Posted 4 years ago
mpierce43
(1 item)
I believe I have a model from 1904, serial number is H296482. Has five drawers, works but the decorative designs are worn. Wife's great grandma used this machine a lot. And then it got passed down.
Singer treadle sewing machine | ||
| Recent Activity154 of 701 |  |  |
Hi, mpierce43. :-)
So this machine belonged to your wife's great grandmother, huh? Very cool.
Yes, the decal set is a bit worn, but decals get that way if the machine is used much. A vintage sewing machine with perfect decals is either one that has been restored (replacement decal sets are available), or the previous owner(s) seldom used it.
Per the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society's Singer serial number tables, H296482 was part of a 25,000 block (294001 through 319000) allotted to a particular factory (per British sewing machine expert Alex Askaroff, the H serial numbers were allotted to the Elizabethport factory) on March 27th, 1906, and all were destined to be stamped into the beds of model 66 machines:
*snip*
H- 294001 319000 66 25000 March 27 1906
*snip*
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-h-series-serial-numbers.html
https://sewalot.com/dating_singer_sewing_machine_by_serial_number.htm
The style of the decal set is a clue that it is indeed a model 66 (while the Singer serial tables are good, they aren't infallible), because the Lotus decal set, like the Red Eye decal set, was only ever applied to model 66 machines:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/decals/decal09
However, if somebody doesn't know that, there is a handy tool that will identify about 18 different models of domestic Singer sewing machines, along with some sub-models thereof:
https://www.sandman-collectibles.com/id-singer-machines.htm
About the model 66:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/66
About the Elizabethport factory:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/elizabethport
https://www.ericwilliamsblog.com/left-behind-in-elizabeth-the-singer-manufacturing-company-part-1/
http://www.ericwilliamsblog.com/left-behind-in-elizabeth-the-singer-manufacturing-company-part-2/
It's actually a bit unusual for an Elizabethport-made model 66 to have the Lotus decal set applied, because more usually, they used the Red Eye decal set. It was the Kilbowie factory in Scotland that usually used the Lotus decal set.
Your cabinet is a slight variation on Cabinet Table No. 2 (because it appears to have metal rather than wooden drawer pulls):
http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/cabinet_table_no_2-3.html
That insert in the center drawer is interesting. It looks like it provided designated places for various attachments.
I couldn't quite make out whether your machine has a back clamping or side clamping presser foot:
https://oldsingersewingmachineblog.com/2012/11/04/the-back-clamp-singer-66-mystery/
It only really matters if you want to use other presser feet, so I'll give you a link for the 1913 manual for the model 66-1 (a back-clamping treadle model 66):
https://archive.org/details/Singer661Manual
I don't know whether you and your wife plan to restore and/or use the machine, so I won't burden you with too many more links right now, so I'll give you this one to my collection of vintage sewing machine links:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/285089-vintage-sewing-machine-help
But it's by no means the be all end all collection of vintage sewing machine references, so if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask in a comment here.