That looks like fun but also looks uncomfortable bending over like that. Were all the old Tredle lathes like that? I saw some really cool youtube videos of a guy that built his own.
All the ones I seen from that era through the early 1900s were like that. The one sold by Sears in the 1920 was identical. This particular one sold new with tools for $10 in the 1860s. These days they sell for hundreds of dollars.