Great research, very informative! The 401a is a truly remarkable machine, agreed! I am lucky enough to have one which I hope to bequeath to someone appreciative. The machine I have most fun with is the 319k. It's quirky and quaint but beautifully engineered with an infinite array of designer stitches.
I own a 1947 Singer Featherweight 221 and I will never part with it. I recently acquired a Singer 20-10 toy machine from the 1950s - it requires no bobbin and only sews a chain stitch but it's more solid than many sewing machines that are manufactured today. It's not electric and so much fun to use. I enjoyed your documentation of the Singer Manufacturing Company.
Tens of thousands singer machines are still working up and down the country here in Ethiopia 🇪🇹. Actually all sewing machines in Ethiopia are called Singer even if they are different brands. Singer has rooted its name here. Such a durable machine which lasts longer.
Great video. My mom has in her possession, what I now believe from watching this video, a 1919 Treadle Machine. I remember me and my brothers playing with it like it's some race car while sitting on the pedal and the pulley the steering wheel. My mother said it was in my grandmother's family for a long time. I'm not sure how rare they are or what their survivability and how many are still out there.
Do you know if it was singer who had the marketing tactic to not repair machines, even buying used machines to scrap them to force sales of new machines, I remember seeing a documentary years ago but I can't find it. It may have been in clydebank Scotland? (edit after listening properly I heard the trade in scheme, which took machines off the market, the documentary was made in Scotland around the closing of the plant so they painted it a lot darker light than was said here. Thank you so much for your video!)
Nice history brief, thank you. Do you have some information on singer factories in Europe? One in Scotland is well known, i guess, but what was the whole deal with their manufacturing in Turkey, Germany, France etc? How many plants were there, was that actually native singer brand etc? Seeing lot of 50's and 60's machines with german or french origins, so i'm a bit confused about this..
capitalism has destroyed everything we produce these days, its all made to break as soon as the warranty expires, so enjoy it while it lasts... I personally prefer quality over quantity. just saying, oldies but goodies! would love to have my grandmas real New Home basic heavy as hell olive green mean sewing machine over any of the new cheap plastic computerized ones anyday, I've had 4 brand new machines including a fancy 100 stitch digital $ 600 one which after a few years of finger flicking the digital control panel it became less and less sensitive to my touch and now even though the machine motor itself is fine , I can't do anything with it unless I have the whole control console replaced (very expensive ), might as well buy a whole new machine for the money... planned obsolescence?? they just don't make them like they used to , something the new younger generation never got a chance to appreciate I guess. damn shame too!
Maybe 40 years ago I was in a huge 'antique mall' type store. It had everything in it, all kind of in a jumble. I passed a huge industrial sewing machine and mentioned the name to my mom. She said that model was built like a battle ship and she owned one when she first married my dad. It was not a singer. I can't remember the name, but it looked like it belonged in a factory, it was so overbuilt. The type of a machine that was built to last a few lifetimes.
