A 201-2 joins the herd
 

I spotted this machine about 2 months ago at a garage sale 2 doors up the road from my house. The seller wanted $200 and it didn't have the power cord, but otherwise complete. A lady and I found it at the same time and she was raving about the magnificent condition. In front of the seller. Except it wasn't anything special, other than the high condition decals. Other than that, it shows all the signs of having been in storage for decades - it turned stiffly, it was grungy on one side and the shellac is dried. The cabinet I'd rate as quite good. Solid, no cracks, peeling or sagging. The finish has the usual damage to the top (something wet in a spot or two) and a couple of battle scars on the sides but generally in good condition.

So, the lady was trying to scrape up 200 bucks and I left it there. The seller is a nice guy but the machine was something he had bought at auction and he had no idea what it might bring. Somebody had told him it was worth $400, so 200 was a great price to him.

Next day or two, it appears in my local classified for $250. On and off since then I'd stop by his place when I saw the garage sale sign out. By now, he knows I'm a sewing machine fiend. I was perfectly honest with him that in some places it might bring a couple hundred bucks or more but a garage sale in the rural far north probably wasn't it. I also told him of the Rolls Royce connection so he was not in the dark about what he had.

Now it's the middle of July and it's still there. I talked to him on Friday and we stalemated at $100 on my side and $125 on his .. :) I left him to see what the weekend would bring and was to check in on Sunday. Saturday, my wife and I stopped past to look at some other stuff he had. Evidently, an overnight soak was all it took and the machine left in the back of my SUV for a hundred bucks.

The cabinet is what I really wanted, I have 2 other 201-2's.

But, how much do we love it when a cabinet come LOADED with goodies? This one has the original manual, in great shape, all the original attachments (in their slightly damaged box and with just a hint of rust), the original oil can in it's bracket, a plastic tube of Singer lubricant and a same vintage bottle of oil. This machine was lightly used but taken care of during it's working life.

With a new foot controller attached, the motor turns very slowly so it'll need to come apart. There's plenty of brown varnish to clean off where it was well oiled over the years.

All things considered, patience paid off this time!

A pic I meant to add above ...

Wow! Great find! I understand buying for the cabinet. I bought a 401 for the carrying case. I still don't know if it works!

What a great find. I love my 201-2. It came with the Queen Anne style cabinet and stool. It was advertised as having the zig zagger, but also came with the button hole attachment. I would not go back to a modern machine now that I have both the 201 and 66 treadle.

Shari

A lot of goodies and a nice piece of furniture, I think it was a good buy!

I trashed a cabinet like that one that was beyond saving. The controller was built in to operate with a knee lever. Unlike other machines of that era, it was not removable. The controller part was buried in the bowels of the cabinet. You had to destroy the cabinet to get to it. I still have the parts of the controller (no idea why I haven't trashed it). I'm just saying this, in case your cabinet is like the one I had.
bkay

Thanks, no mine has a regular foot controller. There is a variant that apparently had some kind of a lever at floor level, attached to the cabinet. It stuck out on the (inside) right side, about half way back. That would be very nice,

I moved my 21 cabinet with a 15-91 to a different sewing space today and set the "new" 42 cabinet in it's place.
(in case anyone notices that the 21 is actually a treadle cabinet, the 15-91 sits nicely in it and doesn't disturb any of the treadle part).

It's time to move a few of these machines along. I have so many I hardly have room to use them. But I love them all!

I understand that. My trouble is that I need a couple of utility stitches pretty regularly and a free arm. So the 385 Kenmore keeps getting the nod. Right in the middle of 15-91s, 201-2s and a couple of industrials, there's the old Kenmore holding it's own.

How about these almost key looking things?

These were in the ink well. I thought maybe a screw driver for the needle plate, but too big.

I'm wondering if it is for a diary or jewelry box. I wonder if they would work to press down the spring so you can get the drawers out. They may be too short.

Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.
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