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Alex has spent a lifetime in the sewing industry and is considered one of the foremost experts of pioneering machines and their inventors. He has written extensively for trade magazines, radio, television, books and publications world wide. |
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The Straco Toy Company Little Betty Sewing Machines LB Little was known about Straco on the Internet which was strange for such a popular toy sewing machine so I started digging and a short 10 years later I have compiled lots of new news...
Before I start I must say, to my knowledge, not one single collector in
the world has a complete set of Straco/ The Snow White Sewing Machine
The Straco Toy Sewing Machine Company made some wonderful toy sewing machines. Their best selling model was the Little Betty available in many shapes and colours. They made and imported toy sewing machines for several decades starting from around the Second World War era.
Little Betty sewing machines are possibly the best selling British toy
sewing machines of all time, during their long production they kept
their prices to a minimum meaning that a child's first sewing machine in
Britain was often a little Betty or one of the Straco/
We know that many were made in England for several years. Straco later also imported some Japanese, German and Chinese toy sewing machines and for a short while during the late 1940’s and 50’s were involved with giant German Casige Sewing Machine Company, importing some of their models under the Little Betty name. The name Casige, pronounced Kaseege, was one of the great German toy makers. The company name comes from a mixture of letters of the founder of the company, Carl Sieper( Carl Sieper evenbroich) and his hometown of Gevelsberg, Westfalen in Germany. After WWII the Casige plant lay in the Western part of occupied Germany and produced machines for Straco for a short period. The similarities between the two company’s machines were obvious and no effort was made to hide Casige’s manufacture for Straco.
Further information
Some of this next
information was kindly
supplied by Len Soyka in 2006. Thanks Len.
The
original Straco sewing machines
in their range were made in
The British Little Betty toy factory, run by E. M. Gheysens Ltd, was in Lorne Road, Dover, Kent, England. Being a major port this was the perfect place to ship the Little Betty machines all over the world.
Little Betty Model W2
Note the earlier models were all metal including the hand wheel but the later ones had plastic hand wheels.
At some period E M Gheysens (EMG) went into partnership with F Struass and Straco was born. The partnership must have lasted quite some time as even the last toys were still marked with the E M Gheysens label. E M Gheysens retired to Nice, France where he died in 1963. All early Straco Little Betty models came with instructions in no less than 6 languages!
Little Betty Sewing Machine W3/03 1950's A Singer 12k needles works perfectly in the earlier models I have a few in stock: alexsussex@aol.com The sewing machine moulds were later moved to Japan, and finally new moulds and machines were made in Hong Kong
There was also the Jet-Sew-O-Matic senior and
junior with a square
base.
A
machine appeared on the market around this time called the Comet Sewing
Machine. It bears a huge similarity to the Little Betty W7 but is named
Comet EMG. Also made in England we can guess that EMG was the initials
of
Fred
Soyka, and his son Leonard Soyka bought the company from the two other
partners in the early 1970's and the company was run successfully
through the early 1990's when it was sold again, and then ceased to
exist. Mr Fred Soyka is now in his early 90's and resides in
The machines went from metal to plastic. This one was a bit of each, top plastic bottom metal, just like mothers.
As I write his son Leonard Soyka is still active in the toy industry. Len owns a
company in
The Straco Electro-Matic and the Straco Super Jet-O-Matic made in the early 1960's were both battery powered, one made in Japan and another Germany.
There is no doubting the popularity of these sweet little toys that turn up in many guises.All Straco and Little Betty machines were sold as Practical, educational and dependable. Finally the Little Betty machines were simply marked LB.
One of the last Little Betty machines called the Midinette! It was possible made by the French manufacturers of the 1960's,Ma Cousette range, as the similarities are startling. It used a battery pack and even had a foot control. The Little Betty Debutante and Midinette were sold through the Windfield arm of Woolworths
The Royale
The big problem with all of these sweet little toy is that they do not sew that well. In fact it is hard work which is probably why so many ended up in the loft or some dusty cupboard. The instructions did include how to repair the hook to lick up the stitch but for most youngsters that was impossible. The Little betty Midinette came is three colours
The Little Betty, Straco’s most enduring machine was often referred to simply as model W1/01, W2/02, 3 or 4 up to 20 and some with letters after like the W4D. There were no more than 20 different models that I am aware of at this time but you never know more may turn up!
Now her proper name is much more fun!
The story goes that Little Betty was a sweet little fairy that used to sit on the factory owner’s sewing machines while he pottered away making his first models. She would often fly into the forest and pick berries for his supper. One cold winters day the window suddenly blew shut with a load bang! She was so shocked she flew away. Although he often thought he caught a glimpse of her peeping around dusty corners in his workshop she never came home and never picked him berries. He named many of his favourite sewing machines after her so as never to forget his little helper. Hey it is only a story!
Why new toy sewing machines don't sell well today! Of course the biggest problem with toy sewing machines, especially the thin-tin and plastic ones is that they do not sew very well unless you are really careful and they only produce a simple chainstitch. The machines were prone to damage and many a girl who wanted makeup, jewellery and clothes had a disappointing present. Old toy sewing machines today are collected by enthusiasts around the world much more for nostalgia and display rather than use.
The Little Betty Royale sewing machine.
The Little Betty Debutante. Almost the last Straco sewing machine machine circa 1971.
And to the last of an era... The rare Disney Snow White/Little Betty
Values Values of the early tin-plate Little Betty, Straco sewing machines are rising fast so grab one if you can! Ebay has opened up a whole new world for collectors and whereas you may have had to search for months, if not years, now you can pick and choose at your leisure. Small toy sewing machines make a great talking point. Why not buy one of your childhood memories back! Hey I don't sell them I was just saying... Except for the very early tin-plate war models Little Betty sewing machines are still available at excellent prices and what a superb display they make. Just don't try and sew curtains on them!
. The End A brief history of Straco and Little Betty sewing machines.
Fancy a great read: All Alex's books are now on a dedicated site: www.crowsbooks.com Ena Wilf & The One-Armed Machinist Or a brilliant slice of 1940's life: I hope you have found this page helpful it took me several years of research. Do let me know if you liked it: alexsussex@aol.com
Hi Alex,
Hello Alex
Ii found your article on little betty child's sewing machines fascinating, its great to see the history laid
out like that.
Cheers tony
Hi Alex, My father and I have just read your article on E M Gheysons sewing machine. Father is now 88 years old and ran the company from 1947 to 1973. If you require any added information we would be pleased to help. I can assure you dad has a very sound mind and is as sharp as a button, we still live in Dover. Many thanks for your article we really enjoyed it, Kind Regards, Kieron Jaynes.
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