'My old Sewing Machine Blue Book (which is not always totally accurate) says the 401 was sold from 1958-1960. The #401 was sold until 1961 when the #500 machine was introduced. The first machine was very overbuilt, with a #301 motor, tension assembly, bakelite cord connectors, bronze bearings and heavilyĬhromed screws on the face of the machine. Legal battles ensued and the machine was allowed to be manufactured in 1957, allowing sales for Christmas of 1957, despite claims of earlier production. Bernina stipulated that the machine could in no way resemble their machine. The #401 had been designed with patents bought from Bernina and Vigorelli. they had previously ruled the sewing machine industry and now had competition from Europe and Japan, who produced machines with many 'bells and whistles' and at a competitive price.

They were in trouble in regard to WW2 recovery. The Singer #401 was manufacturing challenge for the Singer company. Hello, in reference to the remarks as to when the #401 machine was produced. Now, I have to pick another machine to get rid of because I am under a one-in-one-out mandate. I have sewn three small projects on it and am quite pleased with my latest find. The old girl cleaned up nicely and with just cleaning and oiling and replacing of a few common parts, it sews nicely. Apparently the machine was offered at a local yard sale and no one was tempted to make an offer, so it was donated to the thrift store. When I removed the head from the cabinet, I found a tag saying, 'Make Offer'. It was missing the slide plate and one spool pin and the bobbin winder tire was disintegrated but the stitch selectors and balance wheel turned freely, it had the power cord and foot control and the price was right, so I brought it home. I don't see many of these around any more, mostly late model plastic machines.Īccumulated dirt made this one look like it had been stored in a barn for some time.

I still have a soft spot in my heart for slant-needle Singers, even though I have better sewing machines and I already have too many slant-needle Singers. I think I've told this story before, but a Singer 301 was my first machine and a 401 was my second machine and my first zig zag machine. To my surprise, when I lifted the lid, inside was a Singer 401a! I didn't recognize the cabinet as Singer, and figured it would contain a Japanese machine of the 1960s.

Singer 301a serial numbers