Weir it……..

February 2025                                                                                                                           

                                  .....all began

The WEIR's 55s SEWING MACHINE

as Supplied too Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen - that's Queen Victoria

 

 

A fascinating piece of ephemera has recently found its way to the collection.

Dating back to 1873 this advert from The Illustrated London Almanac Advertiser shows the make of sewing machine - the WEIR’S 55s that Rebecca Pinkham bought in 1899.

It was this machine that in 1899 enabled Rebecca and William Pinkham to start sewing gloves in the kitchen of their home in Great Torrington, Devon and was probably bought second hand.

From this humble beginning grew W Pinkham & Son Ltd which went on to manufacture, at its peak 100,000 gloves a week.

The advert explains many of the key features of the WEIR’S 55 machine along with ‘easy terms of payment’, a free trial, a satisfaction guarantee, a returns offer and all this together with four hundred reviews/testimonials.  So what’s new?

The machine was first made in 1867 in America by Charles Raymond and was retailed in London by James Galloway Weir. In 1872 Weir patented a number of improvements including a redesigned bobbin holder and helical gears which made the machine quieter.

It was called the 55s because it sold for fifty five shillings (£2.75) How interesting it would be if we knew how much Rebecca paid for it at a time when William was earning  twenty eight shillings (£1.40) a week.

 

Rebecca's Weir 55

Seen here the original machine that Rebecca used

 

 

 

When the Witham factory was built 1912 this machine was put on display in the foyer and remained there until 1966 along with the oil lamp that Rebecca used when using the machine.

Machine 3

Many thanks to John Stuart of ISMACS International - The International Sewing Machine Collectors’  Society in the USA who has been a tremendous help in identifying this machine

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