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New Home Sewing Machine with attachments distributed by Priscilla Needlework Company

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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This sewing machine (with attachments and instruction booklet), called the "Priscilla," was sold to Miss Kathryn D. Jameson of Friendship, Maine, in 1924, by the Priscilla Needlework Company of Boston, a mail-order house. The "Priscilla" was a private brand manufactured by the New Home Sewing Machine Company of Orange, Massachusetts. New Home manufactured both vibrating shuttle and rotary machines; many were "stenciled" or "badged" with brand names like "Priscilla," for retailers and mail-order houses. By the 1890's, the New Home Sewing Machine Company was the largest employer in Franklin County, Massachusetts, with an annual production of over 100,000 machines. After World War II (WWII), the introduction of cheaper Japanese machines into the U.S. market severely crippled American sewing machine manufacturers. Eventually, the company failed and "New Home" was absorbed by Janome, a Japanese corporation, in 1957.

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