Remember these?

New Singer can be operated manually

We saw a stack of boxes of these Singer sewing machines in the local village recently.  One was set up for display.  These were not used machines.  These are newly produced sewing machines.  These are electric machines that also have a foot pedal and drive belt for manual operation.  That drive belt is not installed on the machine in this photo, but you can clearly see the attachment points to install it.   I assume this type of Singer sewing machine is marketed in countries that have limited or unreliable supplies of electricity.

These are not the heavy solid metal machines of yesteryears.  The foot pedals are wrought iron, but the machine heads are plastic.  The wooden cabinets are not solid wood, of course. 

Wonder if these machines will last 80-plus years like the old sturdily built Singers our grandmothers used.