Singer S1

[briguy]

Hi guys new poster here, been enjoying the site for some time but have finally become a member so I can join in on the conversations. I have come across a Singer upright I believe is an S1 in excellent condition. I am wondering more about this machine & if it's worth the $50 price tag they are asking for it? It is intriguing me & I also wonder how rare it is, if at all. Glad to be a member & get to know you all better I am posting a photo I found in the archives of a model that looks the same. It would be the vac on the far right side of the pic.

View attachment briguy++1-9-2011-01-51-35.jpg

 

[briguy]

Missing Pic

Here's the pic that didn't post previously

 

[kenmore81]

Nice to have you Bri... It depends on the condition and/or how much you like it =)If its in at least fair to good cond. Id go for it but thats just me.
Kenny

 

[briguy]

Thanks Kenny it's good to be here!

 

[aeoliandave]

A SINGER S-1 'Magic Carpet' upright in excellent condirion?

Pay the man the $50!

Totally redesigned by Raymond Loewy in 1946, it replaced the Singer R-3 (deemed by Loewy looking like Napoleon's Hat cross-pollinated with a crab) on the left hand side of the picture. Singer kept this extreme low profile style in production for several years with minor cosmetic changes. The S-1 and S-2 are a pinkish buff color and the S-3 is light grey.

If it's an S-1 it will be stamped on the motor's rating plate - that would make it the first version Magic Carpet.

Vacuums fine on the compressed low nap carpets and rugs and bare floors of the day but anthing plusher will bog down the floating brushroll. It won't become your daily driver unless you have Industrial Office carpeting.

First upright to have it's motor and fans placed horizontally, it's a fun and stylish upright with unique true twinfan design - intake fans on each end of the motor with a spindle on the left side driving the brushroll belt. It set the engineering and design bar for upright motor placement right up to the present day.

 

[aeoliandave]

The S-1 and S-2 have the Singer Red 'S' logo with the green lady at her sewing machine.
The S-3 eliminates the Lady.

Rare? Well, not plentiful, that's for sure. I looked for ages for one until I got the grey S-3. I know of two shops in the USA that have several beater parts machines stashed in the back room but haven't been able to convince the owners to part with two-to-make-one yet. I really want a pink S-1 or 2 to complete the twinset.

Dave

 

[suckolux]

Very nice looking machine, great pics Dave, love the exploded view!

 

[electrolux~137]

btw, the man standing on the right is Raymond Loewy.

 

[briguy]

Dave, thanks for the reply & history w/ great pics!I was hoping that someone could fill me in on the history of the machine.

Now I realize I should have taken pics while I was there to help me recall all the details. I got so excited when I saw it, but didn't have much time to spend there.

Sounds truely like it was revolutionary for it's time. I knew there was something about it that told me I needed to take it home with me.

The brushroll did look to me like it would be less effective on today's carpet, not only b/c of the fact it's floating but the bristles looked they are spaced far apart.

Will go back tomorrow & see if it follows me home to the rest of my collection

 

[aeoliandave]

Loewy had and kept a full french pompador and barbered moust

Sorry Charles, I have to correct this mis-identity. Those are two so far anonymous SINGER Executives.

 

[aeoliandave]

Time Magazine cover October 31 1949

 

[portable]

Once again....a vacuum re-design apparently wasn't important enough to be illustrated on the Time cover with Loewy. Ah well....

 

[aeoliandave]

You're gonna prize it as a Historical Art Object...maybe

This shot from the bottom with the lower shell half open shows the generous twinfan airpath and the ease with which the belt and brushroll can be changed out. Both halves are aluminum castings with a couple of keytabs and one lever latch to hold the halves together.
The latch lever rod is just in front of the motor.

Between the front rollers on the bottom shell is a tab on the axle that rotates half a turn to a flat spot, retracting the rollers 1/4" for most floors and carpet. Since the brushroll floats and contacts the surface on those two long side arms hinged inline with the motor shaft, a plusher carpet benefits from the extra height adjustment.
The arms, where they support the brushroll have tapered rubber bumpers that are easy to mix up in a restoration. The taper must face up toward the headlight or the brushroll will bind and jam in the raised position.
The green glass headlight lens surrounded by the rubber bumper trim is about 1/2" thick and I've yet to see a broken one.

 

[aeoliandave]

Exhaust port to bag is 5" w x 1" h.

The chrome strip around the motor has the detents for 3 handle positions and so the paint doesn't get scratched.

 

[electrolux~137]

Well, I guess you'll also have to correct Life Magazine and Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images!

I got my info from this link. Clearly you are correct based on the photos you posted, so one wonders how such a mistake got printed in Life Magazine.

http://www.life.com/image/50519689

 

[aeoliandave]

The cloth bag has a 6" inner cloth chute that should keep settled debris from falling back into the fans.
To preserve and protect the original cloth bag, I fitted a flattened accordion-fold fibre organ ducting up-tube and use top fill Hoover paper bags, the one with the long paper up tube. Works great and does not distort the Singer bag profile.

Dave

 

[aeoliandave]

how such a mistake got printed

Charles, the same way Olivia Mattis (and many other Theremin sites) state that the Theremin was invented by Leon Theremin, not Terman.

It is a wonderful interview, though...

Thanks for that link, Charles. Now we can put a face to Account Executive and engineer H. S. Barnhart.

http://www.thereminvox.com/story/495/

 

[briguy]

Dave, I am so enjoying the history of this machine. I have always loved vacuums, but the history behind them & how they have evolved thru the decades is so fascinating!

I thought I read in one of your previous posts that you added a paper bag to preserve the original cloth bag. Thanks for the photos for illustration of how you did that.

Did I also read that you used a Hoover round belt on this machine as well? Thats what I thought I could use when I turned it over inspecting it the brief moment I looked at it.

People wonder what it is about vacuums that I collect them, but I have to say they just don't understand the design & history behind these machines. Most just take for granted these wonderful machines found in almost every household today.

I guess I thought that this vac would be much more complicated in design, but the design seems simple, yet effective.

 

[electrolux~137]

Actually, the name Theremin is correct. While living in the U.S. from 1927-1938, Lev Sergeivitch Termen [not Terman] anglicized his name to Leon Theremin.

Olivia Mattis is a good friend and colleague. Among other things, she is a noted scholar of composer Edgard Varèse and Portuguese WWII hero Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

Even though her 1989 interview and article occurred well before the theremin enjoyed its great renaissance (beginning in 1995), her statements are accurate, notwithstanding Leon Theremin's propensity for clouding the facts of his past.

You might enjoy my article on Leon Theremin and his instrument. See link.

And to bring this thread back on-topic after drifting way into outer space, I used to have a Singer S-1 that I picked up for $7.00 in a thrift shop back in the good old days. I don't have it any more; I think it went the way of one of my "Great American Garage Clean-Ups." OTOH, I know of a collector who paid nearly $300.00 for one. So I'd say $50.00 would seem a good deal if it's in good running condition and cosmetically nice.



http://www.1377731.com/theremin/the.theremin.pdf