In this adventure there are 9 machines that will be tested.
An important thing to note about the models for Kenmores of this era is the context of the naming scheme. "XXX.MM(MM)Y" The XXX being the general design numbers such as 117, 158, or 148. These often correlate with the manufacturer of the machine and the region of sale. MM(MM) mean while is the model. I have seen model numbers that are from two digits to four digits. All the models I'll be writing on in this series are four digits.
The last number is the Y, and is always the Y no matter how many M's precede it. It is often casually implied as the manufacturing year, 0 being the first year of manufacture. From what I've actually seen, it's more like revision number just like in modern computing when they go from 2.0 to 2.1. A major revision has been made, but it isn't different enough to be a new machine. With this, sometimes multiple revisions can happen in one year, or a single revision can span several years of manufacture.
If you want to look up your machine check out this link from Sears Archive
An attempt was made to get each machine to be of a different manufacturing design year, but book keeping errors and an over zealous interest in getting the experiment started sort of caused and issue with that.
So instead I have *mostly* different design years for each model.
(Maybe I can answer if one revision is better than another. We'll see.)
I came up with some names for the machines based upon female literary heroines. Classic literature for some classic machines.
The Kenmores in Question 158 series by start years:
The 1601 models were ultimately manufactured between '69-'71. While 1802, the "Sears Best" big sister to the 1601 were between '68-'72. The odd ball mid guy the 1701 popped up between '69-'70. The years jump to getting to the 1814 models of '74-'75.
The models in this experiment were chosen based upon the internet rumor mill about general build quality, as well as feel, sound, and usage. In general, the scuttle-butt is that the 1802 and 1914 models have been seen as the Kenmore Cream of the Crop. So I went for those machines and their little siblings.
I shied away from the 1914 ultimately because they are so sought after that bidding for them, or buying them was cost prohibitive. But the 1814 is, from all I could tell online and in schematics, just the flat bed model of the same design. 1914 being an early free arm beauty that is slightly lighter.
Craigslist, StageCoachRoad, eBay, and forums helped me acquire these pretties. And before I really get running, I'm going to make sure each of them fully function before testing.
Stay tuned for individual entries for each machine.
An important thing to note about the models for Kenmores of this era is the context of the naming scheme. "XXX.MM(MM)Y" The XXX being the general design numbers such as 117, 158, or 148. These often correlate with the manufacturer of the machine and the region of sale. MM(MM) mean while is the model. I have seen model numbers that are from two digits to four digits. All the models I'll be writing on in this series are four digits.
 |
| Model Number and Serial Plate |
The last number is the Y, and is always the Y no matter how many M's precede it. It is often casually implied as the manufacturing year, 0 being the first year of manufacture. From what I've actually seen, it's more like revision number just like in modern computing when they go from 2.0 to 2.1. A major revision has been made, but it isn't different enough to be a new machine. With this, sometimes multiple revisions can happen in one year, or a single revision can span several years of manufacture.
If you want to look up your machine check out this link from Sears Archive
An attempt was made to get each machine to be of a different manufacturing design year, but book keeping errors and an over zealous interest in getting the experiment started sort of caused and issue with that.
So instead I have *mostly* different design years for each model.
(Maybe I can answer if one revision is better than another. We'll see.)
I came up with some names for the machines based upon female literary heroines. Classic literature for some classic machines.
The Kenmores in Question 158 series by start years:
- 1968
- 18021 (Elizabeth)
- 1969
- 16010 (Helen)
- 17010 (Jo)
- 1970
- 16011 (Jane)
- 18023 (Scout)
- 18023 (Anne)
- 1974
- 18140 (Lily)
- 1975
- 18141 (Emma)
- 18141 (Dominique)
 |
| You have seen them before, but without really knowing what was going on! 1601 (Yellow Tags) 1701 (Pink Tag) 1802 (Orange Tag) 1814 (Blue Tag) |
The 1601 models were ultimately manufactured between '69-'71. While 1802, the "Sears Best" big sister to the 1601 were between '68-'72. The odd ball mid guy the 1701 popped up between '69-'70. The years jump to getting to the 1814 models of '74-'75.
The models in this experiment were chosen based upon the internet rumor mill about general build quality, as well as feel, sound, and usage. In general, the scuttle-butt is that the 1802 and 1914 models have been seen as the Kenmore Cream of the Crop. So I went for those machines and their little siblings.
I shied away from the 1914 ultimately because they are so sought after that bidding for them, or buying them was cost prohibitive. But the 1814 is, from all I could tell online and in schematics, just the flat bed model of the same design. 1914 being an early free arm beauty that is slightly lighter.
Craigslist, StageCoachRoad, eBay, and forums helped me acquire these pretties. And before I really get running, I'm going to make sure each of them fully function before testing.
Stay tuned for individual entries for each machine.
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