I am following many research paths about the history of Singer sewing machines. About factories, I am diving deep into the Singer production in Monza (Italy) and Bonnières-sur-Seine (France), but also looking for the Singer 9W models produced in Bridgeport (USA). I suppose many more deep dives into other factories will come, like this one about the Mexican factory of Querétaro.
All this project that started with my Singer serial number database is indeed about cross-referencing: factory locations, models, decals, serials and other peculiar features to help date and identify any particular machine.
Why Querétaro now, a place so far distant for me, where I’ve never been yet? Because of the community. Many have sent me messages, emails, comments, and I wish I could have time to answer to anyone sooner than I do. One email recently was from Bryan, who sent me photos of a peculiar sewing machine. It had a special kind of decals, one I’d never mapped before in my decals page. I knew it was a genuine one, though, because a few weeks earlier another user sent me a photo of a machine bearing the same decals. I’ve been asking around, becoming fairly sure it was a genuine Singer model, not a reproduction, when Bryan came in with more info.
A decal with Aztec symbols he named “Azteca”, in use in a model he identified as a 189R. Several new pieces of information for me in just a few lines: new decal, new model, new location code. That machine gave us something more than just a new decal to catalogue. The “R” in 189R pointed to the factory location code, and that opened the door to something much bigger. It opened a new rabbit hole, of me looking through Mexican newspapers looking for mentions of the Querétaro Singer factory.
Sometimes, a new lead starts from something very small. The power of a community is strong, it’s amazing what sharing information can do. So now I want to play my part, and dive deep into this factory and share all the things I know. I do hope I can gather more in the future, with the help of anyone willing to share with me.
Table of contents
Brief history of the Querétaro factory
Singer factory, Querétaro (Mexico)
Trademark on the back of a Singer 191R made in Querétaro (Mexico): here we can read the address of the factory “Km 3 1/2 Carretera Constitución Querétaro””
Singer had already been present in Mexico for a long time before opening a factory there. Sewing machines were being sold in the country as early as the mid-19th century, and over the decades Singer built a strong commercial network, with agencies, regional offices and a solid reputation among Mexican families.
By the late 1950s, Singer opened a plant in Querétaro, starting local manufacturing in the country. The factory produced machines, wooden cabinets and furniture. This new plant was born in a broader wave of industrial development in the area. A 1966 article in The New York Times noted that the Singer Company, established there eight years earlier, had moved from assembly to full production, alongside other international companies setting up factories in the region.
By 1970, the factory was already expanding. Local records (for example “Efemérides Queretanas“) mention an official inauguration of new facilities attended by Governor Juventino Castro, with the introduction of modern machinery aimed at increasing production and supporting exports to Central America. At that time, Singer was described as one of the oldest companies in the city and a pioneer of its industrial growth: an indication of how established the factory had already become within just over a decade.
Through the following decades, the Querétaro plant became an important part of Singer’s operations in the Americas. By the 1970s, machines produced there, such as those in the “Facilita” line, were widely known across Mexico.
Production was not limited to the domestic market: exports began in 1976, and by the early 1980s, a significant portion of the factory’s output was being shipped abroad, including to the United States, Canada, and several countries in Central America and the Caribbean. At its peak, the factory appears to have been a major production hub, supplying both local and international markets.
This situation changed towards the end of the 20th century. As part of a broader reorganization aimed at consolidating production, Singer gradually shifted manufacturing operations elsewhere in the continent. By 1999, the Querétaro plant was closed, ending decades of sewing machine production in Mexico. From that point on, machines sold in the country were imported rather than locally made.
Even with relatively few surviving official records, it’s clear that Querétaro was not a minor or short-lived experiment, but a fully operational factory that played a role in Singer’s global manufacturing network for several decades. And a plant that developed its own distinct identity.
Decals from the Querétaro-made sewing machines
Here are the decal sets recorded on machines made in the factory of Querétaro, with their periods of use and the classes (models) they were applied to.
It’s a cross-reference of known Singer decal sets with the serial numbers in our own database. This may be helpful to date machines when serial records are incomplete.
This decal has been verified on machines made in Querétaro (Mexico) and has been named by Bryan, the owner of a machine with model number 189R and those decals. He kindly sent the photos to us, and thanks to him we also found out that the location code for the factory is R.
Verified machines in this factory
(What does it mean?)Total verified machines: 1
Verified Classes:
- 189
Use recorded from 1955 to 1960
Verified machines in this factory
(What does it mean?)Total verified machines: 5
Verified Classes:
- 189
- 191
Verified years: 1968
Share info about your machine
If you happen to own a Singer sewing machine made in Mexico, feel free to get in touch and share your machine’s serial number (and photos, if you have them). Each one adds another piece to the puzzle. Please share what you know with the community! Thank you for helping us in this monumental research.
Singer machines produced in Querétaro we've verified so far
Here are the sewing machines made in Querétaro we encountered so far. Please, if you know others let us know!
Showing 10 of 10 serial numbers
| Serial Number | Model | Year allotted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| YA010034 | 189R | 1958-1999 | Decals: Azteca. |
| YA112210 | 191R | 1958-1999 | Decals: Eye and Trapezoids. |
| YA115044 | 191R | 1958-1999 | Decals: Eye and Trapezoids. |
| YA322193 | 189R | 1958-1999 | Decals: Eye and Trapezoids. |
| YA387903 | 191R | 1968 | Decals: Eye and Trapezoids. The machine has its original buying receipt from 19th August 1968. |
| YA683590 | 191R | 1958-1999 | Decals: Eye and Trapezoids. |
| YB118683 | 121R | 1958-1999 | |
| YB620342 | 189R | 1958-1999 | |
| YB942074 | 191R | 1958-1999 | |
| YC356794 | 15R75 | 1958-1999 |
Share info about your machine
If you happen to own a Singer sewing machine made in Mexico, feel free to get in touch and share your machine’s serial number (and photos, if you have them). Each one adds another piece to the puzzle. Please share what you know with the community! Thank you for helping us in this monumental research.
Resources
- An article about the history of Singer in Mexico (in Spanish)
- An artitcle (from 1966) mentioning the opening of the Querétaro factory in 1958
- An article about the closing of the Querétaro factory (in Spanish)
- On the history of Singer company
- Complete database of vintage Singer sewing machines serial numbers, plus info about serial numbers, factories and location codes, class and model numbers
- Singer sewing machine manuals
- Singer sewing machine decal sets
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