Posted 3 years ago
Kelly12345
(1 item)
I found this old sewing machine in an lady’s house I cleaned out. I looked it up and I think it’s from around 1930? I was hoping to learn a little bit more about it! I think it’s so cool!
Old sewing machine! | ||
| Singer Sewing Machines74 of 701 |  |  |
1910 Model 27. I could tell by the cabinet it was pre 1920.
Is that a GS serial #? I will look more.
OK 1917 I misread the #
It probably just needs a little cleaning and lubrication and will still sew just fine….mine does!
They were meant to last.
Hi, Kelly12345. :-)
That serial number looks to me like "G9431246."
Per the Singer serial number tables at the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society (ISMACS) website, "G9431246" was one of a block of 25,000 consecutive serial numbers (G9427701 through G9452700) allotted by the central office to one of the Singer factories (in this case, Elizabethport) on May 31 1922, and all were destined to be stamped into the beds of model 127 machines:
*snip*
G- 9427701 9452700 127 25000 May 31 1922
G- 9452701 9462700 127 10000 June 3 1922 St. Johns
G- 9563101 9588100 127 25000 September 20 1922
*snip*
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-g-series-serial-numbers.html
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/singer_dating_by_serial_number.html
FYI, the reason I excerpted three lines of information from the G serial numbers table is to give you a bit more insight into the internal workings of the Singer company.
The first line I excerpted is the most pertinent to your machine. The third gives you a better idea of when your machine rolled off of the line. Too many people get the idea that the allotment date of the block of serial numbers that encompasses the serial number on their machine is literally the manufacture date of their machine, and that probably isn't true.
However, it's probably safe to say that your machine probably came off the line some time between May 31 and September 20 1922 (the latter being the allotment date of the next block of numbers to the Elizabethport factory for model 127 machines).
In 1922, WWI was over (Singer was heavily involved in supporting the war effort in both WWI and WWII), so barring a labor strike, or factory equipment breakdown, it's quite likely your machine was made some time in that multi-month window.
The second line excerpted is only interesting in that the central office allotted a block of 10,000 numbers to the St John factory for the manufacture of more model 127 machines shortly after its allotment to the the Elizabethport factory.
The Singer model 127 machine was popular. :-) The whole Singer family of vibrating shuttle machines was so popular that people like Watchsearcher use them to this day:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/297921-1902-singer-treadle-machine-and-2021-sew
That your machine is a model 127 is supported visually, because of the high-mounted bobbin winder in addition to the trapezoidal access panel, the circular needle plate, and dual slide plates:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Singer.Model27.IdentificationGuide.jpg
The only thing that really differentiates the 127 from the 128 is size. The 128 is a three-quarters size version of the 127 (see chart in the below article):
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/28
About models 127 and 128 specifically:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/128
A manual for the 127 and 128:
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/manuals/127-128.pdf
Your decal set looks like the Sphinx:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/decals/decal12
I can't see your face plate or the rear access panel, but here is a gallery of them for you to browse:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/gallery_faceplates
Your cabinet looks like Cabinet Table No. 2 (plain with five drawers)
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/cabinet_table_no_2-3.html
About the Elizabethport factory:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/elizabethport
https://www.ericwilliamsblog.com/left-behind-in-elizabeth-the-singer-manufacturing-company-part-1/
https://www.ericwilliamsblog.com/left-behind-in-elizabeth-the-singer-manufacturing-company-part-2/
Just for the heck of it, about the St. Johns factory:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/stjohns
And in case I'm forgetting anything, my collection of vintage sewing machine links for you to browse:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/285089-vintage-sewing-machine-help
However, it is a lot to sift through, so if you have questions, you can just ask them here in a comment.
Knew I'd forget something. >8-0
In case you were wondering why your pictures are oriented sideways, it's probably because the Collectors Weekly Show & Tell software doesn't always play nicely with pictures from all input sources, especially smartphones and tablets.
If you have a desktop computer, you can try saving copies to it, and uploading them from there.
If you don't, you can try editing copies of them on whatever your local computing device is, making the long sides of the rectangular image a bit shorter, and then editing your post, replacing the currently versions with the edited copies. Some times that'll do the trick.
Also, this isn't really pertinent, but I love that little telephone niche behind your sewing machine. <3
That kind of feature was common in houses of a certain age:
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-fb5b5170ad17ed421fe76f4fce12aaeb
*snip*
In the boom years of the 1920s, telephone companies for the first time offered to pre-wire new home construction, saving considerable time over having to install telephone wiring in a home without any provision for a telephone. Usually builders would include a telephone niche, in the front hallway, so that the entire home would have easy access to the telephone.
The fact that few homes from the 1920s were built without a telephone niche or nook was a sign of the growing popularity of telephones as “standard” expectations for the middle class. The same could be said about driveways or garages.
*snip*
It does look like somebody modified it at some point with a modular jack (originally, it would have been a hard-wired connection), so I suspect it enjoyed use for quite a few years.
My bad; I forgot to give the link for the telephone niche information I excerpted in my previous comment:
https://www.quora.com/What-year-did-telephones-become-standard-in-U-S-homes