I have a White Family Rotary treadle sewing machine and wondered how I could find out how old it is. The serial number is 98222. There were no letters before the number, just that number was stamped on the plate. Thanks so much.
Jan

Clough

If the number 98222 is the serial number, then it would appear to be a machine that was built prior to the year 1900. According to the following site whites the White sewing machine records did not start until 1900. So, it may not be possible to find an exact year of the manufacture of your machine.

However, the site that I have referenced is very interesting concerning these sewing machines and also has lots of images of the sewing machines that span many decades throughout the manufacturing of them. By looking at the images, you might find a machine that looks like yours and by the information on the page, might be able to at least come up with a year that might be close to when the manufacturing of your machine occurred.

The following is a quote from the above referenced site. Please note that there is a phone number that you can call where they might be able to also get you close as far as the year of manufacture. I don't know how up to date the information on the site is, though.

At least this is a start to finding out. I hope that it has been helpful to you!

Clough

Thank you! And, you are very welcome for the information! I do hope that it will be helpful to you!