1928 Singer Sewing Machine

[RLWP]

 

 

£23.50 in 1935!!!!!!!

 

That's about 12% of the annual wage of a working man was (about £200pa) back then, so equivalent price now would be about £3,500 now as a proportion of income of say £30k.

 

MtB

 

Yes. It would often have been either an expensive wedding present, or a business investment. My grandmother made dresses using a Singer. I still have the machine and the treadle base, although it looks like the machine was swapped when one of the operating levers broke. There is an ugly soldered repair on the lever which was probably done by my grandfather. He worked on pipework for one of the breweries so soldering would have been one of his skills

 

Richard

[Dar Kuma]

If you have a singer sewing machine, go here and look for the serial numbers on singers site.

 

http://www.singerco.com/support/machine-serial-numbers

[wrigglefingers]

Yes. It would often have been either an expensive wedding present, or a business investment. My grandmother made dresses using a Singer. I still have the machine and the treadle base, although it looks like the machine was swapped when one of the operating levers broke. There is an ugly soldered repair on the lever which was probably done by my grandfather. He worked on pipework for one of the breweries so soldering would have been one of his skills

 

Richard

I think we decided that was a 15K didn't we, Richard? It would have been a considerable investment and even now, the 15K is capable of turning out garments and curtains on an industrial scale. The treadle drive gives it enormous drive power when combined with the superbly engineered mechanical parts. Singer used to advertise that their machines were made to Swiss watch standards in the most modern engineering works. That probably isn't far from the truth. No modern machine runs as silkily as a well set up Singer. Sadly, it all went downhill when they tried to update and reduce the cost of the machines in the early 60s and the modern Singers are a joke.

 

If you need Singer replacement parts, Helen Howes is the woman to contact, sensible prices and very helpful. If you need a hand, I've got pretty handy with restoring the machines. Had a good teacher!

 

http://helenhowes-sewingmachines.co.uk

Edited February 15, 2015 by wrigglefingers

[Mike Tee]

This thread has prompted me to do something with my mother's old Singer - model 28K made in Clydebank in 1911. Rather than see it continue to collect dust, it would be better being used by somebody who will appreciate it. As far as I know it works - or did last time I saw her use it about 30 years ago!

I'll put it in the for sale section, so anybody interested look there.

[Athy]

I think it's more likely to be 23/10d.

[MtB]

No, check the photo, it shows £23/10/=.

 

£23.50 in today's munny!

 

 

MtV

[Athy]

No, check the photo, it shows £23/10/=.

 

£23.50 in today's munny!

 

 

MtV

Aye, but I suspect that W. Reece made an orthographical error. Can you really imagine a hand-powered sewing machine costing the equivalent of over three grand?

[MtB]

Aye, but I suspect that W. Reece made an orthographical error. Can you really imagine a hand-powered sewing machine costing the equivalent of over three grand?

 

It's isn't hand powered. It's foot-treadle powered, and quite possibly electric as well.

 

I certainly can't image a nice piece of furniture containing such a superb piece of engineering costing just 23/6d

 

MtB

[Athy]

I have been scouring the web trying to find sites which list 1930s prices, but sewing machines appear to have escaped their notice (and most of these sites seem to be American anyway). So perhaps your figure is correct; it does seem a huge amount of money for such an everyday item though.

 

Er, if it was treadle powered, why would it have electric power too?

[MtB]

I have been scouring the web trying to find sites which list 1930s prices, but sewing machines appear to have escaped their notice (and most of these sites seem to be American anyway). So perhaps your figure is correct; it does seem a huge amount of money for such an everyday item though.

 

Er, if it was treadle powered, why would it have electric power too?

 

Electric would have been an optional accessory, and power cuts were common in those days. The high price may have been because they bought the electric motor accessory too.

 

Guessing really though!

 

 

MtB

[Athy]

 

Electric would have been an optional accessory, and power cuts were common in those days. The high price may have been because they bought the electric motor accessory too.

 

Guessing really though!

 

 

MtB

But were they really made from gasometer steel?

That was Singers, wasn't it?

[Dar Kuma]

Lool Athy....

[Graham Davis]

Aye, but I suspect that W. Reece made an orthographical error. Can you really imagine a hand-powered sewing machine costing the equivalent of over three grand?

 

I very much doubt that the price of £23:10s:0p is wrong!!

Theses were not cheap machines and were often bought "on-tick".

[RLWP]

I think we decided that was a 15K didn't we, Richard?

 

Just for fun, I have searched the house and we have:

 

A hand cranked 12/12K from 1889 (I think)

 

A treadle operated 15-96 from 1933 which replaced a 15 from 1923

 

And electric 201K from 1951, which might have somthing to do with you

 

And the fabulous, armour piercing, faster than the speed of sound, 196K from 1962

 

The 12/12K has two numbers on the base, the lower number would make it from 1889, the upper would make it from 1877 which I think is less likely

 

Richard

[alan_fincher]

It obviously depends on quite how you do the inflation calculation, but this site, suggests that something purchased at £23 10s 0d in 1936, is equivalent to about £1,465 now.

 

That doesn't surprise me, and one can easily pay more than that for a sewing machine now, (though it will incorporate a fairly elaborate computer these days)!.

 

I couldn't resist looking, but our "Flamingo", delivered by W J Yarwood and sons to the GUCCCo in 1936, (it was called "Letchworth" then), cost £900. The same converter gives an equivalent figure today of £55,780, so maybe the cost of narrow boats now is not a million miles from what it was nearly 80 years ago.

[Dorlan]

My sewing machine was bought by an aunt who used it for dressmaking. The first time I used it I made a cockpit cover for the fist boat I owned.

It's only treadle powered and is in a wooden cabinet.

[wrigglefingers]

Just for fun, I have searched the house and we have:

 

A hand cranked 12/12K from 1889 (I think)

 

A treadle operated 15-96 from 1933 which replaced a 15 from 1923

 

And electric 201K from 1951, which might have somthing to do with you

 

And the fabulous, armour piercing, faster than the speed of sound, 196K from 1962

 

The 12/12K has two numbers on the base, the lower number would make it from 1889, the upper would make it from 1877 which I think is less likely

 

Richard

The 201K may well be mine but check with Sue ...

 

The 12K could well be from 1877, they were in mass production from 1865 in the States and not long after in Kilbowie. Alex Askaroff has more information on his blog.

 

http://www.sewalot.com/singer%2012%20fiddlebase%20bobbins.htm

[wrigglefingers]

About £3000 today for am all-singing, all-dancing machine doesn't sound too far wrong to me. The top-of-the-line Bernina is over £8,000 now and certainly wouldn't last for 60 years. Mine is now obsolete and the software to run it unsupported after 8 years, and never worked as well as any of my 'vintage' machines.

[Alan Saunders]

Any sensible comparison of the price of goods between now and the 19th century is impossible. As proved above, a sewing machine purchased in 1920 may still be in use today. My grandmother (born 1886) had a Frister Rossmann hand-cranked sewing machine and that may have been inherited. Clothes were comparitively expensive and most 'working class' girls sewed their new dresses from patterns (e.g. Pattons) and, especially during the war years, 'made do and mended'; even a trained, male soldier was able to darn his socks or sew on a button.

 

In the post-war '50s my large Junior School liked to have all the pupils in school uniform. For the girls this was a gingham dress in their house colour. My superb form teacher, Miss Henderson, would set a task for all fifty of us and spend the time ripping bulk-bought gingham into lengths suitable for mothers to make into dresses. Grey cotton shirts and flannel shorts for the boys were far too complicated for the average home seamstress to produce.

 

Thus the minidress was so successful in the 1960s! It is nice to see the old skills being maintained but, today, a short length of material or a few skeins of wool will cost much more than a ready-made garment.

 

Alan

Edited February 15, 2015 by Alan Saunders

[Athy]

today, a short length of material or a few skeins of wool will cost much more than a ready-made garment.

 

Alan

How can that be? Somebody has to buy the wool or material to make the garment.

[Kez]

Any sensible comparison of the price of goods between now and the 19th century is impossible. As proved above, a sewing machine purchased in 1920 may still be in use today. My grandmother (born 1886) had a Frister Rossmann hand-cranked sewing machine and that may have been inherited. Clothes were comparitively expensive and most 'working class' girls sewed their new dresses from patterns (e.g. Pattons) and, especially during the war years, 'made do and mended'; even a trained, male soldier was able to darn his socks or sew on a button.

 

In the post-war '50s my large Junior School liked to have all the pupils in school uniform. For the girls this was a gingham dress in their house colour. My superb form teacher, Miss Henderson, would set a task for all fifty of us and spend the time ripping bulk-bought gingham into lengths suitable for mothers to make into dresses. Grey cotton shirts and flannel shorts for the boys were far too complicated for the average home seamstress to produce.

 

Thus the minidress was so successful in the 1960s! It is nice to see the old skills being maintained but, today, a short length of material or a few skeins of wool will cost much more than a ready-made garment.

 

Alan

You can spend as little or as much on fabric; old curtains, end-of-rolls, or even (don't judge ) plus size garments can all provide low cost fabric.

I made a full length, bustle train ball gown out of curtain to the grand cost of £7...

[Alan Saunders]

How can that be? Somebody has to buy the wool or material to make the garment.

By sourcing the material in bulk in Asia and having it made into garments by low paid workers.

 

Alan