White Sewing Machine

Trade card, ca 1900

The White Sewing Machine was the first sewing machine from the White Sewing Machine Company.[1] It used a vibrating shuttle bobbin driver design; for that reason, and to differentiate it from the later White models that used a rotary hook design instead, it came to be known as the "White Vibrating Shuttle" or "White VS". In 1879 it cost USD50 to USD125 (USD1097 to USD2744 adjusted) depending on which table or cabinet it was to be mounted in.[2]

There was also a 3/4-sized version called the "White Peerless".

Vibrating shuttle

The White VS was the first production sewing machine to make use of the vibrating shuttle as a bobbin driver and was introduced in the late 1870s and manufactured with additional improvements up until the early 1900s. The White vibrating shuttle works by loading the bobbin into the shuttle by sliding onto the post.

Production

Versions

The White VS evolved over time through these versions:

Year Model Shuttle Picture Notes
1876–1882 Model A (VS I) boat
round tension control on upper arm, manual bobbin winder
1882–1886 VS IIa boat ? round tension nut on lower head without dial
1886–1889 VS IIa bullet
1886-1889 White VS IIa Treadle Sewing Machine. Upper tension knob has no dial.
round tension nut on lower head without dial
1889–1892 VS IIb bullet ? round tension nut on lower head without dial
1893–1928 VS III bullet
round tension control on upper head with dial

Portable versions

White developed a 3/4-sized version for the sake of portability, exactly as Singer was developing the 3/4-sized model VS-3/28/128. It was called the 'Peerless' and its evolution tracked that of its full-sized parent:

Version Based on Picture Notes
Peerless VS I
tensioner mounted on upper arm like the VS I
White Peerless VS IIa or IIb ? tensioner mounted on lower head like the VS IIa and IIb
New White Peerless VS III
three variants produced—A, B, and C – differing in case and hand-crank.

[3]

Gem Unique design.
White Gem Sewing Machine from about 1886
very small, and very different from the VS and Peerless

Shuttle changes

The first versions of the White Sewing Machine [4] used a "boat" shuttle that was comparable to those used in contemporary transverse shuttle machines. In 1886 the shuttle was changed to a bullet shape, with a thin rod in the interior upon which the bobbin rotates. The change was probably prompted by the bullet shuttle used in the new Singer Vibrating Shuttle machine, invented the year before, itself a derivative of the White machine. Still later, the shuttle was refined again for the Peerless machines.

Version Shuttle Part number
VS I, VS IIa
85 (body), 94 (bobbin)[5]
VS IIa
?
VS IIb
282 (body), 321 (bobbin)[6]
VS III original shuttle used 1893-1900 349 (assembly), 321 (bobbin)[7]
"New Shuttle" used 1900 onward
?
New White Peerless shuttle
1554 (assembly), 321 (bobbin)[8]

Badged variants

White produced VS machines under several different badges, in addition to the Peerless. These included 'Franklin' (same name as a Singer model 27 clone produced later), 'Mason D', 'Minnesota E', and 'Queen'.

History

Page from White Sewing Machine Company literature

D'Arcy Porter and George W. Baker designed the machine and are named as inventors on most of the six[9] original US patents, dated 1876–1877, that cover it.[10] The company literature would later look back adoringly on them, calling them "two of [White's] best mechanics" who had "perfected a new type of sewing machine, far superior to anything then on the market".[11] The use of the word 'perfected' is a hat-tip to Allen B. Wilson, who invented the vibrating shuttle 26 years earlier.

At the time of its development, the machine was the White Sewing Machine Company's flagship product—so much so that it was simply named the "White Sewing Machine". Only later it was called the "White Vibrating Shuttle", when a rotary hook model named the White Family Rotary was added to the product line.

References

Media related to White Sewing Machines at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.