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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.
Link to:Willcox & Gibbs history
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Willcox & Gibbs dating Dating W&G chainstitch machines is not an exact art but this is a close as we are going to get. There were good years and bad with sewing machine production so numbers can vary greatly from year to year. NOTE:
If your machine number is prefixed with the letter A then it was
made after 1876. There is a magic formula to work it out below. Year Numbers made (no letter A prefix)
After 1879/1880 most W&G machines were prefixed with the letter A though there was a B series as well (scalloped bases) and to add more confusion there was a later series (grey electric) with no letter like the first pre-1876 ones and the free-arm hat machines which had a letter S prefix. Early rare Willcox & Gibbs 1870 model chain stitch machine
What we are going to do here is concentrate on the letter A prefix models which make up the majority of post 1876 machines. Willcox & Gibbs hat chains stitch model 200 series had an S letter prefix before the serial number
To work out an approximate date of for the A series (only for machines with the letter A before the number) try this formula. This is by no means perfect but does work in many cases. Ignore the A and remove 279638 from your number. Divide the number you have left by 17500. Then add the first two digits of the number you have to 1877. This should give you an approximate year of manufacture. If your number comes out below 1, for example .78888888 then your machine was made between 1876 and 1879. Example of letter A prefix Willcox & Gibbs chain stitch sewing machine post 1875
Take the number above, ignore the A, (545351), minus 279638 from it. Divide by 17500. Answer, 15.1836. Ignore everything but the first two digits (15). Add this to 1877. 1877 + 15, bingo. Approximate year of manufacture 1892. I do hope that helps you work out a rough age of your little W&G machine. If anyone out there has a better dating system for the missing W&G dates do let me know: alexsussex@aol.com
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Fancy a funny story: Ena Wilf & the one-armed Machinist |
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Well that's it, I do hope you enjoyed my work.
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A brilliant slice of 1940's life: Spies & Spitfires
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