Saturday 25 November 2017

The Hot Pink Sewing Machine

So, why would anyone want a hot pink sewing machine? I don't know why anyone else would but I want one because they reflect the exuberance of mid century design when products came in bold colors and styles.  More than that, they come from a period when products were engineered to last a long time, to be repaired and passed down from one generation to the next.
I see that most modern sewing machines come in white, beige, and black (occasionally). I've had a few of these pass through my hands and they are noisy, ratchety and go out of time frequently. I usually consign them to the thrift store because none of my customers want them.
Why they don't want became clear to me on the day I sold a 201 to a lady who had been sewing on a 2 year old Kenmore. I set her up on the machine so that she could try it out. She sewed a couple of inches, stopped and said, "what the f**k"?. Something wrong? I asked. Is it supposed to sound like that? she asked. I said yes, that's what the best sewing machine ever made sounds like. It's so quiet she said. 
She kept on sewing, trying the machine on heavier fabrics and materials, which the machine sewed flawlessly, eliciting more WTF's, but "good" WTF's she told me. I think the performance of the machine was a revelation to her. This is how sewing machines are supposed to work. 
She asked me a lot more questions about the machine, which I did my best to answer. She didn't ask, and because I wanted to make the sale, I didn't tell her that she could get much the same performance, from any of the Japanese machines from the period for about $40. I mean it might not have quite the perfection of the 201, but they can sew, and sew well, all the heavy materials she had brought along to test out the machine with.
And they come in hot rod red, teal, bright blue and yellow and in pink. "Buy us" the colors say, "we can do the job and we're proud of it" and I like that........

1 comment:

  1. Wonderful machine; my taste runs to industrials (three of them) and, oddly, some specific Eaton Viking machines. Unfortunately no pink ones.

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