Durable old Singer Sewing machine

[Anachronism]

My ex got title to just about everything I owned in 1991. This sewing machine was returned to me last week after 23 years in a leaky barn loft. There is enough left of the table top to re-create it, and with some penetrating oil & persistence the poor old thing actually sews! It is a Singer "Improved Family" machine from 1885, the predecessor of their model 15.

 

[funvacfan]

I think

they call this a fiddle head base. Does it use a round or long bobbin?

Guy

 

[super-sweeper]

I just bought a.....

1960s MONTGOMERY WARD sewing machine! It's lovely,I can't wait until I get the hang of using it!

 

[Anachronism]

Yes, Guy, it's called the fiddle base, but that usually is applied to the 15s that came out a few years later. This is the same mechanism as the 31-15 and other oscillating bobbin types, but uses a round bobbin similar to the 66 (just narrower).
The long bobbin types by Singer were very early types using a straight line bobbin path, and the 27 & 28, introduced around 1890, and made until WWII as 127 & 128, that swung the bobbin on an arc.

 

[Anachronism]

Super sweeper: The model 15 was plagiarized by just about every machine manuafcturer in the world, and is still in production