The sewing machine with the foot pedal, also called a foot treadle, was invented by Elias Howe, Jr. Howe was born in Spencer, Massachusetts in July of 1819. He started out working at a textile factory.
Honestly their not very rare, If you can get 150 to 200 if it has one of the more ornate treadle bases, and is in good working order without much of the gold leafing gone on it
Eli Stawkhand
the sewing machine impacted America and New York because if the sewing machine was never invented, we would still be at the basics of making clothes. The need for clothing was needed for soldiers during the Civil War increased the use of the sewing machine in both factories and homes.
Because of the popularity of these machines and the excellent quality, many are still in use today. The value to collectors will depend entirely on how well the machine has been maintained, and what accessories you have. From what I have seen, no one is paying much more than $100 for them, even in the best condition. There is an excellent forum for singer treadle sewing machine owners on about.com where you can find a lot of information about your machine and share ideas with other owners. See the link I have provided.
theory of sewing machine
This is the kind of non-electric sewing machine that isoperated by a treadle, or rocking type of platform to make the needle move.
Thomas Saint is the first person to create a sewing machine.
You would pump the treadle up and down as you sewed.
Issac Singer is credited with adding the treadle to the sewing machine. Starting with his model 1 in 1851 you could use the crate it came in as a base and it included a simple treadle mechanism.
Your feet on the pedal and your hand on the wheel. Everything on a treadle is manual. Some people put one foot on the back and one foot on the front of the treadle pedal when they are making the machine work. Treadle sewing takes a lot of practice! The pedal is attached to the sewing machine with a leather belt wrapped around a large wheel that is then wrapped around the wheel on the sewing machine.
This is the kind of non-electric sewing machine that isoperated by a treadle, or rocking type of platform to make the needle move.
The company that originally made the belt for the treadle sewing machine can provide a new belt. Look for the name of the manufacturer on your treadle machine, and if that company is no longer in business, inquire of the Singer company that may be able to provide a similar belt.
Are you asking about a treadle machine? These were the ones used before electric sewing machines.
By hand with a hand wheel and later by a treadle.
A foot treadle was used, a belt was used to transfer the energy from the treadle to the shaft on the machine.
The "Unique" brand sewing machine was built by the Davis sewing machine company. If you have the bobbin, you should see Davis stamped on it in small letters.
Though old fashioned (I still remember my Mother using one - many years ago!) they worked and did not require electricity, nor an embedded computer, or access to the internet, nor pages and pages of instructions written in several languages - the treadle sewing machine of my childhood simply worked.