Article Five

Raymond & Winifred Eng and their “Texas Centennial Exhibition 1836-1936 Featherweight” and the “Cream of Wheat” Connection

The story before, of, and after this beauty will always be our favorite. I will tell it to you in three parts.

Part 1. The Acquisition

I had been a regular reader and a once and awhile contributor to Leo Kujat’s and JJ Coble’s outstanding website www.TheFeatherweight221Factory.com. They had gone to considerable efforts to research, inform, and picture many of the variations of the Singer 221 and thus building a collector network. Leo the rejuvenator & JJ the Singer Historian and writer – what a pair to get to know!  Around Christmas of 2011 a couple from Wisconsin had contacted Leo Kujat about purchasing their “Texas Centennial 1836-1936” Featherweight”. Leo told them he knew of a fellow collector that might be interested. He sent me their contact info and said they had a price in mind and were not open to “wiggle-room”!

I immediately sent a request for more information. Long story shortened somewhat, we came to an agreement (I paid their price and made no attempt to negotiate!). I was only hesitant regarding the shipping and safe keeping. My first thoughts were of Billie Jo, my sister, who taught in Wisconsin. I contacted her about a hand-to-hand exchange with the sellers and ask that she hold it for me. As misfortune would have it, our mother, Ada, passed away in the interim just after payment and arrangements were made. We would soon be getting together for a much more somber occasion. Pam and I would be driving from Wyoming; Billie Jo & Dan her husband, from Oshkosh, WI to attend a memorial service for Mom. Along their way she arranged to meet the sellers at a restaurant near St. Paul and handover this gem. They met and made the exchange -- I imagine similar to drug deal? After the memorial service and family gathering time I would follow Billie Jo and Dan to their motel to view for the first time the “Texas” machine.

First impression: the machine bed and the upper horizontal arm were covered in whitish snowflake-like mildew spots 1⁄4” to 1⁄2” in diameter and years of collected dust. The sellers had told me that it had been in storage in their garage for years since Grandpa Raymond Eng of Chicago had passed. They had not touched it and wanted it to be put in the hands of someone who would appreciate it. Without thinking I plugged it in and pressed the foot pedal. The motor started to hum and took off, the original leather/ cord belt flew into pieces as dry-rot and ancient dust filled the room. I unplugged and settled myself. The machine, the case, the tray, attachments, manual, etc all appeared correct for the vintage, I put it all back together and promised myself not to look at it again until I returned home to Wyoming.

When home, I contacted Leo, the reigning 221 restoration guru & expert and an engineer by trade, about the mildew. He suggested a product available at auto-parts stores call “TR3” as the paint on a Featherweight was nothing more than Ford/GM Dupont japan-black automotive paint for which TR3 was designed as a cleaner and polishing substance. He said, “Follow the instructions and it will work as the paint is a porous substance and TR3 will soak in and clean deep down! Do a small section at a time!”  Once again Leo came through with experience and expertise. We’re forever grateful! The true beauty of the story however would prove to be its history.

Part 2. The Chinese Tailor

The son of a Chinese Immigrant, Raymond Eng was born in 1880 in San Francisco – 70 years to the day before I was. He married Winifred Ho Gum Lan in Vancouver, BC and had a daughter, Winifred, born in 1923. Raymond and his small family then moved to Chicago where their son Richard was born in 1927.  For a time Raymond is found working as a porter at Ding Hoe Chop Suey restaurant in Chicago. This portion of the story remains unclear. Raymond purchased a new Singer 221 Featherweight with the “Texas Centennial 1836-1936 Exposition” specialty badge. Whether he purchased it in Dallas at the Exposition or at a Singer store in his hometown of Chicago is unclear. His choice of a portable sewing machine was necessary given his new job as tailor for Marshall Field’s Department Store in Chicago. Its portability enabled him to travel to customers’ homes to make alterations.

This special Featherweight that Raymond purchased in 1936 was passed on to his daughter, Winifred, upon Raymond’s death in April 1965 and then to her daughter, Irene, and stored for years in her garage (with Marshall Field’s shirt labels in the tray.) It remained in her garage until our purchase in 2011/2012.

Part 3. The 10-gallon hat & “Cream of Wheat”

As I’d mentioned in a previous article we like to tell a full story around our machines to give them a little life. Our Texas Featherweight gave us many, many opportunities.

When I think of Texas there’s nothing more Texan than a 10-gallon hat. While researching the “Texas Centennial Exposition” of 1936 I found one that had been sold at the Fair! That first one I found resides in a place of honor in the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, Texas. My next search found pictures of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team wearing the Centennial 10-gallon hats. Additionally, I found it as part of a full-page Coca-Cola AD from the Saturday Evening Post featuring the “Centennial” hat. The hat was off-white in color with a red Star of Texas on the sides surrounded by the words “Texas Centennial 1936”. I knew I had to find one now! Anybody seeing our machines for the first time would know from across the room, where our “Texas Centennial Exposition 1836-1936” Featherweight was!

Awhile later I found one available from a seller in Minneapolis in 2015. As luck would have it (and again, I always ask for history), the seller was the family of the original purchaser! This next part of the story is still hard for me to believe! But as divine providence would have it... here it is:

The family of Daniel Willard Amidon (1915-2000) was parting with a cherished heirloom. He was the son of Thomson Amidon the developer of “Cream of Wheat” in 1893. Daniel had married Phyllis Corrine Holen (1917-2015) in 1936. He and his wife took an extended honeymoon traveling around the US. They traveled first to Dallas, Texas before heading to New Orleans and then to Florida. One of the many souvenirs they brought home from their honeymoon was, yes, a Texas 10-Gallon hat commemorating the “Texas Centennial” of 1936! I know my mother Ada, played a part in this finding. At this point the story gets even better!

Once again, I did my genealogical research using the story the Amidon family shared with me.  Daniel’s father, Thomson, the head grain miller at the Diamond Flour Mill in Grand Forks, ND had sent 360 boxes along with instructions to the wheat flour brokers in New York City. Within three hours of receiving the shipment of this “farina” or the cream of the wheat kernel, the brokers sent a message to the Diamond Mill: “Forget sending flour, send a boxcar load of that “Cream of Wheat!” The porridge made its debut at the Columbia Expedition of 1893 in Chicago. The Amidon’s and the Diamond Flour Mill’s owners all moved to Minneapolis and started producing a staple of the American diet, becoming very wealthy, and making more than enough money to afford a 10-gallon hat! (a wedding present from dad & mom? I’ll bet!)

Did I say it all began in Grand Forks, my hometown? It turns out that “Tom” Amidon the head miller, and the Mill’s owners Emery Mapes, George Bull, and George Clifford all lived within blocks of the home I grew up in. Three of their homes were on my paper route (years later of course). I love this Hat! It’s as important to me as the Featherweight -- well almost!

Emery Mapes a marketing genius would later hire some of the most important artists of the day to paint a variety of advertisements that would be placed in the Ladies Home Journal magazine promoting their “Hot Breakfast Cereal” The company promoted a healthy image and a created health club for children called H.B.C. Club. They also created a 156 page cookbook. Available for two box tops and $.10 was a piece of uncut cotton with a pattern of a Rastus Doll, a chef used in their commercials and pictured on their “Cream of Wheat” cereal boxes.

I know, I’ve veered from the focus of this article, our “Texas Centennial Featherweight.” Wouldn’t you?

Now you’ve heard a complete story. Our machine has a life, a history and a companion hat!

	Texas Centennial Featherweight

Cream of Wheat Ad with art by N. C. Wyeth	Pam and J.C.'s Texas Centennial Collection Displayed at Featherweight Frenzy in Lincoln, NE

Singer at the Century of Progress – Chicago World’s Fair 1933 & 1934

Much has been written by people far more knowledgeable than us (ahh hum, read; “Nova”) about Singer’s presence at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1933 & 1934.  We can, however, share with you a few of the pieces we’ve collected over time related to Singer and the Fair and hope it opens your eyes to items to watch for.

First a few facts about the two years of the Fair:

1933 Chicago Century of Progress International Exposition

• Open May 27, 1933 – November 12, 1933 with 22,565,849 paid admissions
• 15 million people unemployed nationally – roughly 25% of the US population
• Al Capone’s soup kitchen fed hundreds if not thousands daily in Chicago

1934 Chicago Century of Progress International Exposition

• Open May 26, 1934 – October 31, 1934 with 16,486,377 paid admissions
• FDR’s New Deal implemented and unemployment for the year now was 21.7%

Total Visitors (2 years, 1933 – 1934)  48,769,227

Total Days (2 years, 1933 – 1934) 333 days

As noted above, the first year of the Fair in 1933 closed on November 12^th, just 29 days after the first group of Singer Featherweights could have been made or hit the streets.  It is unlikely that the Singer Model 221 Featherweight was introduced at the Fair that year as it was still in the development stages.  (In a later article I will picture a few developmental changes.)  The earliest Featherweight serial number recorded for a Chicago World’s Fair (CWF) 221 of the current 31 known in collections is AD543135.

Singer exhibited their most popular household appliances: i.e. irons, vacuums, and sewing machines and cabinets.  Shoppers could watch sewing demos, purchase and order.  Singer also presented coupons (certificates) to window shoppers that offered a choice of free lessons or a Singercraft guide for making rugs, if you brought the coupon to your local Singer Dealer  (more on those in the next article).

Singer models we’ve collected from the Century of Progress World Fair(s) are below.  Note the year variances and the colors of the badges in both years (See photos)

Singer Models – 1933 – Blue & Gold badge

• In our collection – AD 418607 Singer 101-12 “Century of Progress – Chicago 1933” – 27 Oct 1931
• In our collection – AD505793 Singer 15-88 “Century of Progress – Chicago 1933” – 10 May 1933

Singer Models – 1934 – Rust & Gold badge

• In our collection – AD424584 Singer 66 “Century of Progress – Chicago 1934” – 24 Nov 1931
• In our collection – AD547264 Singer 221 “Century of Progress – Chicago 1934” – 3 Oct 1933
• In our collection – AD626160 Singer 99 “Century of Progress – Chicago 1934” – 10 Apr 1934

Article Three

The Dancer - Mercedes Kammerer  AD 723447

The Second Production Run: Featherweights AD 720746 - AD 730745

We purchased this Featherweight (AD 723447) from the nephew of Mercedes.  I was very pleased with finding that all pieces were original to the year this 221 was made and knew it would be a fine addition to our ever growing collection, but my excitement grew as I learned more about its original owner, Mercedes Kammerer of Sioux City, Iowa.

First, however, let me tell you about this machine. It’s a second production run 221 with a serial number assignment date of September 10, 1934. This second of sixty American production runs is unique in that approximately the first 2,500 of 10,000 machines have what appears to be hand-stamped or re-stamped serial numbers. These machines beginning with serial number AD 720746 were originally stamped with first production run serial numbers. Someone on the assembly line failed to change over the serial number stamping machine! When the error was discovered the serial numbers had to all be ground off and the correct/assigned numbers hand stamped over the top as the numbers stamped in error had previously been assigned to Singer Models 81 and 95 industrial machines that had already been made. This was a potentially huge nightmare for the bookkeepers and service department. This stopping of the production line to correct the error(s) cost months of productivity. Notice the gap between the first production run of 10,000 Singer Featherweight 221’s assigned on October 3, 1933 and the assignment of the second run of 10,000 (September 10, 1934) was eleven months, when in actuality Singer was able to mold-assemble-polish-decal and palletize for shipping 10,000 machines in about three to five months. The error machines are coveted by some! (more about these errors in a future article)

While Mercedes’ Featherweight does not fall into the 2,500 serial number range of the error machines, it does represent an excellent example of a bonafide second production run 221. It arrived with a stamped serial number in the second style case with brass hardware, green-blue interior and a full tray with attachments and the correct foot controller. Pictured below are features that you’ll find with Featherweights made in this run. Notice in particular the case tray compared to the trays used in the first run.

First style case hardware

Second style case hardware
 

First style case tray

                      Second style case tray     

Finding Mercedes “the Dancer”

Again, I asked the seller for any history of the machine that he might provide. Again, I hit upon a treasure trove! He wrote, sent paperwork and included it with the machine. It stated that his aunt had received the machine from her father about the time of her senior year in high school or possibly as a Christmas present. It was exactly the information I needed to once again begin my research.

I found newspaper articles speaking to her talent as a performer/dancer. I also found a copy of her high school yearbook picture with the statement next to her name, “She’ll tap her way to the stars!” Through Census records I found her parents moving from Omaha, NE to Sioux City, IA with the telephone company where her father was employed. Mercedes’ family was being reborn. I then found her marriage to a trumpet player named Nalto Shay (Red) Hill in Scottsbluff, NE. Wait, it gets better! Through her nephew I found that Mercedes had gone to dance professionally in Chicago and from there was hired to dance with the Benny Goodman Swing Band! Mercedes carried the machine with her while on the road and would make needed alterations and repairs for her fellow dancers and band members. She and Nalto eventually moved to the Los Angeles, CA area where Nalto appeared on the radio and in the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, and Mercedes wrote songs, publishing at least two that I could find. Not my kind of music, but whatever!

        Mercedes and Red Hill                                 Mercedes Kammerer

Article Two

Sad-Sad Day, “Etta” #44 AD541590
     This is the story of “Etta” AD541590 the earliest Singer Featherweight we’ve had in our collection. Etta is 44^th Singer 221 made! It’s a story of a unique, rare find and at the same time, a very sad one.

Happy Day!

     Etta was discovered on eBay listed as an early Singer 221. The seller lived outside Chicago, Ill. and had posted just a few pictures, one of which was of the hand-stamped serial number. That drew my attention immediately and I hit the Buy it Now button without a second thought! Sometimes that works out – most of the time, it doesn’t!
     I contacted the seller to inquire about the history of the machine and offered packing instructions. The owner was selling her grandmother’s “little sewing machine that had been in the closet for quite some time and was purchased in about 1933 or 1934…” I was excited!
     The machine arrived well packaged in an early Type 1 case with a full attachments box and a 0.7 amp foot controller. The original belt was still intact.
     Now the real fun began! - the in-depth inspection. For me that’s the Best part!

 [My findings (in pictures) are noted in the attached Microsoft PowerPoint comparing its features with a later first production run Featherweight AD543535]

Original Owner Discovery
     Sometimes things just work out, you get surprised. A wonderful surprise (not part of the machine itself) was uncovered during my initial inspection. Etched into the bottom of the drip/oil pan was a name! “Mrs Josephson”. Let me back up just a bit. While Pam was in Salt Lake City perusing fabric stores and sewing on others’ Featherweights, I was teaching myself genealogy at the LDS Family History Library across the street from the Mormon Tabernacle on South Temple - a wonderful place to spend your time!
     Anyway, back to 2014. By the time I found “Etta”, I’d advanced my genealogical skills to the intermediate beginner status. Putting together what I’d learned from the seller (always ask for the history of a potential purchase) and the name etched into the oil pan, I found her! Mrs. Etta Wolf Josephson of Chicago, IL!; born in 1870 in Champaign, IL, married to Joseph in 1888, and mother of four girls and a boy. Etta passed at age 90 in Chicago.
     Etta and her husband Moses J. Josephson owned a haberdashery shop selling sewing notions first in Springfield, IL and then in Chicago just minutes away from the site of the Chicago World’s Fair.

The Sad - Sad Day
     I’d mentioned earlier that Pam worked and taught in the local quilt store, Prism Quilts. The store was in an older building narrower than long and had a shelf stretching all around the entire shop surrounding the floor space below. At about 3-feet wide and 14-feet high from the floor, it was a perfect shelf to display about 25-26 Featherweights with cases. Easy to see while shopping, but out of reach – perfect setting – perfect display in a quilt store!
     As time went by we added quilts and advertising to the display to provide color. Also, early advertisements of the Featherweight pictured it on a unique American Standard 30 lb. scale to demonstrate their weight at 11.25 lbs. The majority of kitchen scales of that day were 24 lb. An 11.2 lb. Featherweight pictured on a 24 lb. scale would show the arrow-shaped indicator pointing almost straight down. On a 30 lb. American Family Kitchen Scale made in Chicago, the arrow would indicate a weight closer to the 4 o’clock position creating the perception of an even lighter-weight sewing machine. FYI the name itself; ie, Featherweight was purchased by Singer from the Standard-Osann Company along with their patents and Company in the early 1930’s (more about that in a subsequent article).
     Our machines were placed in chronological order on the shelf, oldest as you entered on your right to most current as you were leaving (again on your right) – sort of a racetrack display. We placed Etta in the lead in position, displayed prominently up front on one of the American Family 30 lb. kitchen scales as pictured below from a 1934 advertisement. It sat there for over a year receiving many, many curious comments until……
     As the story unfolds, Pam was at home when she received a call from the store manager with the sad news. The local Internet cable company installers while stringing a new cable line had run the cable behind the machine, and when the line was tugged they upended the scale and the machine - falling 14 feet to the ground. It was shattered and unrepairable. The earliest known Featherweight was destroyed! 
     I can’t write another word about it. You understand…..

 

 

"Etta" - Before the Sad - Sad Day

Article One

     We collect sewing machines and sewing memorabilia. Specifically, we’ve been using and collecting Singer Featherweights for over 30 years. We don’t claim to be experts in the history, use, or repair of sewing machines, but hope to provide some insight into identifying and purchasing collectible Singer Featherweights. Through these articles we hope to point out a few unique characteristics to watch for, those features deemed to make the ordinary become collectible. We will feature Featherweights from our collection and discuss why we added them to our display. Generally they will be shown in pairs or within a group (i.e. collections within a collection). We will also share with you the stories behind the original owners where available.
     First, a little background. Pam learned to sew on her mother’s Singer Model 99 in the early-mid 60’s in Grand Forks, ND (yes, she still has it). Her first personal sewing machine, a Kenmore 158, was given to her by my folks as a wedding gift in ’71 (yes, it’s still in the family, and yes, still married - 48 years as of today!). Pam’s interest in sewing continued along with the growth and needs of our 5 daughters (clothing, patching, quilts, future wedding gifts) and subsequently our grandkids’ requirements. In the mid-80’s Pam spent time with one of the girls in Salt Lake City. In her off-time she would visit the many local fabric/sewing centers. While there, Pam was intrigued by seeing a Featherweight in action. She was invited to sew on it…. she was hooked. Upon returning home to Wyoming, Pam told me about it, thus, getting me involved. I found her first Featherweight, AE544666 (I know, a devil machine), a 1937 model at an antique store on S. Broadway in Denver (and yes, she still has it). Then, 221 AE207677, a 1936 version, with slotted foot controller and a Featherweight table on 44^th Ave. in Denver and on and on continuing to this day when we recently added AD541637 (91^st machine produced). This machine is a very rare and unique Featherweight sent to us from Jane Lynch of Massachusetts. Pam still sews with Pre-War Featherweights as she says, “They have a Karma about them! A different sound, a different feel!” (more about that and why in a future article).
     While I searched antique stores and eBay listings building her collection etc, Pam was teaching quilt classes, working at our local quilt store, and traveling to Quilt Festivals and classes throughout the US, toting her machine along. Many birthdays, anniversaries, Christmases later gave me the opportunity to gift additional 221s and memorabilia to her.
     The collection now includes: fifty or so collectible Singer Featherweights, a variety of makes and models commemorating World Fairs and Exhibitions, and assorted memorabilia and accessories. We also have a colorful group of Standard-Sewhandy, Osann, Singer-Osann machines; five collectible ELNA Grasshoppers; early Berninas; etc. Some might call it a hoard? But, I don’t understand?
     Future articles will include: the sad, sad story of our earliest Featherweight Etta AD541590 (44^th machine produced); other early Featherweights and their cases; changes/comparisons; corduroy tool kits (lid liners); Blacksides; Wrinkles/Crinkles; Chicago World’s Fair 1934; Texas Centennial 1836-1936; both Golden Gate Exhibition 221s; Century of Sewing Service 221s from around the World; early and late Mexican/South American machines; unusual decals, inspection marks; motors, foot controllers; tables made for the Featherweight; and articles on attachments, accessories, advertising, surgical instruments and Salesman’s toolboxes; collecting Foreign Featherweights and the final production run of American 221s…
     We want to thank Nova Montgomery, Darla Trenner, Lynn Rowe, Jane Lynch, Leo Kujat & JJ Coble and so many others for the encouragement and assistance in putting together these machines. We hope you’ll find some value in our stories and pictures.

Pam & J.C.Elliott

AE544666 – June 11, 1937 Pam’s 1st Featherweight	Kenmore 158 Wedding Gift 1971	The Collection