I found this beauty at the thrift store and spent so much time admiring it that the clerk dropped the asking price down to $10, so I couldn’t walk away. I am now the proud owner of a roughly 100 year old Damascus Grand Rotary sewing machine head. Now what do I do with it?
Ideally, I could get it back in working order. I’d love to replicate Mr. Thimble using an era appropriate machine, but I’m not yet sure if either goal is possible. I’m not even sure what “working order” means for something like this.
It seems to work. At least the needle moves up and down, the feed dogs move, and the bobbin rotates. From what I can tell, the “Rotary” label means that it uses a rotary bobbin rather than a vibrating shuttle. It’s very dirty, a little rusted, and desperately needs oil, but I’ve seen videos where people restore machines in worse condition. Surely, I can manage this, right?
Let’s start by figuring out what we have.
Damascus Grand Rotary Sewing Machine
Produced by the National Sewing Machine Company for Montgomery Ward, the Damascus Grand was advertised as the best home machine on the market. Montgomery Ward even recommend buyers against their other machines.
via International Sewing Machine Collectors’ Society
Seriously, the actually tell you not to buy the Oakland, and instead to get the Damascus or Damascus Grand in the catalog entry for the Oakland machine. You’d expect them to at least try to sell the cheaper model instead of talking themselves out of the sale.
The Damascus Grand uses a rotary hook, rather than a vibrating shuttle as the Damascus machine uses. Both are treadle machines, though the manufacturer also produced an electric motor that you could apparently hook onto the side. These attachments were fairly common, and would spin the balance wheel for you, but not every machine had a mounting point.
Antique or Vintage?
Apparently the dividing line between “antique” and “vintage” is 100 years. So, is my “new” machine antique or vintage?
The National Sewing Machine Company produced machines for Montgomery Ward from 1913 to 1955. It permanently closed its doors two years later in 1957. I’ve found the Damascus Grand in Montgomery Ward catalogs starting at least 1916 through 1927, and found a 1929 manual for the machine. The not recommended Oakland above comes from 1913 and mentions the Damascus name.
Unfortunately archive.org doesn’t have any catalogs between 1877 and 1916 or between 1927 and 1941. By 1941 they are no longer advertising the their machines’ model names, though they still carry Damascus accessories, so it’s possible that the name was still use.
Technically, then, my machine could be either.
Damascus Serial Numbers
Although I have the serial number for my machine, that doesn’t actually help me find any information. National closed in 1957 so, unlike Singer machines, there’s no source I can check to tell me when this specific machine was produced.
The machine on the left (A99374) sold with a 1917 manual. The next manual I’ve found is dated 1925, so we can assume that it dates somewhere between those two years. Based on the look of contemporary Singer machines, I’m guessing the right-hand machine (B407302) dates from the 1930’s. It features a plate mentioning a 1920 patent. There’s no date given for the center machine (216447), though it resembles the left-hand machine more than the right-hand one.
It would be great if the first one or two numbers reflected the year the machine was produced. Sadly, A99374 can’t mean either 1899 or 1909, because National wasn’t producing machines for Montgomery Ward until 1913. So much for that.
My machine’s serial number is 183464, which doesn’t help much. What do the letters mean and why do two machines have them while mine and the other don’t? Mine looks like the ones in the catalogs, but that doesn’t help because they used the same style in the 1916, 1922, and 1927 catalogs and in the 1929 owner’s manual.
National Rotary-A and Rotary-B
The letters might indicate which National model that the machine is based upon, there was both a Rotary-A and Rotary-B. It makes sense that the Damascus was simply a repaint of existing National machines. The Dodge below, another National machine and apparently a rebranded Rotary-A, also doesn’t have a letter in its serial number.
First Produced 1910, NBWiki
Manufactured 1935, eBay
For most of the 1920’s, they were selling both machines. Montgomery Ward carried the Rotary-A as the Damascus Grand and the Rotary-B as the Damascus Grand Electric.
It would be helpful if they started putting the letters on when the Rotary-B began sales in 1920, but why does the machine with the A plate have a lower number than the three without? Did National restart their numbering in 1920 when they released the Rotary-B and add letters to distinguish the two models?
If that’s the case, then the unlettered numbers would start either in 1910, when the Rotary-A first hit the market, or in 1904, with the earlier Eldredge Rotary. That would make the above machine the 216,447th out the door before 1920. It also suggests that the Rotary-B sold over 320k between 1920 and 1935 and at least another 80k before being discontinued. Both numbers are comparable to the contemporary Singer 101, which sold 230k machines from 1920 through 1932.
It is, at least, a plausible guess. If that guess is true, then my machine would have been made between 1913 and 1920, and probably towards the later end of that range. Meaning it is at least 103 years old. Officially making it an antique.
How To Power Antique Sewing Machines
The Damascus Grand was a treadle powered machine. Treadles use the operator’s feet to spin a wheel. A treadle sewing machine has a belt which spins a pulley attached to the balance wheel, moving the inner machinery.
New treadle cabinets run into the thousands of dollars and vintage cabinets of even dubious functionality go for several hundred. That’s more than I’m willing to spend on getting a $10 impulse buy working. Besides, a treadle cabinet would take up too much space in my apartment.
This needs to become a tabletop machine, leaving two options: I can attach either a hand-crank or a motor.
The Damascus and Damascus Grand both had motorized options starting in 1920, with the Electric Grand Rotary appearing in the form of the Rotary-A with a separate motor attached. Later on, it sold as the Rotary-B with a built-in motor. Sewing machine repair shops could attach after-market motors for buyers and Montgomery Ward sold a separate motor. The motor has a small rubber wheel which spins the balance wheel.
This machine features the same Hamilton Beach motor from the 1920 catalog, and it looks like the same motor is featured in the Electric Grand Rotary advertisement. At some point, they began attaching a National branded motor and, by 1927, were selling the Rotary-B under the Damascus Electric name.
Contemporary Singer machines had a hand-crank attachment that bolted into the same location as the motor. Hand-crank machines were advertised as portable and space-saving alternatives to treadles, for homes without electricity.
National produced hand sewing machines, too, like the Rotary 110, branded “Amazon” for sale by Montgomery Ward. However, I haven’t found a hand attachment for Rotary-A variants. They probably decided the Amazon was filling that niche.
Where To Go Next?
I don’t see anywhere to bolt a motor onto my machine, I suspect that they would drill and tap new holes in the cast-iron body. That is too much work, and far too much damage, simply to install a motor or hand crank.
This fellow, however, has given me a different idea. He mounted a motor to a board and ran a flexible belt that could fit over the wheel of any antique machine in his collection. I don’t intend to start collecting, but could build a custom base for my machine with a motor inside. The machine would have a decorative stand while still being portable enough to set on a table for use.
Before getting too excited, though, I first need to get this machine cleaned, inside and out. Next up comes stripping it down and polishing every piece of machinery until it looks like new.