General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

2

Total Parts

2

AKA

foot pedal

Patents

N/A

General Description

Heavy cast metal foot pedal is heavily soiled; black rubber (?) covering on foot pad and on electrical cord; yellow synthetic plug head fitting.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

13.4 cm

Width

9.1 cm

Height

4.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Agriculture

Category

Crop processing

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Linemaster

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Connecticut

City

Woodstock

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Nova Scotia

Period

This machine probably used c. 1980s +.

Canada

Unless they are homemade, today all Christmas wreaths are made using this technology and this specific model line of stitching machines. The vast majority of natural Christmas wreaths sold in Canadian retail outlets, through print advertisements and on-line, are manufactured in Lunenburg Country, Nova Scotia. Since the 1950s, starting in early October, rural women in Nova Scotia and in particular Lunenburg County have found temporary work either on a piece work basis or at minimum wage making Christmas wreaths on set-ups like that of the Lord family. The boughs used to make the wreaths are often "off-cuts" or trimmings from Christmas trees harvested by the owner of the operation. Richard Lord had a seasonal shop containing five Kelco machines; he wholesaled his production to retail firms that would then market them through newspaper advertisements and more recently on-line. [Ref. 1]

Function

General: Used to remotely control the speed of the motor. Specific: Used to remotely control the speed of the motor in order to control the operation of the stitcher (.1) .

Technical

This Kelco K102 is a specialized tool designed to mechanize what initially would have been a manual job. Although these machines are produced in a range of sizes, like the Howey #3, the K102 is the most commonly used size of wreath making machine. .1 stitcher works in a similar fashion to an electric sewing machine, bringing a strand of fine wire down, around, and up and over the stem ends of the bundles of boughs. [Ref. 1]

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

"LM CLIPPER/ CAT. NO. 632-S/ LISTED 6908/ / [UL logo]/ [[+S logo]/ FOOT OPER./ SWITCH/ HZ4/ LINEMASTER SWITCH CORPORATION/ WOODSTOCK, CT, USA/ 20 A 125 - 250 VAC ~/ 1 HP 125-250 VAC/ [CSA logo] " printed on plate fitted to foot pedal casing.

Missing

Unknown.

Finish

Heavy cast metal foot pedal is heavily soiled; black rubber (?) covering on foot pad and on electrical cord; yellow synthetic plug head fitting.

Decoration

N/A