Decal

Sphinx (or Memphis)

Official Singer name: 15 Sphinx

In use from 1886 up to 1959

In use for Classes:

15 (1896 - 1953)
27 (1891 - 1912)
127 (1912 - 1929)

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.: 342

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:

15
27
127

Documented years: 1888 - 1950

Factories

Factory	Tot. Machines	Classes	Years
Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA)	228	15, 27, 127	1888–1930
	187	27	1891–1922
	30	127	1910–1930
	10	15	1896–1921
	1	VS2	1888
Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK)	81	15, 27, 127	1893–1950
	46	15	1896–1950
	34	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
27	239	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
	187	Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA)	1891–1922
	34	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
15	63	Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK) / Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA) / / Monza (Italy) / Podolsk (Russia) / Bridgeport, Connecticut (USA) / Montreal (Canada)	1896–1950
	46	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
127	39	Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA) / St. John's Factory, Quebec (Canada) / Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK) / Wittenberge, Prussia (Germany)	1910–1930
	30	Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA)	1910–1930
	7	St. John's Factory, Quebec (Canada)	1915
	1	Kilbowie, Clydebank (Scotland, UK)	1917
	1	Wittenberge, Prussia (Germany)	—
VS2	1	Elizabethport, New Jersey (USA)	1888

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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