Toy Sewing Machines

Did you have a toy sewing machine as a child?  Today's sewing machines for children seem to be little more than disposable plastic junk that may or may not actually sew, but the toy sewing machines of yesterday are really a work of art.

I recently had the opportunity to see the incredible private collection of some expertly restored antique toy, portable, and cabinet sewing machines that dated from the 1850s to the 1950s. I really am amazed at the number of working sewing machines that have been produced over the years just for children to use.

This is a working antique Ideal Child's Toy Treadle Sewing Machine that dates to the late 1800s (it was probably made between 1880-1890):

The stand is only two feet high, and the base is made of cast iron. Isn't the scroll work on the treadle lovely? These toys machines were produced by several different companies in the US and Britain; this one was made in the United States and would have sold for around $5.00 in its day!   Here is a closer look, pictured with a small Mauchlin ware Clark's spool box with Clark's thread:

I can't help but show you this miniature hand crank machine (yes, it works) even though I do not have maker, model, or date information.  This is not the best photo of it, but it is the only one I have in which you can compare its size to the gentleman that is holding it!  I dub it "The Lilliputian":

However, the sewing machine that really charmed me (and made me green with envy, pun intended) was this perfect mint green Elna Junior from 1956, pictured next to its original red tin case:

The machine has all of its original parts and includes a working music box!  Can you imagine a little girl sitting down to sew while listening to the Blue Danube waltz?

Here's another view of the machine, case, and contents from a mint green model owned by the Brussels Toy Museum:

photo (c)Musée du Jouet de Bruxelles

 
I can't confirm this tidbit of information, but I heard that only 45,000 of these toys were made in 1956, and of course that makes them scarce today.

It took some searching but I found a You Tube video in which you can see (and hear!) a dark green Elna Junior with a working music box:


I wish that toy sewing machines were as beautifully made today; the examples I've shown you above work and are actually useful.   I don't need another sewing machine, but I'd love to have one a  mint green Elna Junior.  If you find one in good working order and want to part with it be sure to drop me a line!

Fortunate Finds: the Original Fashion Plates by Tomy

EDIT, 2015: Kahoots Toyz has produced a new version of the classic Fashion Plates Designer Set! And the original plates also work with the new version. Hooray!


With Christmas right around the corner I thought it would be fun to take a walk down Vintage Toy Memory Lane:  do you remember Fashion Plates?  

 

Fashion Plates was first introduced by Tomy Corp. in 1978 as "the kit that helps young designers, 6 and up, create fashions.  Hundreds, thousands, even millions of fashionable combinations can be created."  More Fashion Plates was a later expansion pack of 15 extra plates that added more model, clothing, and texture design options.

This toy kept me occupied for hours with no batteries required!  Basically, you selected two or three model and outfit plates and then placed a blank piece of paper over the plates.  Next, you rubbed the "special crayon" over the plates to produce an image:

  

Here are some possible combinations from the base kit and the expansion plate set:
 
 

You may remember that the back of most of the plates had texture options.  After transferring the design with charcoal you placed these plates back underneath the picture and transferred one or more textures with a colored pencil.  Texture options included stripes, plaids, flowers, stars, and more:

I picked up both of these sets at Goodwill a few years ago and it was truly a fortunate find as both sets are complete and in very good condition.  As you may know, this toy is highly collectible right now and at the time of this writing the Fashion Plates base set can easily fetch $100-150 at auction.


Today there are similar fashion plate type of toys such as this one by Melissa and Doug or a Barbie-themed version by Mattel.  The Project Runway Travel Fashion Design Light Box has a similar concept but involves more actual drawing.

The set I bought had a few designs left inside from the previous owner, a Miss Kristin Meier, and they really took me back to my childhood!  If you were anything like me you spent hours creating new outfits and coloring the designs.  But having been a perfectionist from my earliest days I was often a little frustrated that I would end up with extra black smudges around my picture after rubbing it over the plates.

The picture below belongs to Kristin, Fashion Plates Designer Extraordinaire, who apparently mastered the transfer technique at a very young age -- no extra charcoal smudges plus a lovely coloring job inside of the lines:

I wonder if she went into fashion design? 

Naturally I colored my own, for old times' sake:

I still need more practice with the charcoal.  But I had a good time anyway!

Fortunate Finds: Vintage View-Master Collection

Just so you know, I've decided to combine all vintage collections / thrifting posts by using the "Fortunate Finds" tag.  I'll still be participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, but I also want to participate in other link parties as well!

Did you love your View-Master when you were a kid?  I really loved mine. So imagine my happiness when I stumbled over this vintage View-Master and my husband gave me the accompanying vintage reels as a gift:

The putty colored View-Master (it has seen better days) was produced and distributed by Sawyer and it is a Model G, which is the first series to be made of plastic rather than Bakelite.  Although the box has no date, it probably dates to a three-year span of 1962- 1965. 

I have two different Cinderella sets, one of which was produced for Disney in 1965 and features animation cells from the movie.

The single disk in the photo is much older, as the tiny blue accompanying booklet has a copyright date of 1946.  It is entitled, "Cinderella and the Glass Slipper"  and has only seven images. I love its uniqueness: the figures in the scenes are molded out of clay!

(Forgive the fuzziness of the following images.  I actually took the photos by holding my camera lens up to my modern View-Master so you could see a few of the actual images on the disks).

"Preparation for the Ball"

"Cinderella Dances with the Prince"

The other disk set features images of Paris and Montmartre by day and night.  It was produced by Sawyers but was marketed by Sawyer's Europe, and the language on the disks and the jacket is French.  It's possible that it may have been a souvenir for an American tourist.  It also dates from 1965:

"La Facade et La Place Du Parvis"  (Facade of Notre Dame)

This romantic image is entitled "Repas en Plein Air, Place Du Tertre" (outdoor dining)

I have a few modern reels as well, but this is the extent of my vintage collection so far.  So how many of you, dear readers, still have a View-Master?  I'm keeping mine forever!