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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.
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 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 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.
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. If you have any information to add please do contact me it is really useful for research and helps others. |
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Well that's it, I do hope you enjoyed my work. I love to hear from people so drop me a line and let me know what you thought: alexsussex@aol.com Fancy a good read: Ena Wilf & The One-Armed Machinist A brilliant slice of 1940's life: Spies & Spitfires
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