Abbot sewing machine

The Abbot sewing machine was made in St. Catharines, ON. This machine is from the collection of Jake and Jacqui Van Meppelen-Scheppink. Serial number is 2265. This machine was purchased at Christie's antique show in Dundas, ON several years ago and was covered in red paint. It did clean up quite nicely, but has no decals left at all.


Handcrank on the machine:

Front view of the machine:

This is Jennifer Hill's Abbot machine and has the serial number 4651.

Fairly nice decals on Jennifer's machine:


Here is a photo of the newest Abbott that Diane has acquired. She writes: "The Abbott has had an alteration to the tension, I am sure of that but otherwise original and has good decals. It has the engraved name of W. A. White & Co. Toronto on the stitch plate."


This photo is a Queens Elliptic (on left) and Abbott (on right) comparison photo. They appear to be from a very similar if not the same patent although I believe the Queens Elliptic may be a little older then the Abbott and has a simpler tension arrangement

If you own an Abbot machine, please send photos and they can be added to this post.

G. W. Gates

The G.W. Gates Company was established in Toronto in 1865. They produced three models of machines, The Queen's Elliptic, the New Family Shuttle sewing machine and the Victoria. Very few examples of their machines exist and this one has some nice decals on it yet. This machine is from the collection of Diane and Doug Anderson and is the Queen's Elliptic:


This machine is probably an example of the New Family Shuttle from the collection of Jake and Jacqui Van Meppelen-Scheppink.



This machine is in remarkably good shape for its age and even has the complete handpainted decal on the bed of the machine and gold decals on the sides. It has been cleaned and it actually sews! Cost of the machine in an ad from 1868 was $25.00. Click on the individual pictures for a larger view.

Fall Gathering

Wanzer Sewing Machine

The Little Wanzer







The Fall gathering was held in St. Thomas, ON at the Elgin County Museum on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008. We had a great time visiting with new and old friends, hearing a wonderful speaker, viewing the Museum's collection of antique sewing machines and their beautiful signature quilts. And then there was the potluck lunch! The above pictures are two of the machines in the Museum's collection. More pictures will be coming on the blog soon.

Schedule for the Gathering October 4, 2008

SCHEDULE FOR FALL GATHERING
October 4, 2008



9:00 Meet, greet, and set up any show and tell items for display/coffee time

10:00 Welcome and introductions - view Museum machines – the curator of the Museum is bringing out the machines in their collection and hopes to get some information for their records about the machines.

11:00 Speaker Kirtley Jarvis of London, ON

12:00 Potluck Lunch

1:00 Trunk sales in the parking lot

1:30 Message from the Board – Janis Stewart

1:45 Trivia contest and Show and tell

3:00 to 3:30 any closing remarks and planning for spring gathering/business
Clean up time

DIRECTIONS FOR THE FALL GATHERING

Saturday, October 4, 2008 9:00 a.m.

Elgin County Museum

450 Sunset Drive

St. Thomas, ON

N5R 5V1 (519) 631-1460

From the 401, take Wellington Rd. South. St. Thomas is about 15 minutes south. As you approach St. Thomas continue straight on Wellington Rd, past the Hwy. 3 bypass, across the railroad track (Esso station on the left) and continue down a hill. At Talbot Street, you continue straight through the lights….this road now becomes Sunset Drive. The Museum is several miles through town on this road. You will pass stoplights at Fingal Line (at a high railroad bridge), Elm Street, Shaw Valley subdivision, Southdale Rd. Once you pass the Southdale Rd. stoplight, keep an eye out for the Psychiatric Hospital on the left. On the right hand side, you will see the Elgin County buildings. Turn right onto Karen Street (right before the building) and turn left into the parking lot behind the building

If you are coming from the West (401 or 402) take the Hwy 4 (Col Talbot Rd) exit toward St. Thomas, through Talbotville. At the bottom of the hill as you come into St. Thomas, follow the Port Stanley exit to the right where Sunset Drive and Wellington Rd. intersect. Follow directions above.

The parking and entrance are at the back of the building. Take the stairs or the elevator down to the basement and proceed left down the hall. We will post signs where our CanSew gathering is. You can see a picture of the building on their webpage

There will also be a social get together on Friday evening in St. Thomas at 7:00 p.m. If you are attending on Friday evening, please email the link at the bottom of this post and directions will be emailed to you.

Please let Jacqui Van Meppelen-Scheppink know if you will be attending the social evening, the gathering or both. jvanmep@execulink.com or if the directions above don't make sense :-).

FALL GATHERING!! in St. Thomas, Ontario

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Elgin County Museum
450 Sunset Drive
St. Thomas, ON
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

CanSew is hosting a gathering of sewing machine collector enthusiasts. Pre-registration is required. More information and directions will be posted very soon. More information about the Museum with a photo of the building can be seen at here .

We're up and running!

Greetings to all Canadian Sewing Machine Collectors! This blog will serve as a spot to gather information of interest to collections of Canadian antique and vintage sewing machines. We will add links of interest, pictures of Canadian machines in our collections, restoring and cleaning information and information on how to become a member of our group. Posts will be labelled so you can find other information about similar topics. We hope this will become a good reference for Canadian antique sewing machines.