"COMING SOON!" Antique Mercury Over Lock M-81A-3 Sewing Machine 1940's or 1950's

Antique Mercury Over Lock Sewing Machine

Back Of Machine

 

Inside Back Of Machine

Over Lock sewing machines were not produced for the public until the 1960's. This is an industrial "Over Lock" sewing machine estimated to have been produced and used in the 1940's or 1950's. Mercury machines were produced by the "Goodrich Company" and their Mercury sewing machines were manufactured in the U.S. for export during their early time in business. They did sell domestically but the competition from Singer was enormous so Mercury concentrated on overseas sales. Goodrich did have other brands of sewing machines they did sell domestically but the Mercury brand was manufactured for export. 

The Mercury brand is still around in the U.S. as modern manufactured sewing machines. This antique overlock sewing machine was brought back to the U.S. by asian immigrants who kept using it for their business inside the U.S..

Missing Manufacturing Badge

These antique Mercury Over Lock machines are copied, manufactured and sold to this day in India, Nigeria and Japan. The look may be changed here and there but the pot metal, mechanical mechanisms and the basic design are the same. 

This antique "Over Lock" sewing machine was produced in the U.S. and the badge has fallen off as they usually did with the U.S. made exported Mercury machines. In the 1960's the manufacturing of these machines was moved to Japan as the Japanese economy was on the rise and U.S. trademark and copyright laws were putting pressure on Mercury for coping the Singer Overlock machine. This sewing machine is not marked "Japan" on the bottom so it's not a 1960's or later Japan machine. 

Overlock sewing machines for personal home use were not manufactured until the 1960's. Before the 1960's Overlock sewing machines were only used for industrial manufacturing. 

The Mercury machine was made by the Goodrich sewing machine company in Chicago, Illinois. They basically made copies of other companies machines like The Singer's New Family and a variety of Domestic's and National's vibrating shuttle machines. A lot of them went for Export to Europe. This info Comes from Charles Law his Encyclopedia of Antique Sewing Machines - third edition.

Old sewing machines with the name "Mercury" on them are known as "badged" machines. Badged sewing machines are mass-produced inexpensive versions of brand sewing machines, such as Singer, which were then sold to smaller chain stores who renamed them, providing them with the "badge" name. Mercury sewing machines were manufactured by the Goodrich Sewing Company of Chicago, Illinois for both domestic and export markets from 1894 to the 1950s. Mercury badged machines were also produced in Japan by an unknown company during the 1960s and 1970s. Mercury machines were modeled on Singer sewing machines and are similar in design.

 

Side View Of Tray And Needle

 

Inside Needle Mechanism

The first overlock sewing machine was produced by "Singer" and research tells me that Mercury copied the Singer Overlock Machine for export. Mercury copied the Singer Overlock Machine and exported it to foreign countries, mainly England to avoid U.S. copyright and trademark laws. The Mercury Overlock sewing machines were made in the U.S. then sent overseas for sale. Very few Mercury Overlock Sewing Machines exist in the U.S..

This is a picture of the Singer Overlock Sewing Machine Mercury Copied For Overseas Sale

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