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5. Standard Sewing Machine Serial Numbers

I picked up this sewing machine from an auction and i can not find this model or make anywhere. It is made by the sinsei sewing machine mfg. And the metal badge on the side reads ( cross star shinsei sewing machine co. Model number c5 110269 i looked on the bottom of the machine for the 'ja' or japan stamp but found nothing. There are serial numbers on the Universal sewing machines. One was listed as 402187 and one of two serial numbers we have been able to track down. If the serial number on your Universal sewing machine starts with a JA that may indicate it was made in Japan. The Universal De Luxe had a serial number S89157. The Standard Company was apparently acquired by the Osaan company around 1929 and is believed to have later been bought out by the Singer Manufacturing Co. One of the machines which are quite popular among collectors is the Standard Sewhandy portable sewing machine, which was manufactured from the late 1920s through early 1930s. In their prime the Domestic Sewing Machine Company sold everything you needed to get you sewing, from the machine to the treadle and even sewing patterns. Starting with numbers such as the Domestic Sewing Machine No 1, 2, 3 they then moved to letters model A, B, C and so on and lastly to names. The Singer Featherweight portable sewing machine is a model made by that company between 1933 and 1964. The machine (model 221), adapted from an earlier portable, the Standard SewHandy (which company was bought out by Singer) weighs about 11 pounds and has been found to be an ideal machine for quilters and other sewers to take to classes or 'on.

The NeedleBar

MEMBERS' SURVEY RESULTS

The Standard Rotary

(Standard Sewing Machine Company)

Compiled by Gina Bisco

Thank you to Alan Quinn and the Needlebar Group for making the survey possible, as well as for their ongoing sewing machine research that so greatly benefits all of us with an interest in these old machines.

Summary of Results

One of the most fascinating aspects of Standard Rotary sewing machines made by the Standard Sewing Machine Co. is that some of them will take an attachment called a chainstitch spider which installs in place of the bobbin case and (used along with a special chainstitch needle plate) converts the machine from straight stitch to single thread chainstitch. The spider that came with my Standard Rotary serial number 770155 worked well in that machine and one with a later serial number, but it would not fit it into any of my machines with a lower serial number.

In doing this survey, I was hoping to find out whether there was a version of the chainstitch spider that would fit the earlier Standard Rotary machines. The earliest serial number for a machine in the survey that was confirmed to have a spider is 727368. Whether there is a version of the spider that will fit Standard Rotary machines with a serial number lower than 700000 remains to be discovered.

(Update August 2009. Machine #545,868 accepts and is able to use a solid center pin chainstitch spider. The use of the spider may depend on the type of hook mechanism and bobbin case the machine has. Further details in the NeedleBar Picture Library)

The earliest machine in the survey has serial number 62565. Machines with serial numbers lower than 174193 have the serial number on the flip-up plate (Photo 1). Machines with serial numbers above 182514 have the serial number on the stitch length plate (Photo 2). This serial number division also signifies a general change from the springless felt and grooved disk tension assembly (Photo 3) to the tension assembly with a spring and and a takeup spring with one free end (Photo 4). Two machines earlier than 174193 are reported as having the J tension assembly; perhaps the tension assembly was replaced with a later version sometime during their working lives.

Another major division in the serial numbers occurs between 1065155 which is the latest reported 'slim' machine (5) and 1247790 which is the earliest reported 'stout' machine (6). This change in shape corresponds with another change in the tension assembly to one including a takeup spring with no free end (7).

In addition, the shape change signifies a change in the shuttle race from a hollow pin to a solid pin. Therefore, stout machines require a spider with a hollow pin, and slim machines of approximate serial number 700,000 and above require a spider with a solid pin.

The 4 feed dog variants (Photos 10, 11, 12, 12) do not seem to be perfectly correlated with any particular serial number sets except that versions 1 and 2 are found only on 'slim' machines and version 4 is found only on 'stout' machines. Note the slight difference in configuration between versions 3 and 4: on version 3, the leg of the L-shaped feed extends only to the front edge of the needle hole; on version 4, the leg extends well beyond the front edge of the needle hole.

The two known variants of the common leafy vine decal, 'multi' (Photo 14) and 'brown/gold' (Photo 15), are both found on quite early 'slim' machines as well as much later 'stout' machines.

One person reported a confirmed Standard Rotary machine with completely different decals, a gold art deco pattern with the famous winged bobbin decal on the bed. A few others reported decals that were not the basic leafy vine decal, but of those, none were confirmed as being Standard Rotary machines made by the Standard Sewing Machine Co.

One of the difficulties of this survey was that there was a very nice number of responses (over 100), but unfortunately the majority did not actually have rotary machines of the target group, i.e. those made by the Standard Sewing Machine Co.

I apologize for not realizing that there would be confusion about that, and I am very grateful for all responses, even those which I could not use.

Tableof Responses

Singer Sewing Machine Serial Numbers

(Other shape: 'It is a 'stout' shape but the area of the faceplate is of a rounder shape')

x = no answer given

Elgin Sewing Machine Serial Numbers

? = answer needing to be checked

Sewing Machine Serial Number Database

© Gina Bisco 2003. All Rights Reserved

Wilson Sewing Machine Serial Numbers

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Standard Sewing Machine Serial Numbers