I absolutely love this group! I used the link sent that was shared and found that my Viking is from mid to late 50's, so not as old as some you have here, but I think I will enjoy it. In the meantime, I catch myself looking at all the garage sales, etc to see if they have anything interesting. Thanks for the help!!

That's high for a 404. 404 is a straight stitch machine

The seller is also one who knows how to pack a machine.

Thanks for the feed back.

Here's the link to a manual:

http://parts.singerco.com/IPinstManuals/241.pdf

16x257 needles are still easy to find.

I have an old Kenmore machine from about the thirties . are there any of you out tthere who might have similar machines?
ceegee

I have 3 very nice treadles that I paid $50 a piece for and they were originally advertised for $150 a piece. The didn't sell for the $150 so they lowered the price and I bought them! Here in the antique stores, the treadles are listed for much much more. It all depends on how bad you want that machine -- I'd offer less and see where it goes. I bought a Singer 1901 treadle a couple weeks ago for $5. The guy had it listed on Craigslist for $100, but the cabinet was broken, missing the middle drawer, and the machine had 60 years of dirt and rust on it from living in a barn. I told the guy his machine was once very pretty, but because the decals were silver, the cabinet was a mess, it was not worth what he was asking. He let me have it for $5 just to keep from having to haul it off.

So, there are no set rules here. You can offer less and see how bad they want to sell the machine. Treadles around her are usually right around $100.

Nancy

If anyone is near pittsburgh or is looking for a white machine with the twig lettering this looks like a good deal.
No pictures but from the description.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/atq/1912224487.html

Ceegee,

I have a vintage Kenmore, but it is from the 60's or 70's-not quite as old as yours....but I belong to a yahoo group that is for the Kenmore machines...I don't remember the exact name of the group but it is something like vintagekenmoressew
If you do a yahoo search it may come up...if not and you want to check it out let me know and I will get the website address for you.....

I was drooling over that one. Its so pretty!