There have been many detailed published accounts about the Moldacot and its history, so I will keep these notes to a minimum.

The story of their manufacture during the latter half of the 1880s is certainly one full of woe.
Using S.A. Rosenthal's 1885 patent, together with one initiated by A.D. Moll & J.C. Cottam a year later, the Moldacot Pocket Sewing Machine Co. was launched in 1886.
A flood of optimism within the UK trade press, and a spectacular advertising campaign enticed a large scale uptake of its newly issued shares.
With over £75,000 raised, it was not long before the directors found themselves pressured for results from anxious shareholders. Machines were simply not being sold. The company initially blamed their manufacturing contractors' inability to supply. However, during the inevitable subsequent liquidation hearing in 1888, it was disclosed that tens of thousands of machines were held in warehouses, suggesting that a simple lack of sales had been a major factor in the company's demise.
With much of the original capital spent on securing patent rights, there remain to this day unanswered questions concerning the whole propriety of this short-lived business.

It appears that two factories in Britain and one in Germany actually manufactured the machines. The earliest model had no provision for the later optional hand crank assembly. These crank mechanisms appear in two forms, open-centre or solid wheel. The full kit machine was retailed at sixteen shillings.
Most machines were sold in attractive tin boxes, these being red, blue or green in colour. Cheap cardboard and deluxe embossed leather-over-wood boxes were available for the two extreme ends of the market.

Sold as miniature portables, not toys, the Moldacot's commercial failure really stems from its lack of ability to sew well. Even the most patient of operators can spend an age to coax a mere handful of stitches. It's probably a sad fact that several more competent portable miniature designs of the period failed to get off the ground due to the overwhelming bad publicity left in the Moldacot's wake.
What is without doubt is that the machines were beautifully made, and at least one of these gleaming gems should belong in every sewing machine collection. Fortunately, many were constructed, so they are not too difficult to find.

G.D. April 2001
photos - GD Collection.