Decal

Sphinx (or Memphis)

Official Singer name: 15 Sphinx

In use from 1886 up to 1959

In use for Classes:

15
27
127

Also called “Egyptian” decals, they first appeared in the 1890’s. They were used on the class 15 and class 27 up to the 1950’s.

Documented Machines

(What does it mean?)

Total n.: 354

Factories:

Bridgeport, Connecticut (USA)
Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA)
Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK)
Montreal (Canada)
Montreal or St. John (Canada)
Monza (Italy)
Podolsk (Russia)
St. John's Factory, Quebec (Canada)
Wittenberge, Prussia (Germany)

Documented Classes:

VS2
15
27
127

Documented years: 1888 - 1950

Factories

Factory	Tot. Machines	Classes	Years
Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA)	231	VS2, 15, 27, 127	1888–1930
	189	27	1891–1922
	31	127	1910–1930
	10	15	1896–1921
	1	VS2	1888
Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK)	90	15, 27, 127	1893–1950
	54	15	1896–1950
	35	27	1893–1906
	1	127	1917
No known factory	14	15, 27	1895–1899
	12	27	1895–1899
	2	15	1896–1899
St. John's Factory, Quebec (Canada)	9	27, 127	1910–1915
	7	127	1915
	2	27	1910
Montreal (Canada)	3	15, 27	1901–1906
	2	27	1901–1906
	1	15	1901
Monza (Italy)	2	15	—
Podolsk (Russia)	2	15, 27	—
	1	15	—
	1	27	—
Bridgeport, Connecticut (USA)	1	15	1950
Wittenberge, Prussia (Germany)	1	127	—
Montreal or St. John (Canada)	1	27	1904

Classes

Class	Tot. Machines	Factories	Years
VS2	1	Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA)	1888
15	71	Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK) / Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA) / / Monza (Italy) / Podolsk (Russia) / Bridgeport, Connecticut (USA) / Montreal (Canada)	1896–1950
	54	Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK)	1896–1950
	10	Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA)	1896–1921
	2	No known factory	1896–1899
	2	Monza (Italy)	—
	1	Podolsk (Russia)	—
	1	Bridgeport, Connecticut (USA)	1950
	1	Montreal (Canada)	1901
27	242	Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA) / Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK) / / Montreal (Canada) / St. John's Factory, Quebec (Canada) / Podolsk (Russia) / Montreal or St. John (Canada)	1891–1922
	189	Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA)	1891–1922
	35	Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK)	1893–1906
	12	No known factory	1895–1899
	2	Montreal (Canada)	1901–1906
	2	St. John's Factory, Quebec (Canada)	1910
	1	Podolsk (Russia)	—
	1	Montreal or St. John (Canada)	1904
127	40	Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA) / St. John's Factory, Quebec (Canada) / Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK) / Wittenberge, Prussia (Germany)	1910–1930
	31	Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA)	1910–1930
	7	St. John's Factory, Quebec (Canada)	1915
	1	Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK)	1917
	1	Wittenberge, Prussia (Germany)	—

About the data shown here

The information here about the use of decals in factories and classes is based on “Documented Machines” currently recorded in our database. We currently do not have an official Singer source about which decals were in use where and when and on which machines.

Our dataset is continuously growing as new machines are documented and shared by collectors and researchers. As a result, the details presented here should be considered indicative and may be updated over time.

Contributions are very welcome: if you own or know of a vintage Singer machine, please feel free to submit information via the form or contact us to help improve and expand this research.

Do you want instead to identify your Singer sewing machine age and/or model? You can use our Singer Serial Number Database Lookup.

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