|
 The
German company that made Vesta was called LOD, short for L.O.
Dietrich, one of the oldest German sewing machine companies.
The Vesta mark went onto their machines in the late Victorian period
and lasted up until the
Second World War
when the company became involved in arms manufacture. The factory
was finally closed by the Russians around 1946.
Originally LOD
was formed around 1869, by 1871 they were well established in
Altenburg, Germany. For the first 20 years the machines were
basically Singer copies with a big S as one of their badge marks and
sold under the Dietrich, LOD banner.
The company was a
mixture of three giants in the German sewing machine industry all
eventually selling machines under their own names.
They were L O Dietrich, G Winselmann, of the Titan mark, and H
Kohler.
The three men had
all worked together at the giant Clemens Muller Sewing Machine
Factory in Dresden. It was there that they came up with the idea of
their own business. It did not last long as by 1880 all three men
had parted and had their own businesses making machines.
By 1871 The Company had a vast factory employing
hundreds of workers.
The name Vesta comes from the Roman goddess of fire and the hearth,
which is perfect for a machine that was forged from the great German
furnaces. As a very important Roman Goddess her prayers were uttered
daily in worship and of course we have all heard of the Vestal
Virgins, but I digress.
There were originally two sizes of Vesta and many other models from
LOD such as the Universal No 1 with its lovely open cut gears and
lightweight, The Family A and Family B. The Saxonia range which
included two smaller machines and a medium semi-industrial model. As
well as the vibrating shuttle models mentioned they also produced
oscillating bobbin machines model E, F and G with a barrel or
cylindrical arm. Then there were central bobbin machines such as the
model Ce and Cf. All were available with a ball-bearing treadle
base.
The machines were guaranteed for five years.
The
machines became an instant success in England and soon offices were
opened in London at 16 South Street, Finsbury.
This German Vesta machine was sold to shops like Collier & Sons of
Clapham road South West London. Colliers were a large ironmongers
that sold just about everything you could think of. They were also
sold through other retailers such as
J. D. Williams & Co Ltd, Manchester
and Sewing Machine Supplies of
Aldergate Street London.
If you look
carefully at your machine you may have a
Winselmann model. You
may see the Titan mark on several pieces of the machine if you have
an early
Winselmann
model.
There was a beautiful
mother of pearl inlay fiddlebase model,
basically a smaller 3/4 size copy of the Singer New Family
transverse shuttle that was around in the 1880's.
Mother of pearl became so expensive that by the late Victorian
period it had become un-commercial. Having to hand polish 15 layers
of japanning to find the inlaid mother of pearl took endless hours
of work, but how wonderful it looked.
This beautiful small Titan fiddlebase, so similar to many Vesta
machines, was made by Gustav Winselmann, also in Altenburg, Germany.
The machine is marked with the makers details stamped on the slide
plate and also Made in Saxony is on the machine (an old reference to
19th century Germany). The badge has the great Titan
standing over the factory holding a sewing machine. The case has the
gold awards that this small machine had won during its impressive
reign at Milano in Italy, Bremen, Bodenbach and Leipzig.
Dietrich passed away in September of 1904 and his
son took over the reigns of their empire. Seventy years after the
factory came to life it was ended as part of the Russian war
reparations. And so LOD and Vesta were no more. Often the factories
were stripped of their machinery and the assets were taken back to
Russia to be used.
By 1910 most of the machines started to look
much the same as patents ran out and everybody used them.
By 1936 the Vesta machines were so admired for
quality that they advertised their machines as the
most famous sewing machines in the world! That was a bit
rich but they were superb machines. The fact that so many are still
sewing today goes to show how well made they were.
Open cut gears and porcelain handle all added to the charm and
appeal to the smaller than average Winselmann machine, identical to
the Vesta, made by an old business partner.
A late Vesta
vibrating shuttle, rather boring compared to their earlier beauties
but a great machine to sew with.
Values
The German
quality engineering has meant that many Vesta and
Dietrich machines still
survive. When working well they make a superb stitch and cope with
modern fabrics with ease. The value of the machines depends on
condition and age. The older machines are far more ornate and fetch
good prices at auction. There is a keen collectors market for the
best ones.
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