I'm at the Oregon coast (Newport), and just took possession of "Katherine", the 301! She stitches beautifully!! Fairly clean machine too.
The inside of the manual has a handwritten note:
July 30, 1953 $227.50, $4.55 ST, $232.05
So, according to the inflation calculator, in today's dollar, this machine would cost $1869.72!! No wonder the lady that sold it to me said her grandmother was very excited to have a "fancy machine" when she bought it new!