I recently purchased an antique treadle-type sewing machine in an oak
cabinet with 4 drawers plus a center compartment for bobbins & thread.
Very pretty scroll-like decals adorn the drawers, sides and back of
the cabinet. The brand name on the front of the machine head is
"Richmond." On the back of the machine head the slightly worn decal
reads "The Charles William Store" and "New York City" The treadle and
undercarriage are rather sparse and plain. The machine head is stamped
"Made in USA" There are no other markings that I can find. My question
is who is the sewing machine's manufacturer, who is Charles William
and approximately when was it made and sold?

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Request for Question Clarification by kriswrite-ga on 13 Nov 2003 14:50 PST

Hello onzloe~

From the information you have, it's unlikely you'll be able to gather
much more information than the age and value of the sewing machine. If
you can post some pictures on the web and offer us links here, the
information for both will be much more reliable. Otherwise, just a
general, approximate age will be possible.

Kriswrite

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Clarification of Question by onzloe-ga on 14 Nov 2003 05:08 PST

Doing what you requested might be difficult. I am nearly as old as
that sewing machine so I don't do well with posting pictures on the
Internet and providing links and doing stuff like that. My main
interests are who manufactured the machine and who does The Charles
William Store refer to? There are no patent numbers on the machine
that I can find. Approximate date(s) is OK. I'm not terribly concerned
with value. If you can offer a value, great; if not, thats OK, too.

The decals on the machine cabinet are interesting. They are possibly
the finest quality decals I have ever seen in my lifetime. They are so
good you think the designs were hand painted onto the cabinet.

Hi Onzloe~

No worries :)  Many folks have trouble getting pictures posted.

Interestingly, an Internet search for "Richmond Sewing Machine"
produces this intriguing site: http://www.coinguon.com/rsm.htm  which
indicates the business resides in Australia. However, this doesn't
mean your machine was manufactured (or even purchased) there. Sewing
machine companies have been through the mill since the 19th
century...some sewing machine companies became car and bicycle
companies, and many sewing machine "names" have been bought and sold
to other companies over the years. So it isn't surprising that your
machine is marked "Made in the U.S.A."

I can tell you that I've never heard of an antique, Richmond brand,
sewing machine--and I've seen a lot of old machines. As for The
Charles Williams Store, an Internet search doesn't seem to help much
there. More than likely, it was a "dry goods" style store or
department store.

Given the fact that the machine is in an oak case, with the decal
detailing you describe, my best guess without seeing it is that it's
from 1900--early 1920s. If you can manage pictures, I can give a more
accurate date.

Given the fact that the sewing machine is an "off" brand, and given
the fact that the cabinet was not hand painted or stenciled, it
probably was a relatively inexpensive machine. If the machine still
works and the cabinet is in very good condition, the machine might be
worth $100-200.

Perhaps another Researcher can provide a complete Answer for you!

Good luck,
Kriswrite

The Charles Williams Store was a mail order catalog company, similar
to Sears, Roebuck or Montgomery Ward. There are online records of its
existence from the 1880s until 1929, when it merged with National
Bellas Hess.

It is possible that Richmond was a brand name of the Charles Williams
Store, as Kenmore is of Sears.

hlabadie-ga

It is The Charles William Store, not Williams. Over the weekend I
might be able to get someone with a digital camera to take pictures
and put them on my computer but how do I get them to you? Can I just
e-mail them to you?

You would need to post them onto a website. There are many free places
to post pictures, including www.geocities.com. Then just post a link
to that website here :)

Kriswrite