by mechanic » Sun Mar 04, 2018 8:39 pm
Baker Novelty took over production of Mills products when Mills went into war production. Many Baker machines but not all were cast iron castings, those that are not are the remaining stock of original aluminum castings Mills had on hand. Aluminum was a strategic metal at that time so using aluminum for anything other than war production could land the shop owners in jail. Some things to look for to determine if it is a Baker. Baker sticker is black and yellow plain printing about 3" X 1/12" I have not seen any in over 20 yrs, I guess many were removed and Mills decals replaced them. Last one I seen ended up somewhere in Florida. The other thing to look for is Baker put glitter over the paint to make the machine sparkle in the lights. Once again many think that it was Mills that put the glitter on. The mech should be a standard Mills mechanism however some replacement parts that Baker seem to have a checker pattern on the stampings. These are not repro parts but are second runs which were continued by Mills after the war.