Philip Morse and his wife began their company in
1948. At one time many sewing machines
were made in Japan. Japanese companies
shipped their products through Morse’s shipping company, Mercury. Once
in the U.S. the machines were distributed to various sellers who would brand
the machines with their badge. Among them, Janome, White and Kenmore. Staying
true, if a machine had “JA” inscribed it meant the machine was Made
in Japan.
Morse began selling sewing machines also. BUT, he didn’t
mark his machines JA though they were
Made in Japan.
Morse and his company Mercury would remove any
information linking the machines to their Japanese origins. Instead, he’d advertise and label his sewing machines
as being “Made in America with
American parts.”
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) learned of his
fraudulent claims and ruled against Morse in 1955 stating that he
misrepresented country of origin and manufacturer. Obviously, this omittance
was done to bolster sales.
If you'd like to know more about the Morse story go to Silver Bobbin .
I decided to give my Morse sewing machine a facelift. Before I could paint it I attempted to repair some of the rough spots.
