Singer Identification

Identifying Singer Machines and their Serial numbers

Singer Quick Reference
Factory designation and model numbers

You may have noticed a letter at the within or at the end of the model name, such as 15-1, 15K88, 66K, 201P, etc. The letter indicates where the machine was either manufactured or assembled. The number preceding the factory indicator is the base model, the number at the end is the submodel. It is vitally important to know that while many models were essentially the same regardless of the factory they were manufactured, some were factory specific.

This is a list of Singer factories around the world with their letter designations

Karachi, Pakistan

—
(hyphen or dash)

 

Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA (Elizabethport) 1872 to 1982

K

 

Clydebank, Scotland, Great Britain (Kilbowie) 1885 to 1980

W

 

Bridgeport, Connecticut USA (formerly Wheeler & Wilson) operated by Singer from 1905 to '64

D

 

Wittenberge, Prussia, Germany (D was for Deutschland) 1903 to 1944
The Wittenberge Singer factory appears to have been used for R&D and several iconic Singer models (201, 206 and right to left threading 15 class) appear to have been developed there. Unfortunatly most information about this facory has been lost.

A

 

Anderson, South Carolina USA from 1950

B

 

Bonnieres, France 1935 to '86

C

 

Campinas, Brazil 1955-

G

 

Karlsruhe, Germany 1954 until 1982. Formerly Haid-und-Neu which was founded in the 1860s

J

 

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada (St Johns) 1904 to 1986

M

 

Monza, Italy

P

 

Penrith, NSW Australia 1959 to 1967

U

 

Utsunomiya, Japan

NL

 

Taichung, Taiwan

R

 

Queretare, Mexico

Y

 

Istanbul, Turkey

V

 

Buenos Aires, Argentina (presumed)

The following factories may or may not have a letter designation:
    Podolsk, Russia 1902 1917 (Nationalised after the Russion Revolution and later operated as Podolsk Engineering Plant - PMZ)
    Floridsdorf, Austria Est 1882, nothing else known
    Bogota, Colombia
    Santiago, Chile
    Lima, Peru
    Taytay, Philippines
    Buenos Aires, Argentina
     
     



Singer Serial Numbers

All vintage Singer sewing machines will have a serial number stamped into the body of the machine. The position of the serial number is often dependant on the model and sometimes the era in which it is made, but the most common placement is on the top of the bed in front of the pillar.


No prefix, 1851 to 1899. The following numbers are based on production figures for Singer sewing machines in all their factories, so allowances should me made for a margin of error. There are no known detailed lists for Singer sewing machine production prior to 1900.

Year/s of Issue  
1851 to 1870 0 to 611000
1871 611000 to 913999
1872 914000 to 963999
1873 964000 to 1349999
1874 1350000 to 1914999
1875 1915000 to 2034999
1876 2350000 to 2154999
1877 2155000 to 2764999
1878 2765000 to 2924999
1879 2925000 to 3679999
1880 3680000 to 3939999
1881 3940000 to 4889999
1882 4890000 to 5483999
1883 5494000 to 6004999
1884 6005000 to 6524999
1885 6525000 to 7046499
1886 7046500 to 7471599
1887 7471600 to 7918999
1888 7919000 to 8615499
1889 8615500 to 9436999
1890 9437000 to 9809999
1891 9810000 to 10629999
1892 10630000 to 11338999
1893 11339000 to 11913499
1894 11913500 to 12475499
1895 12475500 to 13387999
1896 13388000 to 14047999
1897 14048000 to 14919999
1898 14920000 to 15811499
1899 15811500 to 16831099

At the beginning of the 20th century Singer began allocating seperate serial number prefixes to their various factories

While many records were lost, the records for the Elizabethport and Kilbowie factory were preserved and tranferred to PDF and for some years were available on Singer websites, although they have since been removed from public access. I have copies of the files preserved to my hard drive, but for HTML versions I recommend the ones posted to ISMACS

Serial number prefix for Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA (Elizabethport)

Years
Notes
Letter Prefix
1900  
N
1901  
L
1902 & 1903  
K
1904 & 1905  
B
1906 & 1907  
H
1908 & 1909  
D
1910 to 1924  
G
1924 to 1926  
AA
1926 to 1928  
AB
1928 to 1930  
AC
1930 to 1935  
AD
1935 to 1938  
AE
1938 to 1941  
AF
1941 to 1947  
AG
1947 to 1948  
AH
1948 to 1950  
AJ
1950 to 1952  
AK
1952 to 1955  
AL
1955 to 1959  
AM
1959 to 1964  
AN
1964  
AP
1966 to 1968  
AR

Serial number prefix for Clydebank, Scotland, Great Britain (Kilbowie)

Years
Notes
Letter Prefix
1900 (January to June) The "K" suffix introduced for Kilbowie manufactured models
M
July 1900 to Dec 1901  
P
1902 & 1903  
R
1904 & 1905  
J
1906 & 1907 *100 "S" machines made in Podolsk
S
1908 15K26 with large balance wheel & pillar mounted winder manufactured
V
1909 detailed records lost
X
1910 to Nov 1920 15K26 redesigned with lighter balance wheel & guard mounted winder
F
Dec 1920 to Dec 1921  
Y1 to Y768330
To Dec 1922  
to Y768330
To Dec 1923  
to Y1628300
To Dec 1924  
to Y2344170
To Dec 1925  
to Y3775310
To Dec 1926  
to Y4387390
To Dec 1927  
to Y5658823
To Dec 1928  
to Y6307594
To Dec 1929  
to Y7450266
To Dec 1930  
to Y8375207
To Dec 1931  
to Y8449942
To Dec 1932  
to Y8633634
To Dec 1933  
to Y9162104
To Dec 1934 The first 201K manufactured 1934
to Y9633846
To Oct 1935  
to Y9999999
Oct to Dec 1935
EA000001
to EA203878
To Jan 1937  
EA999999
Feb 1937 to Jan 1939  
EB
Feb 1939 to Dec 1940  
EC
Jan 1941 to Apr 1947  
ED
Apr 1947 to Feb 1949  
EE
Mar 1949 to Sep 1950  
EF
Sep 1950 to Dec 1951  
EG
Dec 1951 to Jun 1953  
EH
Jun 1953 to Nov 1954  
EJ
Nov 1954 to Jan 1956  
EK
Jan to Dec 1956  
EL
Dec 1956 to Dec 1957  
EM
Jan 1958 to Feb 1959  
EN
Feb 1959 to Mar 1960  
EP
Mar to Oct 1960  
ER
Oct 1960 to Oct 1961  
ES
Oct 1961 to Dec 1962  
ET
Dec 1962 to July 1964  
EV
1964 to 1965
 
EX
1960
EW000001
to EW005230
1961  
to EW020180
1962  
to EW024830
1963  
to EW030680
1964  
to EW038630
1965  
to EW045210
   
   
Beginning 1965 (records lost)  
FA to FY
(records lost)  
GA to GY

Wittenberge factory, Prussia, Germany

This list was obtained from a Wittenberge historical website that no longer exists
The Wittenberge Singer factory appears to have been used for R&D and several iconic Singer models (201, 206 and right to left threading 15 class) appear to have been developed there.

Years
Research Notes
Serial
1904 Prototype of the Kilbowie 15K26 produced
C1 to C48200
1905  
to C120100

1906

  
to C210300
1907  
to C320600
1908  
to C450600
1909  
to C580900
1910  
to C710400
1911  
to C840600

1912

  
to C970900
1913  
to C1110400
1914  
to C1250800
1915  
to C1380350
1916  
to C1510260
1917  
to C1630740
1918  
to C1770950
1919  
to C1911360
1920  
to C2054680
1921  
to C2200430
1922  
to C2360150
1923  
to C2538370
1924  
to C2688770
1925  
to C2838440
1926  
to C2996890
1927  
to C3156430
1928  
to C3314560
1929  
to C3514630
1930  
to C3764520
1931  
to C4044340
1932  
to C4334470
1933  
to C4634350
1934  
to C4946251
1935  
to C5258586
1936  
to C5570343
1937  
to C5753579
1938 Beginning of war production June
to C5898336
1939  
to C6028738
1940  
to C6148856
1941  
to C6258468
1942  
to C6358962
1943  
to C6448265
1944 to May '45 War production only

The Soviet Army disassembled and equipment moved to the former Singer factory at Podolsk USSR 1945
The moulds and tooling from the 15D88 would be used by PMZ (Podolsk) well into the 1960s or even 1970s

Note:

The C prefix was recycled and used for some Singer machines manufactured at the Brazilian factory at Campinas. I have seen photots of a 15C circa early 1960s (from red S badge design) with the serial #C2182182
Podolsk, Russia A Beginning 1911
E Beginning 1908
S* (*100 "S" machines made in Podolsk)
T
Bridgeport, Connecticut USA The providence of this record unknown and accuracy uncertain
W849017 1940
W878680 1941
W917085 1942
W938192 1943
W947984 1944
W995020 1945
W1034926 1946
W1093065 1947
W1158966 1948
W1198690 1949
W1264065 1950
W1342745 1951
W1387927 1952
W1404036 1953
W1433859 1954
W1456700 1955
W1495609 1956
W1771206 1957
W1790854 1958
W1802731 1959
W1831533 1960
Bogota, Colombia CA to CY -Beginning 1964
Karachi, Pakistan DA to DY - Beginning 1962
Istanbul, Turkey HA to HY -
Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada (St Johns) JA to JE -
Buenos Aires, Argentina KA to KY -
Taytay, Philippines LA to LY -
Taichung, Taiwan NL -
Bonnieres, France SA, SB, etc -
Karlsruhe, Germany (formerly Haid & Neu) PA etc - 1954
Campinas, Brazil

*C
RA etc
Utsunomiya, Japan (formerly Pine) TA etc -
Penrith , Australia
VA etc - 1959 to 1967

shop
Cyndy Kitt Productions items are also available from
Anne Bonny's Locker