Kenmore decoder — the one nobody else built

Kenmore sewing machine model number decoder

Here is the thing Sears never put on the box: Sears did not build your Kenmore. Other sewing machine companies built every one, and Sears coded the real maker into the first three digits of the model number. Type the full model number and this decoder names the maker, the era, and — for the models in Sears' published list — the years your model was produced.

The four maker codes

Why the maker matters more than the name on the front

Sears' model list: years produced, by model number

Reproduced from Sears' published "Machine Model Identification Nomenclature" list. A dash means the list gives no years for that model. The list runs 1934–1980; 385 models are decoded by prefix above (the published list does not give their years model by model).

117 — built by White (102 models)

148 — built by Soryu (84 models)

158 — built by Maruzen (227 models)