As I mentioned in my previous post, you can use the serial number on your machine to try to figure out where/when you machine was manufactured.
I was told by the family that my machine is from 1936 but I was curious if I could actually verify this date with the serial number. I already know from my previous research that the 15-91 was manufactured from 1930 and 1956, and that the ‘JB’ prefix on my serial code indicates it was made in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu , Quebec between 1936 - 1948. I should make a quick note here that a lot of singer documentation online around serial number prefixes does not use the city name Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu but instead uses St. John’s. I’m not sure why this is, perhaps due to some english translation that happened at some point? But the city is actually called Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
I first checked the manual that came with the machine to see if there might be some sort of publishing date that could clue me in on the date of manufacturing. No such luck. Next, I scoured the internet but was unable to find any breakdown of serial numbers by year for the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu factory. The best I could find was this that mentioned that the prefix is followed by 6 digits starting at 000001 up to 999999.
Serial Number
Looking at my serial number, it is much closer to 999999 than 000001 which casts some doubt on the idea it was actually manufactured in 1936. I suppose it's possible that the machine was manufactured in 1936 and not assigned a serial number until later, but I think that is a bit of a stretch considering how high the serial number is. It is much more likely that this machine is actually from the 1940s.
If I also consider what I know about the previous owner, I think the 1940s makes more sense as well. She was only 16 in 1936, which seems a bit young to not only have her own personal sewing machine, but one that was brand new at the time. That is assuming she was the first owner of the machine, which is honestly not entirely clear. I only know from the family that she had the machine for a very long time and used it up to her death.
Additionally, there is the fact that the family’s primary language is French and mine is English. There could have been some information lost in translation. Perhaps they only meant to say that the machine model is from 1936, not necessarily that this particular machine was actually manufactured in 1936.
Regardless though, whether my machine was actually manufactured in 1936 or sometime in the 1940s, it doesn’t take away my enjoyment of the machine. It is still a 15-91, and one that appears to have been well taken care of by the previous owner.