icon for Home page
icon for Kid's Home page
icon for Digital Collection
icon for Activities
icon for Turns Exhibit
icon for In the Classroom
icon for Chronologies
icon for My Collection

Online Collection

front
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.

Detail 1
Detail 1
Detail 2
Detail 2
Detail 3
Detail 3


label levels:

This sewing machine (with attachments and instruction booklet), called the "Priscilla," was sold to Miss Kathryn D. Jameson of Friendship, Maine, in 1924, by the Priscilla Needlework Company of Boston, a mail-order house. The "Priscilla" was a private brand manufactured by the New Home Sewing Machine Company of Orange, Massachusetts. New Home manufactured both vibrating shuttle and rotary machines; many were "stenciled" or "badged" with brand names like "Priscilla," for retailers and mail-order houses. By the 1890's, the New Home Sewing Machine Company was the largest employer in Franklin County, Massachusetts, with an annual production of over 100,000 machines. After World War II (WWII), the introduction of cheaper Japanese machines into the U.S. market severely crippled American sewing machine manufacturers. Eventually, the company failed and "New Home" was absorbed by Janome, a Japanese corporation, in 1957.

 

top of page

New Home Sewing Machine with attachments distributed by Priscilla Needlework Company

maker   New Home Sewing Machine Company
date   c. 1920
location   Orange, Massachusetts
height   40.0"
width   50.0"
process/materials   cast iron
item type   Tools/Textile working Tools & Equipment
accession #   #M.70


Look Closer icon My Collection icon Detailed info icon


ecard icon Send an e-Postcard of this object



See Also...

"New Home Sewing Machine Co. of Orange, Mass."

New Home Sewing Machine Company Birds-Eye View

"Souvenir of Orange, Mass"

Trade Card of the New Home Sewing Machine Company


button for Side by Side Viewingbutton for Glossarybutton for Printing Helpbutton for How to Read Old Documents

 

Home | Online Collection | Things To Do | Turns Exhibit | Classroom | Chronologies | My Collection
About This Site | Site Index | Site Search | Feedback