Fanny arrived in my studio after being ‘rescued’ from an arts centre. She had been used – and abused – and at the time I didn’t really think about her age too much. Doug retro-fitted a brake cable instead of the ratchet brake system she came with and as soon as she was ready to go she went into active service and I never really looked back.
But I belong to a group on Ravelry called Leclerc Looms and there is a thread there about when various loom models were manufactured. After seeing the various iterations of the decals used over the years, I knew that mine did not fit into any of those categories. So I became curious.
From the amount of wear on her we knew that she was ‘elderly’. Also from the fitments – e.g. no shed regulator possible – the top roller just sits in slots in the top of the castle and the heddle bar keepers are just hooks, not the spring clips seen nowadays.
In a fit of procrastination I took a photo of the decal and emailed Francois, not expecting any sort of answer for a few days. It is Saturday, after all! And the end of the holiday season. I knew there were people at work as I’d sent in a yarn order earlier in the week and gotten acknowledgement of that.
Imagine my surprise when, within an hour of sending my question, Francois replied!
My little 36″ Fanny is venerable, indeed. He couldn’t give a precise date but says prior to 1960.
Apart from the modifications we did when we got her, it looks like everything except the treadle ties, also replaced recently, is original, including the aprons.
Weave on, old girl! Weave on!