Made in or marketed from the town of Muncie in Indiana - it's not clear if Peter Austin was a manufacturer or just a reseller who had commissioned a local engineering company to make the lathe for him. Very small - just 13 5/8" long and 3.375" wide and weighing either 5 lbs (or 10 lbs packed for shipping) - the lathe was intended for only the lightest of tasks and, for just $3, was, of course, supplied without a motor or drive system. With a centre height of just 11/2", it was limited to turning a piece of wood up to three inches in diameter and eight inches long.
Advertised for only two years with tiny entries during 1917 in the "Popular Science" magazine for July, September, October and December and, in 1918, in July, August, September, October and November. Other entries, in the "Popular Mechanics" magazine of 1917, were in April, May, June, August, September, October and November..