stories - I dont know if true - of violence and "disappearances" there. You can search to see what it looked like https://duckduckgo.com/?q=quincy+illinois+526+Main+Street&t=fpas&iax=images&ia=images
ReplyDeleteThe library building where I worked is now "The Gardner Museum". Im still fond of that building.
Your great grandpa was born 4 years after my grandfather, Lorenzo E Wachenheim. Who knows, they might have run into each other! He had a younger sister, Alice, who might have been born about 1892 but Im not sure about the dates.
With the name Helser, I wonder if he was a generation from the German migration. My grandfather's father and grandfather emigrated from Rhineland Palatinate in 1880 maybe? Again not sure of the dates, Cotton from the South was shipped out of New Orleans to Europe, and returned carrying German immigrants. That history is in Thomas Sowell's "Ethnic America". They migrated Northwards, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago (and Quincy).
Infamous serial killer Michael Swango graduated from high school in Quincy the same year I did, but I never knew him. You can check wildquincy.com for some things that happened there. I think every place is like that to some extent. Portland was really seedy once.
Similar to what you said about not being accepted, I thought about going to high school reunion, but vacillate on that. Here I am, a veteran, microbiology PhD and MD, and yet somehow I still feel like they wouldn't consider me good enough. Possibly, less so because of what I've done. This is my home now..
We descend from George Helser, who emigrated from Hamburg, Germany in 1752. I know next to nothing about our german heritage; family history was hush-hush after the Quincy debacle. Note however grandpa taught me an effective German folk-remedy for hayfever: mix ground prepared horse radish with honey and let meld for a few weeks in the fridge. When hayfever symptoms emerge, take a teaspoon of it and hold it in the roof of your mouth as long as you can stand it (it's mild). It clears the sinuses and coats the throat for better relief than anything I've ever purchased OTC. I don't know whether that is expressly "German" in origin. Grandpa also had a wonderful potato pancake recipe that included Schmidt beer. Grandpa would have liked a splash of beer on any dish. ;^)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a fun remedy for hay fever. I'll have to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your lineage was via older emigrations than my dad's ancestors. I wonder if he was mercenary, given the timing. The book that I read did discuss early German migrants to the US. I use the word "German" loosely, because there was no such country then, although there was a German ethnicity and Germanic dialects. The book I read on ethnicity describes a lot of mistreatment of those migrants - basically held as indentured servants with open ended terms of indenture. Of course, Pennsylvania wound up with an insular community of one group of Germans, too. We will have traditional family New Year's German potato pancakes, but no beer in those.