Originally Posted by
quiltingshorttimer
A co-worker has a Singer in a cabinet that she says her dad brought home about 1950-51. she says it's black and the serial # is JC719092 I haven't seen it and she's not sure of the weight. From her description it doesn't sound like a Featherweight?? She does say it only sews a straight stitch. She'd like to replace it with a newer model that has zigzag and some other features. I'm interested in a Featherweight and told her I'd buy it if it was one. I can't find any website that shows what this really is. Thanks for your help.
It's definitely not a Featherweight, as the 221s were only produced at Singer's Elizabethport, NJ factory (serial number starting with "A-") and the UK's Kilbowie factory (serial number starting with "E-".) Anytime you have a serial number with a two-letter prefix beginning with "J-," that means it was built at Singer's Canadian factory in Quebec.
I'm going to guess it's a model 15, as Singer's Quebec plant seems to have produced a lot of those. If it's a 15-91 those are a dime-a-dozen, but if it's a 15-90--distinguished by the belt-driving motor, as opposed to the potted motor of the 15-91--you may want to snap that up, as they're not very common in the 'States. The model 15-90 has all the benefits of the 15-91 (vertical hook, FMQ) with the added convenience of being easily able to convert to treadle.