My mom purchased a 301 in the fifties (not really sure what year).I sewed on it before I graduated from high school in '58 and through college ('62). That machine is still working beautifully today. I bought a 404 in '62. It, too, is still alive and healthy. I don't know what the differences are between the 301 abd tge 401. But I do know that both of our machines are straight stitchers. I had purchased attachments for zigzagging and for buttonholes.