Posted 3 years ago
GLehnert
(1 item)
Singer sewing machine with motor and knee controller. G 2416805 -
G1-G- 9999999: Year of issue 1924
I would like to know more about this machine.
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Hi, GLehnert. :-)
Your vintage sewing machine occupies an interesting little corner of Singer history.
At first, I just looked up the serial number as written by you in the description, and noticed that it didn't quite check out:
Serial number G2416805 would have fallen into this block of serial numbers:
*snip*
G- 2401101 2426100 28 25000 October 7 1912
*snip*
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-g-series-serial-numbers.html
It wasn't really the year troubling me; it was the model: 28.
Anybody who's used to looking at vintage Singers could tell at a glance that yours isn't a model 28, which is a vibrating shuttle machine that looks like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Singer.Model27.IdentificationGuide.jpg
Yours looks nothing like that.
So I took a look at the serial number cartouche, of which you'd taken a nice, clear, close-up picture and added to your post.
Your serial number is not G2416805, but rather C2416805.
This is one of the machines made at Singer's Wittenberge factory in Germany.
That's borne out by the information on the motor: "SINGER NAHMASCH MOTOR," "Nahmasch" being the abbreviation for Nahmaschine (sewing machine).
Unfortunately, most of the records at that factory were lost because of WWII, and its aftermath, the Cold War.
However, somebody has pieced together what information they could scrounge from various sources.
Here's their disclaimer about that information:
*snip*
The information contained on this website is the result of my personal experience, hours of research, asking countless questions, intuition, deductions, assumptions, and stuff I just made up. While I welcome corrections and additions to the information contained here within, I am not liable for anything if you use this information in any way.
*snip*
http://www.toolfool.org/sewing/index.htm#Disclaimer
Now that we have that out of the way, per their research, your machine would fall into this range:
C-2.360.151 to C-2.538.370 1923
http://www.toolfool.org/sewing/Wittenberge_Serial_Numbers.pdf
So, 1923. That seems believable to me.
With that forward-facing tension assembly, and D-shaped needle plate, your machine looks like a Singer model 66 or model 99. The high-mounted Singer badge says model 66, rather than model 99:
https://oldsingersewingmachineblog.com/tag/difference-between-singer-66k-and-99k/
About the model 66:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/66
The stitch length adjuster being a knurled screw knob as opposed to a lever says older rather than newer.
Your decal set looks like Filigree:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/decals/decal04
Your face plate looks like (Simanco 32667), and your rear access panel looks like (Simanco 32633)
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/gallery_faceplates
Here's a couple of manuals for the model 66:
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/manuals/singer-model-66-sewing-machine-manual.pdf
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/manuals/singer-model-66-18-sewing-machine-manual.pdf
About the Wittenberge factory:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/wittenberge
In case I'm forgetting anything, here is 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 more questions, just ask them here in a comment on your post.
D'oh! Now that I look more closely at your first picture, you have all kinds of accessories labeled in German.
I see that you have a manual for a model 215, as well as some accessories for that model.
The 215 does look model 66-ish:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/215g
It also looks like you might have accessories for a model 15 -- and a zig-zag attachment!
I don't know if any of those attachments will work with the machine in this post, but that zig-zag attachment is pretty cool.
About Singer zig-zag attachments:
https://beautifulthings-photography.com/2021/02/23/the-magical-world-of-singer-attachments-the-zigzagger/
Hi again, GLehnert. :-)
I'm just following up a bit.
First, a small correction: the German word for sewing machine is Nähmaschine. Those little dots over the "a" matter. It could also be spelled this way: naehmaschine.
It does seem like the green tin labeled "15" was originally intended to hold attachments for a Singer model 15, because here is one labeled "66":
*snip*
Singer SIMANCO Attachments Tin Box Set for SINGER 66k 66
and most SINGER Low Shank Sewing Machines
Made in Germany
Attachments will also fit to almost all Low Shank sewing machines SINGER or any other maker.
*snip*
https://www.etsy.com/listing/856156921/german-singer-attachments-box-for-66k-66
The vendor makes a good point: attachments designed to work with a low-shank sewing machine probably will work with a number of different machines so long as they're low-shank.
Here's one labeled 15:
*snip*
Singer SIMANCO Attachments Tin Box Set for SINGER 15k 15 15-91
and most SINGER Low Shank Sewing Machines
Made in Germany
- SINGER Low Shank Attachments Box for 15 15k 15-91
SINGER Attachments included in Box:
- 35931 Adjustable Hemmer Foot
- 35932 Quilting Foot w Guide
- 25527 Seam Guide
- 121464 Bias Binder
- 121441 Gathering / Shirring Foot
- 120842 5/64" Hemmer Foot
- 36865 Edge Stitcher
- 36583 Tucker / Tuck Maker
- 86642 or 86742 or 120290 Ruffler
- Attaching thumb screw (new)
- SINGER Original Bobbin Winder tire (new)
- Vintage SINGER Tin Box
Attachments will also fit to almost all Low Shank sewing machines SINGER or any other maker.
*snip*
https://www.etsy.com/listing/942113556/singer-attachments-box-for-15k-15-15-91
As to the zig-zag attachment? Eh, give it a whirl.
Wow and a big thank you. All this information. You are right - my little Singer comes form Germany . I emigrated to the USA years ago and brought 3 Singer machines with me. My mother got her first when she was in a higher girls educational school. The zig zag attachment I bought at a thrift store.
Since you said the instructional booklets are not for this machine: Is there a way to just give them to you . I am not a collector . I don't know if that is permitted on this site. It would be just a thank you for all this wonderful info you sent. Gesa
Question: How long did Singer build machines with motor but not with a food pedal but with a bar to control speed with the knee. Are these machines rare?
Again I am blown away of the wealth of information in answers I got and just slowly working my way through it.
GLehnert, You're quite welcome. :-)
Ah, so you emigrated from Germany, and no doubt understand the significance of the umlaut. };-)
I'm not really a vintage sewing machine expert, but rather just an old Internet surfer who became slightly obsessed with them after joining this forum. I mostly try to point people who come looking for help with their vintage sewing machines in the right direction.
Here's my collection of VSM links:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/285089-vintage-sewing-machine-help
Unfortunately I don't really have any place to host the booklets.
However, you could scan them, and then email PDF files to me (my email address is in my profile). I could then offer them to one of the specialty websites that cater to vintage sewing machine enthusiasts.
The Facebook group in particular reportedly has a library of about a thousand manuals, and their librarian is always interested in more:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/VintageSewingMachines/
GLehnert, Whoops, we're like ships passing in the night with our comments today.
I don't think portable Singers that are designed to operate with a knee pedal rather than a foot pedal are particularly rare, but I suspect the foot pedal variety is preferred by most modern users.
Retired sewing machine expert Sid wrote about the knee pedal variety on his blog (which is maintained by a fan of his):
https://oldsingersewingmachineblog.com/2011/08/15/singer-knee-lever-sewing-machines/
Hej Glehnert
I have a machine like yours made in germany at the Wittenberg factory and from my own experience these machines are incredible rare to the point that people refuse to believe that its not just some scam, created from taking parts from different models.
Both Ismac and Singer themselves have refused to acknowledge that these machines were born with both the knee lever and a motor. But these machines are REAL and almost extinct because many of them were melted down in order to help the war effort. Sadly this doesn't mean its worth something because as I said their existence is not acknowledged. This fact adds further to them being rarer and rarer as they are seen as fake and thus used as spare parts.
I have the original manual and I will scan it in and post a link at some later point.
Hi, FvJensen. :-)
This particular vintage sewing post and its follow-on comments got a bit confusing, between the initially misidentified serial number prefix, and a mismatch between the actual model of the sewing machine head and the manual.
What I think GLehnert has is a C prefix serial number Singer portable model 66 with a knee controller, and a hard copy manual for the Singer model 215.
Both Singer models 66 and 215 have the forward-facing disc tension assembly and a D-shaped needle plate, but the 215 has a stitch length surround reminiscent of the model 15-88 or 15-89, e.g.:
https://sewconsult.com/product/singer-15-88-89/
Archive dot org has a German-language user manual for the 215:
https://archive.org/details/singer_215_gebrauchsanweisung_instruction_manual/mode/2up
As to the knee controller, many if not all models of Singer portables came with one early on. The foot pedals came later, I think.
Here is a Singer model 99 (the little sibling of the Singer model 66) with a knee controller:
https://oldsingersewingmachineblog.com/2011/08/15/singer-knee-lever-sewing-machines/
I don't doubt that the 215 is a relatively rare model, given the history of the Karlsruhe Singer factory.
Hi again, FvJensen.
A belated welcome to CW S&T. :-)
I was hoping to save you the effort to scan a hard copy manual for the Singer 215 if it's essentially the same as the one at archive dot org, but it it isn't, by all means do so.
What I'm really interested in is your German-made Singer 215 sewing machine, and I'd love it if you were to create a post with pictures of it.
Insofar as I can tell, the Singer model 215 wasn't made at the Wittenberge factory; it was made at the Karlsruhe factory (and the serial numbers had PA, PB, PC etc. prefixes):
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/wittenberge
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/karlsruhe
FYI, a small correction from what I wrote yesterday: the surround on a model 215 stitch length mechanism looks like that on a model 15-75:
https://pungolivinghome.com/2019/09/30/restoring-a-vintage-1956-singer-model-15-75-sewing-machine/
Hello,
Your Singer 66 is from Wittenberge, Germany
it fits to the C 2.400.000 - 2.500.000 range
Date is 1930
(Confirmed C-2.440.xxx and C-2.461.XXX are 1930 - June and September)
hope that helps.
The most important thing to date this is the change of the brass badge.
It changes about April 1933.
Singer Wittenberge Machines pre 1933 are badged with the international Singer badge (as your machine shows)
Singer Wittenberge past March 1933 are badged with a national "Singer Nähmaschinen Fabrik Wittenberge" badge.
Singer Wittenberge sewingmachines past 1938 were badged with a Decal Badge - cause they are not allowed ro use brass any more - raw materials were scarce - Germany was preparing for the Second World War.
ISMACS will present an intersting paper on Singer Wittenberge and the C serials.
Nopi, thanks for the more accurate dating of this Wittenberge sewing machine head (1930 as opposed to 1923 or 1924). :-)