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Domestic Rotary Sewing Machine Serial Numbers
The machine has a high serial number (on slide plate) indicating late manufacture and the design of the machine with its curious take-up arrangement appears to be based on the Canadian George A Annett's patent of 1888. Although his patent covered a rotary machine, it has a similar "wide thread support or guide". No name is given to the shape or style of take-up mechanism, which resembles a tennis racket.
This is the early Domestic with a more rectangular bed than later models and a simple bobbin winder. The serial number is located on the front slide plate and the stitch length regulator is a knob to the rear of the pillar. This particular machine has a broken top leaf tension and the treadle top is new.
White was, next to Singer, perhaps the largest and best known of the US sewing machine companies. Unlike Singer, they did not offer many different models, or change models very often. Their engineering was extremely good, and their products stood the test of time. The introduced their VS machine in the late 1870's and manufactured it with minor improvements into the early 1900's. They introduced a new model, the Family Rotary, or FR, which was a very well designed and strong machine, in the late 1890's and manufactured this design, with some variations, up until WW II.
Unfortunately, there is nowhere near as much information on the White Company as on Singer. The company was founded by Thomas White, who had some prior experience in sewing machine manufacture. He located in Cleveland, Ohio (down a main street from where I lived as a child, actually). The company was formed in 1876. White was a large and prosperous company, giving Singer a run for their money. White took over the Domestic and King sewing machine companies and eventually became White Consolidated Industries. They ceased manufacturing in the United States sometime after WWII, probably the late 60's or early 70's. After that their machines were made in Japan.
The White FR or Family Rotary is the most common White. They are a truly outstanding machine. If you find a good one, don't pass it up. One caution on this model... I always tell people that "White is Singer spelled backwards...". Everything about the White is the reverse of the Singer... the handwheel rotates away from you instead of toward you, and the thread rolls off of the bobbin in the favored, or easy, direction, not cutting back over a lip as on Singer round bobbins. One of the more common "help" calls on Treadle On is from new White owners who can't get their machine to stitch because they are trying to make it turn the same direction as a Singer. White owned their own forests and operated their own cabinet factories, rather than contracting this out. They were noted for having the highest quality of cabinets. Their library table and Martha Washington sewing cabinet model electrics are classics, as is the Mission or Arts and Crafts treadle.
White Numbers/Years The White company (still in business) has some serial number records and will date machines. Their record and numbering system is/was not as organized as Singers, so there are some problems. However, we are assembling a record of known dates to provide a rough comparison ability.
Family Rotary - The Family Rotary, or FR, came out in the 1890's, and in various models continued well into the 1930's. FR serial numbers were used on badge machines as well as those labeled "White". FR 140336 pre-1900
White offered some FR's with cast in decoration, rather than decals. These were introduced in 1928 and were all electrics. You can substitute an earlier FR handwheel and put them in a treadle. Some were a lovely copper/bronze color, and some had a black krinkle finish. I believe the bronze ones were earlier than the krinkle finish. The bronze were offered in a beautiful cherry library table of quite good size. The entire top lifted off to expose the machine, which was then tilted up for use. It is one of the most beautiful of all sewing machine furniture pieces.
Once upon a time, there was a young English lord named Prince. He was a bit of a wastrel, and was in serious danger of losing the family fortune. While traveling in America, he noticed a White sewing machine. "This machine," he said to himself, "is magnificently designed and made, and very attractive. I believe that if I were to import these to England in large numbers, I could market them at a tidy profit."
While an electric machine, this was one of the most beautiful pieces of sewing machine furniture ever offered. It usually contains one of the cast-indecoration, or embossed, FR's. This model was called the Mt. Vernon. White had their own forests and furniture factories and was noted for the quality of their cabinets. They made lots of cabinets and cases for other manufacturers.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Standard Rotary sewing machines made by the Standard Sewing Machine Co. is that some of them will take an attachment called a chainstitch spider which installs in place of the bobbin case and (used along with a special chainstitch needle plate) converts the machine from straight stitch to single thread chainstitch. The spider that came with my Standard Rotary serial number 770155 worked well in that machine and one with a later serial number, but it would not fit it into any of my machines with a lower serial number.
In doing this survey, I was hoping to find out whether there was a version of the chainstitch spider that would fit the earlier Standard Rotary machines. The earliest serial number for a machine in the survey that was confirmed to have a spider is 727368. Whether there is a version of the spider that will fit Standard Rotary machines with a serial number lower than 700000 remains to be discovered.
Also, the reason the machine was priced low was because it obviously was missing the foot controller. We could find a foot controller as they are readily available at most sewing machine sales/repair shops. The problem worsens somewhat as the motor connector uses an odd 2-pin plug which we don't have. After a bit of creative wiring and a sparse oiling, the motor works fine. The motor appears original having the same color paint as the machine and bearing the Domestic name.
Also, according to Bruce who sent us the following paragraphs, this Domestic sewing machine is basically a White Sewing Machine. When Domestic was sold in the early 1890s or so, White bought them out and sold their designs under the old Domestic logo. In their time, the 1860s to 1880s, Domestic was a leader in the field and it was not until their patents expired that Singer could go into the same style machines, ie, Vibrating shuttle machines like the Singer VS2/27. Domestic was way ahead of the pack on this type of machine. Parts that will fit many White Rotary machines will also fit the Domestic. Check online and there are several sites that offer threading guides, parts, bobbins, etc. Check for White machines of the WW1 to 1930s vintage.
I first started researching sewing machines a few years ago when I was lucky enough to find a vibrating shuttle machine with the branding of R.H. Macy. I wondered who made it for them, and began to dig.
In 1834, Walter Hunt made the first sewing machine in America that actually worked well. He abandoned his invention because he believed it could cost jobs. He did not get a patent, which would prove to be a determining factor in a later patent fight.
In 1850, inventor Allen Wilson invented the vibrating shuttle bobbin. He was immediately sued by the owners of another shuttle patent that had been granted in 1848. Rather than fight, Wilson agreed to sign over half interest in the shuttle. He then began work on a rotary hook design that endures to this day. The Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines were in peak production in the 1850s and 1860s. They were the leading producer of sewing machines at the time. Wilson was also the inventor of the feed dog mechanism and spring presser foot, both still in use today as well.
During the 1850s, so many sewing machine manufacturers were created that the owners of the patents were constantly suing other manufacturers to maintain their patents. This is known as the Sewing Machine Wars. In 1856, four manufacturers created The Sewing Machine Combination to pool their patents and force other manufacturers to obtain a license to manufacture sewing machines. These manufacturers were Wheeler & Wilson, Grover & Baker, Howe and Singer. They were not cooperative with each other, however, competing with each other to grant the licenses for their own designs.
Goodspeed and Wyman was a sewing machine manufacturer in Massachusetts, which marketed single thread sewing machines under the name of Bartlett Sewing Machines. The faceplate above is difficult to see, but has the name Goodspeed and Wyman, along with several patent dates ending in 1860, and the names Howe, Grover, Wilson and Singer Co visible. This would seem to indicate that the license fee was paid to the Combination. In 1866, a new patent was granted to Goodspeed and Wyman, but this patent number does not appear on this machine, indicating it was made prior to 1866.
In the 1870s when all the patents expired, The White Sewing Machine Company began to market its premier product, the Vibrating Shuttle Machine. After that model, the company began to produce a rotary hook model. At the same time, Singer began production of its vibrating shuttle models and became the leading manufacturer of sewing machines. Singer was the first to offer an installment payment plan, as machines were very expensive relative to the average salary of the day. 2ff7e9595c
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