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Home Profit Knitting Machine
The Master Machine at the Babcock Museum was my first introduction to the yet unidentified Home Profit Knitting Machine. I was immediately impressed by the smooth action of the machine. It appears that the brass cylinder provides a good bearing surface for the needles. Later, I recognized the knitter in Ralph Kanko's Knitting Machine Museum and learned that the Home Profit Hosiery Company was based in Rochester, NY, where I reside. A Master Machine was soon placed on my wanted list.
This summer, I took a Gearhart Knitter to the Somerset Old Fashioned Farm Festival to knit scarves with Jean and Stella. I brought their machine home after the festival to clean it up for the Museum.
In another stroke of good timing, I acquired my own Master Machine through a trade with W. Murray Clark when I visited Clark's Trading Post in September. Mr. Clark also loaned me a Home Profit Instruction Manual, enabling the reprinting of a manual for the Babcock House Museum and others.
The work of reprinting the manual and cleaning up the Machine is nearing completion, and the Somerset Historical Society will soon have all they need to learn sock making, including the use of the ribber attachment. Jean and Stella are looking forward to demonstrating the machine again at the "Victorian Christmas" this December.
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Master Machine --Design Changes
I have two observations about the Master Machine owned by the Museum. It had no marks or holes to indicate a manufacturers tag had ever been attached. Secondly, the legs were attached to the base in a manner that prevented a firm mounting. Apparently, the company recognized these as omissions and made positive changes. A diamond shaped manufacturers tag was added, and the legs were changed from round to square at the joint. This photo of the Babcock machine shows the round bosses where the legs are held by a single bolt. On later machines the bosses were square. It appears that the Babcock machine was built prior to these improvements.
The Home Profit machines had no numbers of any kind to indicate a likely time of manufacture.
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Making Scarves
Jean Stisser and Stella Robison Wear old fashioned garments as they knit scarves at the Somerset Old Fashioned Farm Festival, which is held annually at the Babcock House Museum, Barker, New York.
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