National Sewing Machine Company
National Sewing Machine Company was a Belvidere, Illinois-based manufacturer that started in the late 1800s and operated until 1957. It made sewing machines, washing machines, bicycles, an automobile, home workshop equipment, and cast-iron toys and novelties under the Vindex Toy Company label.
Barnabas Eldredge, connected with the Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts, joined with the June Manufacturing Company in Chicago. Ames had produced sewing machines, and Eldredge moved the dies and equipment to Chicago. The June company, started in 1879 by F. T. June, made the Jennie June sewing machine, which Eldredge later improved and replaced.
In 1890, after June’s death, Eldredge took over and renamed the business National Sewing Machine. He led the company until his death in 1911, after which David Patton took over. Harold D. Neff headed the Vindex toy division from 1916 to 1951; Vindex was the name used for National’s washing machines.
National Sewing Machine Company also partnered with Farm Mechanics magazine, which offered Vindex toys as incentives to encourage children to sell magazine subscriptions.
In 1953, National merged with the Free Sewing Machine Company, but the firm could not compete with cheaper imported Japanese models and closed in 1957.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 03:33 (CET).