Posted 2 years ago
Phumba
(1 item)
Rare machine, manufactured 1900.
Working condition.
Original box and lid.
Bobbin. Working loading attachment.
Singer sewing machine | ||
| Recent Activity23 of 701 |  |  |
Singer sewing machine | ||
| Recent Activity23 of 701 | | |
Posted 2 years ago
Phumba
(1 item)
Rare machine, manufactured 1900.
Working condition.
Original box and lid.
Bobbin. Working loading attachment.
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Hi, Phumba. :-)
Ya snuck in a vintage sewing machine post on a holiday. };-)
Per the serial numer tables at the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society website, serial number M169455 was one of 97,000 consecutive serial numbers ([M]140400 through [M]237399) allotted by Singer's central office to its Kilbowie/Clydebank factory January - June 1900.
All were intended to be stamped into the beds of model 28K (the "K" suffix means Kilbowie) sewing machine heads:
*snip*
M- 140400 237399 28K 97000 January / June 1900
M- 237400 240399 28K 3000 January / June 1900 R
*snip*
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-m-series-serial-numbers.html
Dunno quite why Singer immediately followed up with a little 3,000 block with the same allotment date and for the same model number. A single allotment block of 100,000 would have seemed like a better idea. *shrug*
It checks out visually as a model 28, because it has all the earmarks of a Singer vibrating shuttle:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Singer.Model27.IdentificationGuide.jpg
About the model 28K:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/28
A manual:
https://archive.org/details/singer-28-user-manual-en/mode/2up
The decal set is known as "Victorian":
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/decals/decal08
I can't see the faceplate or rear access panel, but here is a gallery of them for you to browse:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/gallery_faceplates
About Singer's Kilbowie plant:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/kilbowie
A Google Satellite view of the area that once hosted the Kilbowie Singer plant (there is still a railway station called "Singer" on the northeast corner):
Singer
Kilbowie Rd, Clydebank G81 2JN, United Kingdom
https://goo.gl/maps/ckxa4RrU85UBHXHs9
August 1934 aerial photographs of Singer's Kilbowie (Clydebank, Scotland) factory:
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257700
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257701
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257702
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257703
https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1257704
I don't know that your machine is rare, because insofar as I can tell, Singer made over 6 million model 28/28K machines.
It might be a bit unusual in that it has a M prefix serial number, and that's a pretty small group. There are not even 300,000 serial numbers in it, and 100,00 of them were for model 28K sewing machine heads.
Anyway, in case I'm forgetting anything, here is my collection of vintage sewing machine links:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/285089-help-for-vintage-sewing-machines
However, it's a lot to sift through, so if you have any questions other than value (I don't do value), just ask them here in a comment on your post. If I don't know the answers, I'll go back out into the wilds of the Internat, and try to find some. :-)
D'oh!
"It might be a bit unusual in that it has a M prefix serial number, and that's a pretty small group. There are not even 300,000 serial numbers in it, and 100,00 of them were for model 28K sewing machine heads."
Should have read:
"It might be a bit unusual in that it has a M prefix serial number, and that's a pretty small group. There are not even 300,000 serial numbers in it, and 100,000 of them were for model 28K sewing machine heads.
Because (of course) 97,000 + 3,000 = 100,000.
The reason why the Kilbowie/Clydebank factory had those two back-to-back serial number allotment blocks might have been that the second, smaller block was a casting production run meant to be assembled at another Singer factory:
*snip*
Some of the smaller factories could make complete machines, but others more often just assembled parts sent from the 2 main factories in Elizabethport and Kilbowie.
*snip*
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/locations