When I saw the listing, I immediately remembered the seller, as I bought my 15-90 from him a few years ago. He's a lonely man.
The machines are all Singers from the 1950s. None of them are complete. All are missing their slide plates for some reason and most are missing their controllers. Various other parts are missing here and there but they do all run, so that's a start. The lot includes one model 201-2 and four model 66 machines. Of the 66s, one is a crinkle -- my only crinkle machine thus far. From a quick once-over, it is the most complete machine and runs the best. Smooth and quiet, this machine will make someone very happy once I insert it into a Singer table.
I still need to clean the underside and bobbin area, take out the length lever and strip and polish it (it's painted white that is now stained and chipped and doesn't match the rest of the machine), touch up the hand wheel with gloss Rustoleum oil-based paint, and order the missing plate. But overall this machine is quite nice. I've always passed these by because I prefer the gloss finish but I can see why they were popular. This particular example's allotment dates from April of 1952.
I've had to order slide plates for a couple of my 66's. I have no idea why they go missing as they don't exactly just fall out. That's a nice-looking machine.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that 'shoppers' take parts off machines sitting in thrift stores and resell them. An owner of a thrift store told me this is a big problem with sewing machines (and his inventory confirmed this). Curious children might also be another culprit. And absent-minded machine owners. (I'm actually looking for a slide plate I began polishing and put down about 6 months ago.)
DeleteOnce I finish it up, this will be one very nice, basic straight stitch, the kind that would do well in an academic or institutional setting.
I, too, have passed on crinkle finish machines. The normal story around these finishes is that Singer was doing its "war thing" by painting them a non-gloss finish, and that may be true. Based on my almost 30-years of experiences working at and then running a school bus manufacturing company for almost 30 years, I have another theory.
ReplyDeleteOur buses'interior roof sheets were forever painted with a high gloss, usually light green, finish. And forever, it seemed our 'repaint' rate for at least one of the 10+ interior roof sheets in an 'average' bus was an expensive 30% (of a total of approx 50 buses/day). I suggested that we go to a satin gloss vs. high gloss interior paint finish because the satin finish did show inconsequential surface finish defects; and our interior refinish rate almost disappeared. Our customers did not care and the savings to the company were substantial. Singer was probably struggling a bit financially during WW2 due to production capacity going to the war effort, and the crinkle finish vs. high gloss may have been a cost savings measure. I also surmise Singer's customers preferred the high gloss finish, so they went back to it after the war.
John Thomas in NC
That's an interesting idea, John. And your experience bears upon why Singer produced a crinkle finish machine at all, as they surely must have known whether customers liked it. I have always wondered whether these machines were marketed to certain market segments, ones that would appreciate the lower-maintenance and durability of the finish. This particular machine hardly shows any bed wear (save for a slight gloss where material would be fed through) so it may not be the best example but the dirt that was on the machine (and it was not a small amount) was very easy to remove, after which a quick cleanup up with a toothbrush soaked in sewing machine oil. The crinkle finish is very practical and still looks great after all these years.
DeleteBut as you've stated, money was probably the primary reason. :)
JT, that is fascinating about the different finishes. I'm in the camp that doesn't really like the super high gloss (sorry!) so I find the crinkles finishes kind of attractive. I have a green crinkle New Home that I really need to clean up and put on display. When we built our house, the guy that did our drywall (who turned out to be something of a jerk, actually) insisted on an eggshell finish, and we figured out later that it was so he didn't have to do such a meticulous job.
ReplyDelete