outside, but inside the museum one would never know it. Sally’s knowledge about the machines and their history left me in awe. Not only does Sally know their detailed lineage, she is able to clean and do some minor repairs on them too. She doesn’t try fixing the electric ones though, due to their intricate wiring. Sally is quick to add that the museum is a family affair and that her sisters, all their husbands and even her mom is very involved with it. Evelyn Hanson, the ninety-five years strong matriarch of the family, is the baker of homemade cookies and breads for all the tours guests. She believes that good hospitality means always having cookies and coffee for company. There have been literally busloads of women, sometimes numbering fifty or more and all are excited to visit the museum. Evelyn has been kept very busy assisting with tours, and was the impetus for urging her family to get the renovations completed for the museum’s first open house in September 2017. Sally is the oldest sister of the five. All were born on the family farm in Elk Point, South Dakota. The sisters are all very close, especially to their mother and visit frequently. Gloria Miller lives in Yankton, Marie Guillaume in Fort Worth, Texas, Linda and Bill Sparks in Aurora, Colorado and Geri and Nick Leone live in Freehold, New Jersey. “There are regular times of the year when we all get together in Vermillion.” Along the walls of the first room, the sewing machines are placed in chronological order with placards and posters providing helpful information about dates, models, and manufacturers. Even though there are some of the same models, each one is distinctly different. There are differences in cabinets, decals, treadle, crank and some being electric. Included in the main barn are examples of machines from five European countries and also Japanese machines made after World War II. It has been said that these foreign machines caused the end of the sewing machine industry in the United States, with Singer being the last manufacturer closing in 1988. This was because the Japanese models were made so well and sold for a third of the American version’s price. In addition to the parade of sewing machine models, there are unique displays of antique pincushions, sewing boxes, quilts, furniture and family mementos. Sally says her family wanted to share their parent’s legacy. Pictures of the family dating back to great grandparents are interpersed in the timeline of the machines as couples were married and their children were born. The making of clothing for the family is a tradition that’s been passed on for generations. Evelyn’s mother made many dresses from feed sacks that had pretty designs incorporated into the material. Evelyn continued to sew on a treadle machine, because the farm didn’t have electricity until the 1950’s. All the women sewed and were very active in home economics and the 4-H club. There are examples of lovely winter coats made by Sally’s grandmother, who never needed to use patterns. Family photos illustrate how the sisters had matching dresses made for special occasions like Easter, Christmas and other holidays. The origin of the museum was based on necessity. Sally had collected about twenty machines over the years and needed a place to display them. Her four sisters also had machines and sewing stuff that they owned and felt ready to downsize their collections, but Sally just wasn’t ready to part with hers and suggested showcasing them in the barn instead. She hoped they could create a space where people could come together to sew, have fun and appreciate these beautiful machines. “In the Midwest we don’t have access to the really old machines like they have in the East coast and in the big cities. We had a plan to find some of these machines and bring them back to South Dakota.” Sally’s sister, Geri and her husband, Nick, from New Jersey have most recently brought back a Grover Baker they’d discovered in Brooklyn. It will be HERVOICEvNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018v9