Words on a Singer Sewing Machine Co. Inc. trade card ~ circa 1927.
Personally, I grew up around my dear dressmaker mother's treadle
Singer machine and she was my sewing teacher!
I took a few hours this past week to work on organizing and getting rid of stuff!
Now and then I find myself doing this, mostly on good days when my back
and right leg aren't hurting so much. I'm actually getting some relief at last.
We need to have some work done to refresh our upstairs - mainly replace
10 year old carpet in two rooms, the landing, and the staircase itself.
If this was an empty house it would be such an easy project, however it's
thirty five years old and holds thirty five years of our life including some
heavy furniture!
Some items need to be sent away permanently to other places, such as
Habitat for Humanity ReStore, and a thrift shop, the remainder packed into
boxes and stored somewhere out of the way of the carpet installers,
a big job for us.
While searching through several boxes of supplies from those long ago
creative endeavors such as scrapbooking, card making, decoupaging
terra cotta flower pots etc., I came across these really beautiful
Singer Sewing Machine Co. Inc. 'trade cards' depicting American Song
Birds . . . . . . six out of an apparent total set of 16 and printed in 1926-27.
You already know garden birds are a big hobby of mine - I really love
birds, watching them, photographing them, feeding and caring for them.
The cards are in good condition for being almost 100 years old. Each bird is
shown against a lovely background, and its egg is shown in a little twig frame.
The reverse has small b/w illustrations, a little story, and details of
Singer sewing machines.
The artist was J.L. Ridgway.
John Livzey Ridgway (February 28, 1859 – December 27, 1947),
was a nationally prominent bird illustrator who worked for
many years at the United States Geological Survey, as well
as the Smithsonian, the California Institute of Technology,
via Wikipedia
Each card measures 6 X 4-1/2 inches and could easily be framed
individually, however I'm on the hunt for a collage style frame,
preferably with clear glass so that both front and back are visible
between the two pieces which would be great. That way, anyone
who may own it in the future will also be able to read the backs of
the cards and learn their history.
If I can't locate a readymade frame, another option I will consider
is having them framed by a professional.
I will then have to decide whether to display them vertically or
horizontally. . . . . any thoughts on which you think best will be
appreciated of course.
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