Kansas Historical Museum

Once or twice a year we go to the  Museum of Kansas History in Topeka,   https://www.kshs.org/p/kansas-museum-of-history/19578

On Kansas day we get to meet a huge crowd of kids from across the state. 1,2000 to 1,400 kids come through, Mostly they are grade school and Jr. High kids. We pull in extra helpers to meet the demand

Some kids walk on by, many stop and are fascinated. Parents and teachers sometimes make a seam if they happen to hit at a slower time.  Some kids swing by and do it a few times.  The sneaky ones go to a different operator each time. Because of time limits we can't do treasure pouches, we just have them sew a seam across a folded piece of fabric.  Some get creative with that and have done a monogram.

Nontraveling Hand cranks

Some of these are just too finicky to take on the road and get used by unknowing hands.. Other don't work but look pretty interesting.

This one came from Mexico.  We have no idea who built it. ( Do any readers know?) The crank mechanism would need parts made for it to get it to work.  The pawfoot base is fun and Leon loves the way the back opens up. He also likes the visible planetary gears.  It is a vibrating shuttle machine with leaf tension.

This is a Singer 28  made in 1910.

Another pawfood. This one appears to be a Davis.  I thought the blue tape on the bobbin winding wheel was a hoot.

This hand crank hinge was repaired somewhere in it's history.

getting around, gear and carts

When we do demos we often will take 4 sewing machines, 1 pennyfarthing, multiple tables,  a cart, folding chairs, a little step, a canopy and sewing supplies. Loading a car is a 3D tetris game,

At the Mother Earth News fair, we knew we would be traveling a distance from the car and over some interesting obstacles.  A church trolly from  the funeral industry provided a great fold up base with big wheels. Then the cart acted as a second table.  When I saw the trolly  at an antique store I knew we had to have it.  Iris wasn't so sure, till I got it all together.

The Kansas Historical Museum loans us a cart and provides chair and tables.  Yay for them

Other hand cranked items.

Other hand cranked toys. These have not traveled yet, but it may happen in the future.

The first one here is a rotary cutter for roll up window shades. The Star company started in 1907 and is still making modern versions of the same product.

This  is a Craftsman breast drill. We were quite surprised to find a level on it.

 

 

 

 

Torque vs. Speed can be adjusted here

 

 

 

2 speeds can be chosen here.

 grindstone

 clamp loose

Sharpen your tools anyone?

 

What Machine IS That?

Careful eyes may have seen that we use several machines at our events,  If is is a huge event we usually take 4 Singer 99s. They are 3/4 sized machine. That makes them more portable. We like to use their bentwood cases too because they add a bit of class.

The Singer 66 is a full sized machine that is very similar to the 99.


At historical event sometimes we bring out our vibrating shuttle machines. It is an older style, but Singer still made the machines until the 1960s.

We got invited to a hot rod show so we took a cool looking Brother Wizard.  It turns out there was a pin up girl wearing the same colors as the machine.  The Brother was not designed to be a hand crank, but Leon was able to coax it into service.

This is a black slide vibrating shuttle  28 in a 3/4 cabinet.

This Bel Air is a Japanese Clone of a Singer 99

The Singer Spartan used the plastic case that this 99 is in.  We don't use this case for travel. The plastic in all of them is brittle and  brakes easily. This handcrank is  a modern reproduction from China.

We buy sewing machine oil by the gallon and pour it into bottles with extended spouts.  This machine can sew in reverse.  Most of ours don't.

Demonstrating at Living History Events

 One of the things we do as Merry Cranks is demonstrate the pennyfarthing bicycle and hand  crank sewing machines at living history events. We particularly enjoy demonstrating at events like Topeka's Apple Fest and the Cottonwood Falls' Flint Hills Folk Life Festival. When we are at events like this we get to have one on one visits with the festival goers and we let them try out our machines.


Kids really enjoy the pennyfarthing. They are far braver about getting on it to have their pictures taken than their parents are. We began demonstrating with the big penny. The one in the photos has a 48" wheel. Later we acquired a 38" pennyfarthing that fits the back of the car easier. It is also less intimidating for beginners.

While Leon is showing off the high-wheeled bicycle, Iris demonstrates the sewing machine. Each person gets a rectangle of fabric and is taught to sew it into a Treasure Pocket. We have children who visit us every year to report that they have still got their Pockets.  The hand cranks are so easy to use, that many children tell their parents, "If I had one like this, I'd learn to sew!" 

Parents and grandparents also enjoy using the hand cranks. They often tell us about using a treadle that belonged to an older family member. Iris was amazed to hear about the home ec. class in the 1960s that was fully stocked with only treadle machines! Those girls must have felt like they were in a time warp.

Other exhibitors sometimes come by to play and we learn from them. Because we don't need electricity we can set up almost anywhere. One place was on a hill and that was really tricky though.

She is enjoying making a treasure pouch.

Brother LS-2125i

Leon has been having fun servicing my daughter's Brother LS-2125i. It is one of the new machines we have dealt with. It was purchased about 1999-2000. The machine does a beautiful stitch but has not been used nor serviced for a good 10 years. Here you will see it "with the hood off."