Originally Posted by deema
I was under the impression that some newer ones could have the scroll plate? What I've read is that the plates were just replenished as stock got low, putting the striated ones on top of the left over scrolls...so getting to the bottom of the bin would reveal the scroll plate to be put on a newer model...
Funny tidbit though, from what I've read, it's harder if not impossible to pinpoint the date of Canadian made Featherweights, which mine is. The serial number dates it to 1946 according to US manufacture dates, but it could be way off. Does anyone know when they started to manufacture in Canada?
Well, I'd bet your machine came the way it it right now. The striated face plate started appearing in 1947 randomly. By 1948 it was used exclusively. Yes, people did switch the face plates and the throat plates that had gone from plain to having a gauge on them, but in order to do that, you had to have access to an older machine. Singer just stopped making the scroll face plates by 1948 in all the factories world wide according to Singer - that was for cost cutting. The Singer serial dating site includes all factories, not just the US factories, but the factories in Canada, Britian, Scotland, etc., so the date they have should be pretty darn accurate.
There is one interesting thing about the machines manufactured in Canada as only Canada sold a turquoise soft carrying case that was called a 'tote' for the white FW's.
Another interesting note is that if you want a 222 or Free Arm, you have a much better chance of finding one in Canada than in the US. They had extremely limited production in the US.
This information came from The Perfect Portable by Nancy Johnson-Srebro, who has extensively researched the FW for 20 + years now and written two books on the subject.
Nancy