******To clarify what 'allottment' means for Miss Gigglewings and a few others, you realize when you look up a serial number for Singer machines and it say April 5, 1932, with 5,000 allotted that day - that just means the SN for that machine was given to that allottment of machines. It doesn't mean only 5,000 "models" were made. The model 15 was made from 1895 until 1957 with a few variations as the years went by.*****
The man who sold me the machine (91-15) yesterday said it is a direct drive and Singer only made that feature one time in its production history. (I get the idea <g> salesmen say what salesmen say - - it may or may not be correct information). At any rate, DD found the approximate date (she presumed) in the owner's manual. Since she simply glanced at the front page, she told me it was made some time in the 30's. I am not sure that I understand what your comment means. It doesn't really matter if I understand, but I do get curious <g>.
In my way of thinking - - the machine is something that a basic person can keep running, and that is good enough for me. I believe that the most I have ever paid for any of the machines I have bought over the course of the last fifteen years has been $40, with the exception of a White. I paid more for it because the person selling it needed money and I needed a machine. Because it isn't black, I have never even checked to see where the machine came from or if there are any significant features to it. I have to admit that I am so basic that my appreciation for a machine has to do with: will it stitch when I turn it on? If it doesn't, then I will keep it until I learn enough to either part it out or repair it. (which is another "some day" plan <g>).
All this rambling to finally figure out the question I need to ask for clarification:
Was the machine created on that date? or Was the machine authorized for manufacture on that date? <wave>