I meant to post this yesterday, but there's been so much going on that I chose sleep last night.
May I introduce you to Bertha?
Yes, that's right, Bertha is a sewing machine.
She's a 1916 New Home treadle, twiggy cabinet. This picture was taken before cleaning. My friend Elsie decided to give her to me now.
So, by now you're wondering how Bertha got her name. Well, Elsie was given this machine after a neighbor died, Bertha Fiebelkorn. Elsie has always referred to this machine as "Bertha's sewing machine", and so Bertha she is.
In one of those weird coincidences, Elsie's parents bought a farm down the road and around the corner from my grandparents years ago. Her father still owns it, and I drive past it to go to my grandparents' house. Fiebelkorns owned the farm across from Elsie's parents, and my great-grandparents knew Ray Fiebelkorn's parents from when they still lived in the south end of the county. Small world, isn't it?
Oh, and lest anyone think I forget to memorialize Elsie, she also was my lead to a Domestic Fiddlebase which now bears the name of "Elsie".
Bertha makes 28 machines in the house, not counting the one that Karen the firefighter is holding for me.
What a lovely start on a blog. (I came here from the link you posted on the treadleon list.)
ReplyDeleteI love what you've written so far and hope your grandma is doing better!