$120 key
Years ago in Seattle we bought a Singer sewing machine – an antique? It cost an arm to ship it to the east coast. It had a wooden cover that locked down. My mother used this machine when I was a kid (not the exact same machine, silly). So, it was okay with me to spend the considerable sum at that time. I’ve been looking at machines off and on since that time. They are all expensive (relatively).
Of course, we lost the key. The machine sat locked and unavailable for decades. Yes, decades! Then, I chanced upon a beat up machine in the basement of an old dingy store. The price was right! Gotcha! Into the car and onward. The very next stop (on the same day!) – oh my! There was a nearly mint sewing machine. …with a key! Aha! Does it fit mine? Who can know. It’s not a complicated key. I took pictures of the key. Oh well! The price was not out of reach. I tested this machine. It ran off a knee switch. Yup, never heard of such a thing. The second ran on electricity and used a foot switch (like mama’s) The first one was a hand crank! Wow, all different and of different ages but of similar design and appearance. What to say? …got three of them. The best news of the day… the key fit. So I got two for the price of that darn key. Yay! Now go make a copy of the key, dummy.
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