|
Here's one we picked up in aesthetically poor shape, and which took me several hours to clean up. It's a Brother Model 60 Streamliner, and it seems there's little info about it. The company who made this machine (in Japan) is of course the same firm responsible for Brother typewriters, and was originally established as the Yasui Sewing Machine Co. in 1908. In 1934, two years after home sewing machines were launched, the company changed names to Nippon Sewing Machines Manufacturing Co. B.I.C. or Brother International Corp. was set up in the USA in 1954, and the company became Brother Industries Inc. in 1962. In 1971, its ten-millionth sewing machine was made.
A phone call and an e-mail to Brother have been placed; I'm playing phone tag with their representative as I write this. An e-mail response indicated an age of 20 or 25 years; this is obviously not correct as the machine isn't plastic and doesn't bear the newer 'Brother' logo. A good probable guess is early to mid 1960's; the number HA3B5 preceding the Model 60 label may help. The circular emblem is a J.I.S. Mark, short for Japanese Industrial Standards. Manufacturers could only place the mark on products after the products and their entire manufacturing process had met very rigorous inspection standards, a system still in use to this day. The mark is the same no matter the manufacturer.
|
