I will try to explain.

It was marked “$9.99” at the animal shelter thrift store. There was a sticker on the cover that said, “Tested”.

It was also unusual and shiny and pretty and I wanted to play with it.

This machine was also so heavy I couldn’t pick it up, so a hefty young man offered to carry it to the register for me and put it in a cart. I was then able to slide it from the cart to the back of the Highlander.

Where it remains three days later because for some unknown reason the men in my life are not interested in my new vintage machine. Go figure.

And why  it would be in a portable storage case I do not know, because there is no way this machine would ever be called “portable”.  I took it apart in the back of the car so I could examine underneath and takes some measurements.

Thanks to the internet I was able to research what kind of machine this is. “Made in Japan”, it was called a “Super Zigzag” DOM-B and is pure steel. After World War II, we sent US sewing machines to Japan so they could manufacture their own versions and build their economy. Which they did, often turning out machines that were actually better than the American machines. This is one of their “badged” versions. See the “Classic” label to the left of the biggest knob? Similar labels were put on the machines as Gimbels and Ford and all sorts of companies wanted their own label.

They are not highly collectible like vintage Singers and Whites and Brothers, but this is certainly worth more that $10.

I’ve been watching a Youtube video on how to mount a vintage machine in a vintage “drop down” sewing machine table. There’s lots of measuring involved and it is going to be a fun challenge to find just the right-sized table with the right hardware. Of course before that happens I intend to plug it in and see if it works.

Will and I are going to town Wednesday for our annual summer shopping trip to town.  We will eat lunch at the Pie Hut, hit a couple of vintage/antique stores and prowl through the stores downtown (hopefully finding great Christmas gifts).  Will likes to stop by Evans Brothers for some thank you gifts to Texas friends and I will check Walmart to see if my favorite mock turtlenecks are in stock yet.

I will bring a tape measure and check out every vintage sewing cabinet I see.  Just in case.