How old do you think that it is? I agree that if we were to have a model or serial number and/or picture that would really help.
It might be that it would not be possible to give an exact year of manufacture for your particular machine. Manufacturing companies have come and gone through the years. Sometimes the records that are kept with a particular company are lost or just not looked at as being of any value. Also, perhaps there might have been a fire in a building that would have destroyed all of the records. If you could provide a picture, then it might be possible to give you a general idea about certain years that machines that looked like yours were manufactured.
It seems that sewing machines that were sold by Montgomery Ward were manufactured for them by National Sewing Machine Company of Belvidere, IL. Even if the Montgomery Ward name is on the machine, it is most likely manufactured by someone else. Retailers, like Montgomery ward, usually do buy anything that they sell from a variety of manufacturers. Even grocery stores might put something on the shelves with their name on it, but it might be an entirely different company that manufactures the food item.
If your sewing machine looks anything like the one on the following site, it is truly a work of art. The mention of them being made for Montgomery Ward is also on the site.
The Non-Electric Sewing Machine, People Powered Sewing Machines, Not Just for the Amish
There is some interesting history about the National Sewing Machine Company.
The quote below is from the following site:
American Sewing Machines Quote:
Governor A: Serial No. 2263543.
This machine was made by the National Sewing Machine Company of Belvidere, Illinois which was formed in 1890 by the merger of the Eldredge Sewing Machine Company (est.1869) and the June Manufacturing Company (est. 1881). The firm appears to have specialized in producing badged machines for retailers. In 1953 it merged with Free Sewing Machine Co. but was unable to compete with imported models and the National Sewing Machine Company closed in 1957.
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Here is something else very interesting from the following site:
Frequently Asked Questions On this site is an incredible wealth of information. It is worth checking out.
Quote:
Who made my sewing machine?
I heard about machines being "badged", what does this mean?
In the 1890 to 1940 period there was a fad with large retailers and mail order houses to sell "own brand" sewing machines.
To do this they entered into contracts with established sewing machine manufacturers who would supply standard models but with the name of choice substituted for the normal brand name.
ISMACS has records of nearly 5000 such "exclusive" names produced by half a dozen makers during this period.
The situation is further confused in that retailers might switch makers at the end of a contract period and the same name would then appear on a completely different machine by another manufacturer.
Shortly after WW2 the new Japanese sewing machine industry, funded by US aid, flooded machines into America and Europe.
Distributors in those countries gave them various western-sounding names to help sales.
In the period between 1890 and 1930 many German companies produced machines with no reference to their origin. This was because of a general mistrust of German engineering and, of course, poor public relations following WW1.
Their machines were distributed with non-Teutonic-sounding names.
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What you find on the following is also from the same site above.
National Sewing Machine Company It is also worth checking out.
Linear Mode
