Received this in the mail which gives some definition to the A&S debate. I realized as I was analyzing this that the A&S page on the website needed updating, too. It is an incredible thrill to find the answer and give clarity to these machines, even when it turns out the original hypothesis was all wrong.

The defining feature of the A&S is the way the anvil sits in the center of the machine. The number one is distinctive because of its split shuttle. The No. 2 is distinctive because of its finger tab, but sometimes it can be confused when that tab is missing, as in the case of a Remodeled No. 1, or the way the anvil is sitting in the machine.

The advertisement is difficult to see but if we zoom in we’ll see the anvil is sitting up above the machine, surrounded by a circular plane.

One more thing.. It should also be noted that even in this image there are differences. Note the ruler on the Universal which does not appear in the Ideal model. Something else that jumped out is the paper tube itself. The No. 1 used a solid black paper-tube, but the earliest No. 2’s used a perforated metal tube, before being replaced for many years to come by a mesh tube.