After she called and told me about getting the centennial 201 for 10 bucks I was feeling a bit giddy and generous. I told my sister to go up to $90 on this 201-2 from 1953. Again a few minutes later she called back and told me I didn't get the second one for 10 bucks. I got it for $5 including the table. And again she covered it as a Christmas present. How cool it that.
I didn't get a chance to take this one apart to buff up the metal bits while in Oklahoma, but I did give it a dusting with Lemon Pledge and sexied it up with a coat of Singer oil before taking the pictures.
I probably should have worked the oil a bit more on the top of the pedestal to cover up the crazing more, but I was in a hurry to get the pictures up and show it off.
The wiring on this one was much better than the centennial, meaning there were only a couple of cracked and bare spots. I felt safe enough to do some testing with it. After a liberal application of oil and making sure the grease hadn't turned to rubber, the movement was smooth and free, spinning at a very nice pace under power.
I did dust out the needle bar area and bottom end, but didn't pull any parts out yet for more thorough cleaning. It'll happen pretty quickly if it stays warm-ish here.
The serial number was allocated in April of 1953.
I'm formulating a plan for the 201s right now. I think the 1953 is going to stay in the house, in the model 40 library table that the 301 wouldn't fit in. My son is using that table as a desk with no machine in it. So I'll keep the 1953 electric and available for those rare moments I don't feel like treadling and don't want to move the laptop to use Wicked Queen. The centennial will go into the sewing room, converted to treadle and have the zig zagger attachment put on, because the 40Xs just need too much babying. For the limited amount of use they see it's really not worth the effort to have to go through a full maintenance on them because they start coughing up hairballs after every couple of hours of use. Okay that's over dramatic, but they do need more attention when in use than the straight stitch machines.
The table that came with it was not a Singer as far as I can tell. The craftsmanship is respectable, but not quite what I'm used to seeing from Singers. There are also no manufacturer markings on it. And I have not seen anything that looks like it in any Singer catalogs. Still it's a sturdy desk with lots of drawer space. I already have it up in the sewing room. Here's a shot of it and an 'in progress' limited view of some of the sewing room.
Here's a little bit of trivia for anyone who didn't know. The 201 remained in production for the entire run of the 301. Now I know the 301 is a pretty awesome machine. It's unbeatable in drag racing among domestics. Only my industrials put up faster SPM times. But it kind of says something when the machine it was supposed to replace sticks around for the length of its entire production life.
I'll do an 'opinion piece' about how I rank machines. But my only knocks on the 201-2 are: First, the potted motor, which I just don't like. They are a pain to work on and make treadlizing 201s an awkward search for parts. I really wish 201-1s were more common. And secondly it makes a stitch that just isn't as perfect as a 15. It makes a better stitch than any modern machine, that's for sure. But just a hair less perfect than the 15 does. On the plus side. They are so quiet I can sew with the wife napping on the couch next to me and not disturb her. And they just look so darn good. It's weird that I think the 201s look so great and yet I dislike 66s.
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