Bradbury Family No 1

 Not chocolate, that's Cadbury.

I was fortunate enough to win an auction the other day.  Auctions, of course are horrible.  I was winning with a $63 bid right up til about five minutes before, then I was winning with a $170 bid.  Soft close meant that if the person who last minute bumped me up had thrown in another bid, the auction would have gone on for another five minutes, another chance for said bidder to bump me even higher.  None of it, of course, the end of the world.  I'd put in my max bid and wasn't going up under any circumstances.  But enough of that, you don't care how much I paid or who caused me to pay it.  Show us the machine, you are screaming!

There you go.  Bradbury Family No 1.  Haven't been able to pin down a date yet but sometime in the late 1800s.  The couple who seem to be the resident experts on Bradbury, having written several articles for a prestigious sewing machine collectors magazine, aren't answering their email.  Hopefully they're on holiday and will be back soon.

Quick  description: fiddle base, hand crank, transverse shuttle sewing machine, the Bradbury's were designed to be set into a treadle base as needed, hence the holes just under the balance wheel.

The case, unlike any other that I've seen, sets down over the machine with a lid that is hinged up, then the case is clamped to the arm of the machine with a J-bolt.  The lid closes and locks with a standard triangle shaped key, of which I have several.  The machine can then be picked up with the handles on the sides of the case.

The upside is that the weight is supported on the arm of the machine, a very strong hang point.  The downside is that the J-bolt has been digging into the finish of the machine for well over 125 years or so.  In the long run I'll add a rubber pad to the end of the J-bolt to minimize future damage.  I don't think we can blame the company for not anticipating 125+ years of use.