ISMACS Logo

International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society

The purpose of the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society is to foster the collecting of, and research into, sewing machines.

Collecting Needle Cases

(Text taken from ISMACS News, Issue 60)
The Boye Rotary Needle, Shuttle and Bobbin Case

click the above picture for a full-sized image

Boye rotary needle and shuttle cases are now getting very popular with collectors.

The cases which at one time could be found in every hardware store  were first introduced in 1906 by the then already 36-year-old company.

Idea behind the dispenser was to end the  mystery behind over 20,000 different brand names that appeared on the market.

This vast number of different brands was produced by only 15 manufacturers who would badge-engineer machines so that large  retailers and mail-order companies could appear to have an exclusive line.

But it also meant that the customer had to go back to the original machine supplier for the simplest spare including even needles.

Boye did his homework and reasoned that only fifteen shuttles were needed to cover the 20,000 machines. So he produced the rotary dispenser and soon had them installed in  thousands of hardware stores all across America In 1910 the dispenser with 144 tubes of needles, 24 shuttles and 72 bobbins  sold to the trade for $61.96. Spare tubes of four needles each were available at $11 per 100.  


ISMACS is an organization totally independent of all sewing-machine manufacturers, past or present and is not affiliated with any of the companies mentioned in these pages.  Please Note: Do not contact any ISMACS official in an attempt to solicit a valuation - it is not possible other than by hands-on assessment and your request will be ignored.

All rights reserved by ISMACS, under International and Pan American copyright conventions. Reproduction or copy of this page, in any form, in part or in whole, is strictly prohibited, without prior, written permission.