Singer Manufacturing Company History Anderson, South Carolina

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I was interested in Singer manufacturing company history, particularly in Anderson, South Carolina. For this reason, I made a trip to the location and information is listed below.

Anderson Singer company history has a backstory

 William Church Whitner formed the first hydroelectric plant to transmit power over a long distance in the South. The power plant opened May 1, 1895 and allowed electricity to travel six miles from a generator at High Shoals on the Rocky River to downtown Anderson, S.C. The electricity attracted businesses from all over the country and caused Anderson to be nicknamed “Electric City.”

Singer moves to Anderson

Many years later, Singer decided to take advantage of the abundant electricity available in Anderson. They built the plant in 1950 and opened in 1951. While access to electricity was one of the main reasons why they chose Anderson, it wasn’t the only reason. Singer also moved to Anderson because it had a large textile industry. The existing marketing and distribution networks made the region an ideal place for Singer to set up shop.

Sewing machines were made there including…

• 301 (Labeled without a suffix from 1951-1952)
• 301A (1953-1957)
• 401A (1957-1961)
• 403A (1958-1960)
• 500A (1961-1963)
• 503A (1961-1963)
• Singer Athena 2000 (1975- ?)

How To Identify Anderson Machines

The majority of Anderson, South Carolina machines had an A suffix after the model number. Also, models were labeled with  NA, NB or NC serial numbers.

Other Interesting Information About the Machines

Anderson, South Carolina machines made with model numbers ending in 03 didn’t have built in stitches. Instead, the 03 models used design cams for all the decorative stitches.

Why Singer left

Like many other companies, Singer found it necessary to move operations overseas. Overseas operations eliminated high payroll costs and the burden of federal regulations. While Singer did end up moving, the transition didn’t happen overnight. At first, Singer moved sewing machine operations overseas and produced power tools in Anderson. But eventually, Singer sold their manufacturing plant to Ryobi of Japan.

Interesting

Singer manufacturing company history is very interesting. I hope you enjoyed this short article. Please let me know your thoughts down below.

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