Old Singer Got Me Stumped

[Anne Bonnys Locker]

I was given an old machine today in poor condition but it will sew again one day. It is a 96KSV7. I cannot find any reference to any 96-7 or 96K7. Obviously it is a "shirt sewer" and this one dates from the 1930's but it has reverse (what will SInger think of next?).

Has anybody ever seen a 96-7 or 96K7 before? Was reverse standard?

[cdthayer]

I was given ....a 96KSV7. I cannot find any reference to any 96-7 or 96K7. Obviously it is a "shirt sewer" and this one dates from the 1930's but it has reverse (what will SInger think of next?).

Has anybody ever seen a 96-7 or 96K7 before? Was reverse standard?

From what I understand, the “SV” stood for “Special Version”. The “7” may be part of the special version aspect, so there may not have ever been a “regular” 96K7. Singer modified machines quite often to meet special customer needs, and there may not have been many 96KSV7 machines made. What is the serial number on your machine?

My Singer 96-40 (AE120698) does not have reverse or backtack.

CD in Oklahoma

[Sylvia]

I was given an old machine today in poor condition but it will sew again one day. It is a 96KSV7. I cannot find any reference to any 96-7 or 96K7. Obviously it is a "shirt sewer" and this one dates from the 1930's but it has reverse (what will SInger think of next?).

Has anybody ever seen a 96-7 or 96K7 before? Was reverse standard?

Some of these 1940s singers did have the reverse.

Does yours look similar to this one?

http://www.sewconsult.com/singer/singer_instruction_manual_66.html

[Anne Bonnys Locker]

Thanks guys.

I am fairly conversant with Singer Nomenclature and I have dozens of machines about the place. Theoretically every series starts with "1" and works its way up sequentially and SV7 should mean that it is just a Special Version of the variation seven but for whatever reason some variations of the machine do not appear in the literature, possibly because they were very low volume.

By the late 1930's Singer only had one mainstream domestic model (the 96KSV7 is Industrial) with reverse - the 201 - although I think the 15 with reverse also dates from around then. The link is to the "66" which never had reverse even though it soldiered on until the early 1960's. The 3/4 version - the 99 - did get reverse in the very late 1950's.

Singer was terrible when it came to offering machines with reverse.