Online Dating (for eligible sewing machines.)

Comment: My name is John, however, I answer to Red. I saw your article about your Singer sewing machine and found it interesting because I, too, have a Singer that my mother made some of my shirts on. I have only the head, my brother took the cabinet to put an electric machine in, (shame on him). Mom was going to throw the head away but I got it instead.

Where Mom got the machine, I don't know, I only know she had it for many years then I got it in 1983. By checking the s/n (14017 52 6) on the Internet, it was made in the late 1800s, I think about 1893. There are four patent dates, 1880, 1885, 1888 and 1890. Surprisingly, it still works!

Answer: You aren't alone. There are a lot of old machines out there that are missing their original cabinet. It was a pretty common practice to replace the old machines with a newer model, and discard the older one.
You are lucky to have the original machine, especially since you remember your mother making your shirts on it. Who knows, you might get to put it all back together one day...

Thanks for pointing out that the patent date on the machine isn't always the true date. I got another letter, via snail mail, saying the same thing. The best way to date a machine is to check the serial number. Thanks for reading the column, and for writing.