Posted 2 years ago
NickM
(39 items)
Picked up this little portable the other day. No serial numper plate in the usual spot. Any idea what model it is?
Singer portable | ||
| AnythingObsc…'s loves269 of 9553 |  |  |
Singer portable | ||
| AnythingObsc…'s loves269 of 9553 | | |
Posted 2 years ago
NickM
(39 items)
Picked up this little portable the other day. No serial numper plate in the usual spot. Any idea what model it is?
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Hi, NickM. :-)
What you have is the much-coveted Singer model 221, also known as a Featherweight:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/featherweight/221k
They're so popular that there is an entire, detailed website dedicated to it and its sibling the model 222 (the free-arm Featherweight), including pictures to help you find the serial number (it's on the underside), e.g.,:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0992/8814/files/Serial_Number_large.JPG?4381655699600843957
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0992/8814/files/Serial_Number_2_medium.jpg?4381655699600843957
*snip*
Most serial numbers are found on the bottom of a Featherweight next to the bottom tray (left photo), but a few of the early AD models are found
inside & underneath the bottom tray (right photo).
*snip*
https://singer-featherweight.com/blogs/schoolhouse/dating-your-featherweight-machine
There's an incredible wealth of information about Singer models 221 and 222 at that website, but I hope that you'll post the serial number here, so that I can date it, etc. I'm a glutton for information like that. };-)
Thanks for the information. Another Singer in the stable!
NickM, You're welcome. :-)
FYI, be advised that if your Featherweight turns out to have a St. John's factory serial number like your portable Singer vibrating shuttle does, the information about its age will be limited.
There's actually a rather sad story about the Singer factory at St. John's at the Featherweight site that suggests reasons why the records for that site are so poor:
https://singer-featherweight.com/blogs/schoolhouse/singer-sewing-at-the-st-johns-factory-quebec-canada
However, the Singer Featherweight itself is a star, not only for quilters who like to travel, but a Hollywood star.
A Singer Featherweight puts in a cameo appearance in 1979's "Kramer vs. Kramer."
It's the scene where Hoffman's character decides that his wife isn't coming back, and it's time to purge the apartment of her left-behind belongings.
The Featherweight is among the 'leftovers' in a closet.
This incredibly detailed timeline might allow you to pin your machine down to a single year even if it's a St. John's factory machine:
https://singer-featherweight.com/blogs/schoolhouse/timeline-history-of-the-singer-featherweight
Judging from the features I can see in your pictures, your Featherweight looks like it's circa 1936.
Finally following up on this featherweight. Serial number shows AF939123
I can't make any sense of the database, help!
NickM, Huh.
I'll tell ya what: I can't make any sense of the serial number tables at ISMACS with regard to your machine, either.
When I look up "AF939123" in the AF serial number table, it says that the allotted block of numbers to which it belongs was destined for model 15 sewing machine heads:
<snip>
AF- 907451 942450 15 35000 May 14 1941
<snip>
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-af-series-serial-numbers.html
On the theory that the machine that stamps the serial numbers might have made an incomplete strike on an "E" character, and I look up "AE939123" in the AE serial number table, it says that the allotted block of numbers to which that belongs was also destined for model 15 sewing machine heads:
<snip>
AE- 913591 963590 15 50000 April 13 1938
<snip>
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-ae-series-serial-numbers.html
Your machine is very clearly not a model 15.
Off to the Featherweight site:
<snip>
AF* 907451 - 942450* **** May 14th* 1941
<snip>
*Singer Sewing Machine models within this batch of serial numbers have no further historical records, but can only been verified by year based on data provided by Featherweight owners and caveat #2 & #3 at the top of this page.
<snip>
https://singer-featherweight.com/blogs/schoolhouse/dating-your-featherweight-machine
The pertinent caveats:
<snip>
2. Your machine truly is a Featherweight, but the records were lost or not accurately recorded at the old Singer factories. Click here for the differences between a 221 or 222.
3. Your Featherweight is among the few that were mis-stamped.
If the latter 2 of the 3 possibilities, then the two letter prefix can be used to reference the approximate date estimation based on the serial number sequences.
<snip>
So it looks like your machine was mis-stamped. Very interesting.
Based on the characteristics of your Featherweight, I would have pegged it as circa 1936, but the AF series of serial numbers are 1938-1941. *shrug* Go figure.
Thank you for following up, and providing a picture of your Featherweight's serial number. };-)
Thanks for confirming my findings concerning the serial number. I thought I was doing something wrong even though it is not complicated. Must be a manufacturing error.
NickM, You're welcome. :-)
Yes, a manufacturing error. I have no idea what might have gone wrong. There was a lot of chaos at the St. John's factory; however, the AF prefix serial numbers were allotted to the Elizabethport factory:
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/singer_dating_by_serial_number.html
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/
If you want more information or a second opinion on your Featherweight, you could ask the folks at the Featherweight site:
https://singer-featherweight.com/pages/contact-us
The available information about vintage Singer sewing machines is far and away the most comprehensive for any vintage sewing machine manufacturer, but it's not flaw-free.
Unfortunately, with the recent deaths and imminent retirement of key staff, the ISMACS site has become like a ghost ship. :-(
Hopefully, some younger, knowledgeable vintage sewing machine enthusiasts will step in, and revitalize it.
NickM, I'm just following up a bit more on the serial number anomaly.
In reading that page at the Featherweight site more thorougly, it looks like there were problems with more than just the AF prefix serial numbers, and former ISMACS guru Graham Forsdyke (he's one of the ISMACS staffers who died recently) worked with Singer to fix some but not all of them.
Out of curiosity, I decided to visually check any CW S&T posted Singers that had serial numbers in the problem tables (AF, EV, EY, FA, and JE).
Insofar as I can tell, the only ones posted here are in the AF prefix group. There were ten of them, only three were Featherweights, and only yours had a serial number in a problematic range.
In a way, you have a rare machine. Dunno if that makes it more valuable, or just interesting. };-)
In researching this further, I'm reminded that I still have a lot of backfilling work to do, so I'd best get to it.
Tried to get an opinion from the feathweight site folks but have not heard back from them yet. Very rare machine indeed.