Posted 3 years ago
sonomabeau
(1 item)
Hi all,
I stumbled across this site while researching a Singer sewing machine I bought my wife at a local thrift store. The 1939 S.F. Exposition badge caught my eye and I'm trying to figure out what exactly we have as far as rarity. Any help would be appreciated because we just moved and need to make space. Please pardon the photos as they uploaded upside down for some reason....
Backfilling again.
As near as I can tell, the serial number (it's obscured a bit by the spool pin in front of the serial number cartcouche) on this machine is "AF051061."
That puts it into the first of these two allotted serial number blocks in the AF prefix serial number table (serial numbers 019991 through 054990):
*snip*
AF- 019991 054990 15 35000 August 16 1938
AF- 091806 126805 15 35000 November 21 1938
*snip*
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/serial-numbers/singer-af-series-serial-numbers.html
The second line excerpted is the next block of AF prefix serial numbers intended for model 15 machines (091806 through 126805).
What that tells us is that the sewing machine head onto the bed of which serial number AF051061 was stamped probably rolled off of the assembly line some time between August 16 and November 21 1938 (the allotment dates of the two blocks) at the Elizabethport factory:
*snip*
ELIZABETHPORT
AF series 1935 1938
AF series 1938 1941
*snip*
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/singer_dating_by_serial_number.html
What submodel of model 15 is the one in this post?
Sandman's tool is usually pretty good for identifying various models of domestic Singers:
https://www.sandman-collectibles.com/id-singer-machines.htm
However, sometimes it's difficult to distinguish between a 15-90 and a 15-91 using only online pictures, so the king of identifying vintage Singers from online pictures alone to the rescue!:
https://vssmb.blogspot.com/2011/07/visual-guide-to-identifying-singers_28.html
The king sez it's a 15-91. :-)
Hint: The big difference between a 15-90 and a 15-91 is that the latter has what's known as a "potted" motor, which among other things, is more streamlined-looking, so you don't seen it protruding from behind the pillar in the pictures in this post.
The decal set is called "Trefoil":
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/decals/decal17
The cabinet is Cabinet Table No. 2:
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/cabinet_table_no_2-3.html
Some manuals for the 15-91:
https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/manuals/15-91.pdf
https://www.rw-leatherworks.com/Downloads/15-91_service-manual.pdf
About the Elizabethport factory:
https://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/elizabethport
https://www.ericwilliamsblog.com/left-behind-in-elizabeth-the-singer-manufacturing-company-part-1/
https://www.ericwilliamsblog.com/left-behind-in-elizabeth-the-singer-manufacturing-company-part-2/
As to the Golden Gate Exposition San Francisco 1939 badge: it's not at all incongruous or suspect that this machine has an exposition badge for a year later than its year of manufacture. It wasn't an uncommon practice to put those badges on machines that had been made earlier than the year of the exposition.
As to how uncommon a Golden Gate Exposition San Francisco 1939 badged 15-91 is...eh, I dunno. :-(
There is no comprehensive, central database of all the exposition badged Singer sewing machine heads insofar as I know; however, this website opines that all of the exposition badges are rare:
https://www.shopperlib.com/antique-vintage-singer-sewing-machines-identification-value/
*shrug*