Originally Posted by butterflywing
what you have isn't japanese made, imo.
i also tried to find history of singer taking over, but i couldn't. where did you find that info?
i ran that picture because it has the same shape and the hand-wheel is the same. in the picture it also showed a serial number (i think) so i thought it might be a starting place for research.
i think you're right about the year - early 50'5, maybe late 40's - but that's a guess only. there are a couple on ebay right now, but no dates and no cabinets like yours. there isn't much info out there, is there? it's very handsome.
No, definitely not made in Japan. It says Haid & Neu Karlsruhe on the front of it, on a circular decal.
Here is the text where I got the info about being taken over by Singer:
Faudels: Serial No. 659437.
Imported and badged by Faudels of London who purchased sewing machines from various German manufacturers. This particular machine is believed to have been made by Haid & Neu around 1900. The machine itself has seen happier times. It has been dropped at some stage, but it has a beautiful Peacock decal which was Fauldels trade mark and Mother of Pearl inlay to the centre bed. There is a feeling of quality about this machine.
Haid and Neu was established in 1860 in Karlsruhe but by 1868 only 2000 machines had been made. This had increased ten fold by 1872 and 1881 saw the firms 100,000th machine. By 1898 half a million machines had been made. The million was reached in 1904 and two million machines had been made by 1921. The Company survived the Second World War but in 1958 was taken over by Singer.
And the link to the page where I got it (it is fourth up from the bottom):
http://www.sewmuse.co.uk/german2.htm
Thanks so much for your help!