TGood

I have a latter model Singer 66 that has a stitch regulator with a reverse, so some 66s do have a reverse.

Macybaby

There is a lot of information on identifying Singers - it's the other mfg that get confusing, as often they deliberately copied each other, and used similar names to "fool" buyers, or it was a badged name owned by the reseller, and the reseller switched suppliers a few times.

And then there was a lot of consolidation over time, and one company bought out another and continued to use the name for the brand recognition already established.

For US machines pre Japanese clone era, I've found that identifying what the attachment points/shuttle and needle goes a long way to identifying the machine. The shape of the needle plate is often unique too, or limited to only a few MFG, so it narrows down.

For leaf tension (top tension) I have also seen quite a bit of uniformity - also I don't think Singer ever made a machine with a leaf tension.

I am going to put together a chart that shows all this. I'll also be taking detailed measurements of round bobbins, and even experimenting by trying to use similar sizes in different machines.

Farmhousesewer

Cathy,

Quite an undertaking. Thanks. I had thoughts of doing something on the Yahoo group Vintage Japanese machines, but cannot contact the owner and would need to use existing photos. With new format, not easy to undertake. My thought was to identify a machine, list other brands & badges of the same model with a cross reference by name and manufacturer.

For US machines, I would recommend 2 books, but they are not easy to find now. One is Encyclopedia of Antique Sewing Machines by Charles Law. The other is The Encyclopedia of Early American Sewing Machines by Carter Bays. Both are outrageously priced as they have not been reprinted. I have the 2nd ed & I was able to get the 3rd Ed of Carter's book as a PDF download for $23. Do not get an issue where you have to go up to anyone's site to view. Go directly to the publisher, Collector Books. The owners are the ones who started AQS ( American Quilters Society and the Museum in Paducah). They stop printing, but do offer downloads. http://www.collectorbooks.com/ and http://www.collectorbooks.com/items/...imageField.y=0
I have been at Carter's home to see his collection. It is amazing. Note though, he specializes in very early and patent model US machines. If you would have any one book, I would recommend the Charles Law book, but they are untouchable, unless you are lucky.

At one point Charles Law reprinted himself, but I don't see anything on line right now.

On line, I would suggest http://needlebar.org; especially http://www.sewmuse.co.uk/machines.htm to name a couple.

If you have the opportunity to visit with people and see their collections, the experience is undeniably invaluable. For example, as part of the North Carolina Toga ( Treadleon Gathering and Academy) get together, we go on a tour of the Harry Berzak collection. Even though I have seen it before, I will never miss this field trip!

It is all about experience, and being thankful that people like Cathy are willing to do the analysis and work and share their findings.

Hope this helps,

Macybaby

I have the PDF file of one of the Carter Bays book, third edition. Love the pictures, but was disappointed because it's got a small section about the era I'm interested in. It's got a bigger section on toy machines than 1900-1930 machines.

I used the info in Appendix G to round out my collection - I'm including a bit from the book
hmmm - was reading it again, and Bays states this info came from Grace Cooper's book at the Smithsonian.

Davis - National purchased "good will" trade names and names previously owned by Davis in late 1924
Domestic - became a whole owned subsidy of White in 1924
AG Mason - worked for Davis, started his own mfg, died in 1916 and company became subsidiary of Domestic
Household - stopped production in 1906
Foley & Williams - developed about 1885 from HB Goodrich- remained in business until 1924- reorganized as Goodrich Sewing Machine CO - active to mid 30's
New Leader - does not have much - other than it was in operation from about 1926-1933
Standard - sold to Osaan Fur Machine Co in 20's. Osaan acquired by Singer in 1931
Free - outgrowth of Royal Sewing Machine Co, formed as Illinois Sewing Machine Co in 1895, Free joined and became president and formed Free as a "parent" company. Mfg discontinued in 1969
National - formed by consolidation of Eldredge and June- was merged with Free in 1953 as a wholly owned subsidiary.
New Home - went through several reorganizations before becoming New Home in 1882, affiliated with Free in 1930, purchased from Free by Janome in 1960
White * though not in the book, White was bought by Viking (Husquvarna). Viking, Pfaff and Singer consolidated to form SVP Worldwide, the current company producing all three.
Willcox and Gibbs - discontinued production in 1973
Singer * now part of SVP worldwide. Bay's mentions Wheeler and Wilson being taken over by SInger in 1905-1907, so I included a WW machine.

Farmhousesewer

http://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/gallery_machines/

A very good site.

Marley46

Could someone please tell me what model this singer sewing machine is. SerialNo MB118734
It is beige in colour, and how old it is, and what would it be worth. Thank you.

Mrs. SewNSew

I can't find anything without a photo to go along with that. If it's possibly "N"B118734 it could be a 301A about 1956. Price or value depends on the model, condition, color, and what all comes with it.

ThayerRags

Mrs. SewNSew, the “MB” 2-letter serial numbers were issued at the Monza, Italy Singer factory, and included several “beige” models. It could be one of them. My Singer 227M with serial number MB523759 is an example. I have it dated to “1950s”, but no closer.

Mine is really valuable......but probably only to me.......

CD in Oklahoma

DonnaMiller

I downloaded the above guide (www.sandman-collectibles.com/...r-machines.htm) and will print it out for a guide to machine hunting. A great resource.

DonnaMiller

I download the manual for each machine and place them in a 3-ring binder and when I find interesting information on the machine it can be put in the binder. Yesterday, at WalMart, they had zippered pouches to put in binders. I paid a whole 97 cents for it to hold spool pins and small, easily misplaced parts. That way I can be more organized in the face of clutter associated with machine repair.