Kissel Spinner

When I bought my Kissel electric spinner, I didn't know much about it. In searching for information on the web, I found two other spinners who owned them but knew nothing about their history. One of those spinners graciously sent me a copy of the instruction manual which had the manufacturer's address on the last page. I was able to contact them and recently received a reply and the added bonus of a few extra drive bands. The drive bands are large O-rings which should be readily available, but none of the hardware stores in my area have the size required.
The Kissel Spinner was designed in the early 1980's by Tom Kissel. He and his wife, Ruth made and sold some 400 of these little machines. Their goal was to make an inexpensive electric spinner that many people could afford. They sold them through advertisements in Spin-Off magazine.
I have no idea where mine fits in the line-up. It is a box model. The later box models had a built in lazy kate. The woman I bought it from told me that for plying you twist the drive band to make the machine spin in reverse for plying. I have yet to try it but, Mrs. Kissel confirmed this.