Newsletter: Feature

from Julie Ballard Hyndford in Linesville, PA, farminpa@gmail.com

I thought it would be fun to search for sock knitting machines on a website that is used to search old newspapers from around the world. I found many advertisements and articles for different types of sock knitting machines, many of them were brands that I had never heard of. The oldest mention of a sock knitting machine that I could find was from 1810! This short article states that a man from Vermont has applied for a patent for a Knitting machine “which is simple and cheap, and will knit 12 pairs of stockings in one day.”

There are many mentions in the newspapers tracing the invention and improvements being made to these new sock knitting machines. As you can imagine there are many articles about groups using these machines to knit for charity and in more current newspapers there are articles about people restoring and using the machines for historical demonstrations. These articles are all very interesting and sometimes quite entertaining, and they are most definitely time consuming to find and read (talk about going down a rabbit hole…). So, I decided that I would need to pick a specific topic to concentrate on.

I thought that it would be fun to look for classified ads to see what used sock knitting machines were selling for in the past. Unfortunately, many ads did not list the asking price but I was able to find some that did and either way they were very interesting.

At first all of the mentions of a knitting machine for making socks were for the sales of these new machines being sold by the manufacturer, an agent or through a store.

The first time that I found a sock knitting machine for sale in a classified ad it did not list the price but I thought that it was worth mentioning because of the date. This listing was in The Public Ledger, Philadelphia, PA in 1855.

The next one that I found was in an ad which was placed in a Salt Lake City newspaper in 1855 in which a “Rotary Knitting machine” was offered for sale or trade;

For the next 10+ years I find many advertisements for new machines for home use. It seems that several companies were manufacturing them and many patents were issued. The early machines claim to knit hosiery, drawers and tippets (I had to look that one up; a tippet is a long thin scarf worn around the shoulders or on the arms often reaching knee length). As the years go by the ads focus more on producing stockings, leg warmers and sleeves. One ad has the machines billed as being “a necessity, a source of profit, health and pleasure.” There are many classified ads in search of agents to sell the machines and on occasion for “competent hands” to work the machines at tailor shops. Other than a few mentions of a machine listed in an ad for a household auction I do not find any classified ads specifically for used machines again until 1877.

The first classified ads that I found did not always list a price but I found them interesting due to the fact they began appearing beginning in 1877. This ad was from January 1877 in Angola, Indiana.

An interesting observation is that also around the time period where I began to see used machines for sale I also begin to see ads for repairs made to knitting machines offered by mechanic shops. Also sprinkled among these classifies are ads for people offering to instruct individuals on the use of a sock knitting machine and ironically ads from people who are asking if anyone can teach them how to use the machines that they already have.

There continue to be many classified ads selling used machines from this point forward. Here is an interesting one which appeared in a Chicago, IL newspaper in 1880. I wonder why they had so many, barely used machines for sale “cheap?”

Not all classified ads came from the United States. I also saw many used machines being offered from England, Ireland and Australia. Here is an ad from a newspaper in Glasgow, Scotland from May 1882.

In June 1885 I find the first WANTED classified ad in a St. Louis, MO newspaper. I wonder why they were looking for multiple machines at that time?

Here is a classified ad from Pottsville, PA in 1885 for a Lamb Knitting Machine.

In the 10 years that followed I found very few used machines listed for sale. The advertisements I found were mainly agents selling new machines by promoting how much money could be made by knitting stockings from home. By 1905 the ads for used machines had begun showing up again.

Here is an ad from 1919 which was placed in a Pittsburgh, PA newspaper.

This ad from Elmira, NY in 1927 is for a machine that was “never used.”

There were still a few ads for used machines from 1930 through the 1950’s but not as many. No doubt because many of them were employed by citizens making products for the war effort.

In this 1962 ad from British Columbia, Canada the used machine is referred to as a “collectors item” along with a Gramophone.

In the 1970’s I noticed a change had occurred and now a classified ad for a “knitting machine” refers to a flatbed style. At this point I begin to look for the term “circular Knitting machine” and “sock knitting machine” specified in the classified ads. In the 1970’s and 1980’s many auction ads list a “sock knitting machine” in the antiques portion of the household items that will be offered for sale.

I did manage to find this ad placed in a Rochester, NY newspaper in 1989. It does not list the brand name but the price for a used machine has now made a big jump from previous classified ads I had seen.

A sock machine is listed in this 1996 Asbury Park, NJ ad along with some other antiques.

From the year 2000 until the present the classified ads in newspapers for used CSM machines for sale are almost nonexistent. The ads that I have been able to find are for people who want to buy sock knitting machines. Many times the ad states that they will buy machines “in any condition,” presumably to be restored or to be used for parts to repair other machines.

The final classified ad I could find for a used machine that was for sale was in 2005 from a newspaper in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Ironically it was selling for an amazingly low price.

My hope is that this machine was purchased by someone who is still using it, maybe even someone in the CSKMS who is reading this right now!

I know that if I had seen an ad like this myself that I probably would have bought the machine and the trombone just because I would have been so happy! However, knowing what the learning curve is for each of these items, I am pretty sure that my neighbors are very glad that I did not have the opportunity to take advantage of that special deal.