Musings about spinning wheels -- reproduction wheels (Midway)

There was a craze for Americana, and in particular, colonial-style decorating in the middle decades of the 20th century.   For those who couldn't afford proper genuine antiques, the market provided new-looking reproductions in the same or similar style.  Reproduction furniture in colonial styles.  Reproduction braided rugs.  Reproduction doo-dads.  Among the doo-dads that could be used to furnish one's rooms were reproduction spinning wheels.  Many were lovely, made from attractive wood that had been nicely finished.

Some, such as the Roxton made in Canada wheel I mentioned in a recent post, were completely non-functional.  But some were honestly patterned after genuine pre-20th century antique wheels.  And some of those actually were usable as spinning wheels.

Country Craftsman and Daneker are moderately well known among fans of vintage reproduction wheels.  Many Country Craftsman wheels are reasonable spinners.  Some Daneker wheels are, too, though from what I've heard, it's more hit or miss with them.

There were manufacturers of kit wheels, too.  A person would buy the kit and assemble the wheel him or herself, staining it or otherwise decorating it appropriately.  Again, some were functional and some weren't.  Ditto for spinning wheel plans, which were fabulous for the home woodworker but weren't always made by people who understood how a spinning wheel produces yarn.

This fondness for spinning wheels of an imagined simpler or more rustic past wasn't just limited to the US.  There are European reproduction wheels, too.

Also, I wonder about the genuine spinning wheel manufacturers around the world that were making wheels then -- how many were aimed at spinners and how many at decorators?

In general, reproduction wheels tend to be a bit cruder than the originals.  The details aren't as refined, and I don't know if that's due to the economics of making these or if it reflected the aesthetic tastes of the times (for simpler or less fussy decorating details).  The ones aiming at the decor market tend to use brass for the metal bits and the placement of hooks on the flyer (if any) can be a little hit or miss.

Anyway, in case it wasn't obvious where this post was going, there are a fair number of these kinds of wheels knocking about on the used market.  They show up at estate sales.  Sold on used doo-dad sites as "sitting in the barn for 20 years or more, and it was here when I moved in".  The sellers tend not to be spinners and mostly thought of these as decor.  And indeed, when I went to look at some of them, they rarely showed any signs of having been used for spinning.

In general, these wheels needed a solid cleaning after being in an unheated outbuilding for a few decades.  They sometimes needed a bit of patience to loosen up parts that were stuck either with grime or with the shrink/swell action of two decades of being outdoors.  They needed a new driveband, and sometimes new bits of leather.  Any distaff that was still with the wheel usually ended up being more ornamental than useful.  And of course they needed lots and lots of oil as I started to spin.

I did not acquire wheels that needed major repairs.  No flyer/bobbin?  Broken flyer or missing/broken flywheel spokes?  Nope, someone else could take on that project.  Ditto for wheels where the flyer/bobbin clearly did not match the rest of the wheel or were obviously non-functional.  I also kept to my very strict budget so I wouldn't be overwhelmed by all the enticing wheels out there.

None of these wheels had more than one working bobbin, and none had orifice hooks or other spinning accessories.  If they had a driveband, it was usually some kind of thick (and ostentatious) rope, as if to emphasize its spinning wheel bona fides.  ("It works!" they would say as they turned the flywheel and the flyer obediently turned, too.)

I do have a few of these vintage repro wheels, but only ones that can spin yarn.  They tend to be a bit finicky but are perfectly usable, and indeed, I do use them.

Probably the first I brought home was a Midway wheel.  I don't know all the history, but the Ohio company that made these reproduction wheel kits also put out a wheel called the Hallcraft wheel.  There might have been a few more brand names, in addition to wheels that were a bit of a mash-up.

It's fairly small, about 3' high and 3' long.  (This seemed tiny when compared with my CPW.)  The ratios are, I believe, 10:1 and 12:1.  It's a double-drive wheel.

This is what it looked like when I picked it up.

Here's another view, from a person who bought out some remaining inventory from the Midway Manufacturing Company and was selling newly-assembled wheels that were similar though not exactly identical.  The distaff is different and mine has darker wood, but they're very similar other than that.

One of my cats chewed on the distaff, alas, but all the distaff ever really did was tip over and fall off, so it's not like I ever used it.

I don't use my Midway very often, but it is a serviceable wheel that makes yarn without a lot of fuss.  What more could one ask for?

I am thinking about selling it, though, or at least loaning it out to a new spinner -- it deserves to go to someone else who is in need of a simple yet functional spinning wheel, and who would use it more often than I do.

Somewhere I have some of the yarn I made on this wheel, but I'm not sure where.  I mostly did small skeins of this and that rather than a large batch of anything..

I have other vintage reproduction wheels but those will be saved for future posts!