They followed me home...really

Actually three followed me home--quite literally.
This is a Jones Hand Machine--the label says so.  I think now it's more commonly just called a Jones Hand Crank.
The last owner's dad picked it up in London at the end of WWII, took it to South Carolina, didn't use it, and let it sit on a shelf for at least 40 years.

So far the only thing I've used on this machine is sewing machine oil, cotton tips, and some tiny squares cotton batting scraps.
When a machine is this old and has received only minimal care, it's really hard to guess what may have happened to it.  There's a yellowish powdery looking substance several places, especially on the hand wheel.  With a lot of patience, cotton tips, and sewing oil, the substance does come off.
I can't help wondering what its WWI and WWII adventures were like.
The decals all over the machine are extremely fragile--undoubtedly too fragile to save--and that's sad.
The needle in the machine is broken, has a completely round shank, and I'm not sure what currently available needle would replace it.

That bright and shining gold circle is the back of the badge as seen from underneath the machine.

Yes, there will be a learning curve with this machine--and it starts long before it will be ready for sewing.

It does amaze me that a piece of fascinating Victorian mechanical ingenuity can sit around for a century or so and still work.  All the gears operate pretty smoothly--they'll do even better after they get used to being oiled.

I have not figured out how to get the shuttle and bobbin out yet.

Lots to learn--and eager to learn it.