Posted 3 years ago
malori
(1 item)
I’ve had this Singer for years and am interested in learning more about it. I know from the serial number it was produced in 1910, but I don’t know much else. Anyone out there able to tell me more?
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Hi, malori. :-)
What you have would be apparent at a glance to most vintage sewing machine enthusiasts: a Singer Red Eye model 66. It would be apparent to them, because that's a much beloved Singer model and decal set.
You're off just a skosh on the age, and perhaps that might have happened if you first encountered that serial number range at this page on the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society (ISMACS) website:
*snip*
G-1,000,000 to G-2,500,000 1910 1912
*snip*
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/singer_dating_by_serial_number.html
That range did indeed begin to roll off the assembly line at the Elizabethport factory in 1910, but it didn't finish until 1912.
A look at the G serial number table narrows it down a bit further:
*snip*
G- 1827001 1877000 66 50000 January 8 1912
G- 1998101 2048100 66 50000 April 10 1912
*snip*
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-g-series-serial-numbers.html
Decoded, that first excerpted line tells you that a block of 50,000 consecutive serial numbers (1827001 through 1877000) was allotted January 8 1912 to one of Singer's factories, and all of those numbers were destined to be stamped into the beds of model 66 machines.
The reason I excerpted a second line of information from the G serial number table is to narrow down further the date your machine might have rolled off of the assembly line. That second line is the next block of numbers that was intended for model 66 machines, so given that WWI hadn't yet started, it's probably a safe assumption (yeah, I know about "assume") that your machine was made some time between January 8 and April 10, 1912.
About the Singer model 66:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/66
It looks to me like you have the back-clamping presser foot variety, so I'll give you a link for the 1913 66-1 manual:
https://archive.org/details/Singer661Manual
The famous Red Eye decal set:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/decals/decal10
I can't quite tell from your pictures which variety of faceplate you have, but the rear access panel looks like the 66K - Flat (Simanco 32561):
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/gallery_faceplates
Your cabinet is Cabinet Table No. 2:
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/
About Singer's South Bend, Indiana cabinet factory:
https://orangebeanindiana.com/2019/06/12/south-bends-singer-sewing-machine-company/
Here's a circa 1934 documentary made at Singer's Kilbowie (Clydebank, Glasgow, Scotland) factory. While this documentary was made over a decade after your machine, I suspect that the serial number stamping machine was already in use, because the serial number is so neatly stamped into the little bronze-colored cartouche on your machine.
You can see that machine in action, starting at around the 14:17 mark:
https://movingimage.nls.uk/film/1592
If you want to explore further, here's my collection of vintage sewing machine links:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/285089-vintage-sewing-machine-help
However, it's a lot to sift through, so if you have specific questions, you can just ask them here in a comment. If I don't know the answers, I'll go back out into the wilds of the Internet, and try to find them.