Pink Atlas Sewing Machine

I wasn’t even looking at sewing machines. I was looking at the stuff hanging on the linen rack at Goodwill. Louie was looking at something, and when I looked at him, he smiled and raised his eyebrows at me. I went to see what he had. ‘$5’ he said. ‘It’s pink, and it has a wrench in the accessory box. You can have the sewing machine, and I’ll take the wrench.’ Sure. Ok. The wrench didn’t fit anything on the sewing machine anyway.

I can’t let the first picture be one that was all dirty, so I’ll let the first one be ‘all cleaned up’. The color looks pretty pale, but I think that is because of the day light filling the kitchen. It really is a little pinker pink than it looks.

Ok, here are the before photos. (This was taken early this morning before the sun was full up…see? A little pinker…and dirtier!)

The lid was pretty dirty.

It was pretty dirty from sitting around, I guess, because the machine doesn’t really show much wear. The inside of the bottom of the case which holds the machine is very clean, with no oil drops. The only thing under the machine was lots of little straight pins. I think the bobbin tire is still the original one. There are spots where the paint is discolored, either from old oil, and/or possibly nicotine, but otherwise in very good condition. A lot more women smoked then, I think, than they do today, and they sewed while holding a cigarette in their hands (just my opinion).

There a two little spots on either side of the Atlas decal in the middle of the bed, otherwise, the paint is great. The decals are in perfect condition. This first picture looks a little funky, but the discolorations are just reflections off something with the bright sun shining in.

It was so dirty, that I unbolted the motor bracket from the machine to clean behind the motor, and then I noticed that there were black flecks of something laying all over on the machine that weren’t there before, and I realized that the cord coating coming out of the motor was disintegrating and was exposing bare wires. Louie took it to the shop and rewired the motor. All safe now. My Hero!  

It sews lovely stitches, and runs perfectly. This is a straight stitch only machine, and the stitches look perfectly straight. This is the front side of the paper towel I test sewed on.

This is the back side, and if you look at the bottom half of the picture, you can see where the black stitches end, and the pink stitches begin. The bobbin had a couple different colors of thread wound on it.

Ta da! The only thing that would make it more perfect, would be a pink case. This one is kind of blue/green.

I looked online to find a manual for it. I didn’t need one. It was easy to figure out, but I liked the thought of having a copy of the original manual, and I liked that it was colorized with a pink machine on the front. If you need, or would like a copy of the manual, click HERE, and the link will take you to where you can purchase a download, like I did. From what I have read, several people have said that this machine was sold in 1957. That is the year I was born. (Shhh…don’t tell!)

The inside of the manual says this machine sold for $199.50 FULL CASH PRICE. That was a lot of money 56 years ago!

The INTRODUCTION says:

The Atlas is the product of many years of research and development in the field of household sewing machines. As it stands, it is the ultimate in efficiency, quality and modern design, yet, its moving parts are standard and interchangeable with parts available at sewing machine supply houses the world over. Its oscillating shuttle and central bobbin produce a lock stitch and place it in the heavy duty household sewing machine category. 

I have wanted a pink Atlas for a long time. I just kind of gave up on it, because prices on eBay were too high for my blood, plus I fear the outcome of people shipping machines, unless I know they have shipped many with good feedback. (Lately, I stalk Craigslist.) About 2 1/2 years ago, I bought a Brother Sewing Machine because I figured it was the closest I would get to the real thing. It was not a good experience, but the machine did survive. You can read about it HERE.

I would say that the machines are very similar. The body has many of the same features. The top body line is a bit different, but the machine has many of the same parts. The decals, name badges and color scheme are only slight differences. They were both made in Japan. Compare and see what you think. I am very happy to add this machine to my collection. It’s PINK and I’m tickled PINK!!!!

I made a little pink and white drawstring bag to put the foot controller in to protect the paint on the machine bed when the cover is on the machine. I bought a couple pink and white valances to ‘unstitch’ for fabric yesterday at Goodwill. I used pink ribbon for the drawstring. The valance has rick rack sewn along the edge, so the bag has a little embellishment as well. I am seeing a new thread catcher pin cushion bag with this fabric in my future.