This may be the sewing machine that no one loved.

You will hear it described as the last of the “all metal” sewing machines made by Singer, the pre-eminent sewing machine maker, basically from the Civil War to Watergate. “All metal” is sort of true. The inner workings are metal, but the Singer 237s have plastic tops and nose pieces — dust covers, basically.

It may have been the beginning of the end for Singer. Other home sewing machine makers, particularly foreign makers, were using plastic for gears and forks and other parts, cutting costs and prices to the consumer. And the 237 Fashion Mate sure looks like Singer’s last stand. It’s like it was the model where Singer finally cried “uncle,” and turned down the road to plastic and oblivion, ceasing to making machines altogether about decade later, after a series of ignominious concessions.

The 237 was a mechanical revenant, with a straight needle and presser foot bar and a retreat from Singer’s groundbreaking “Slant-o-Matic” technology that made the Rocketeer 500 such an eyeful, the 401 the Mercedes Benz of domestic sewing machines and the 301 a prized collector’s find. After the Singer’s post-war pinnacle, the 237 had no razzle. No dazzle. It just worked.

But the 237 has a storied ancestry. Its basic mechanism, the vertically-oriented oscillating hook, goes back to the 19th century and is a core textile technology. At least one item of clothing you are wearing now probably had its start at some point between a needle and a vertical oscillating hook.

And while the Singer company that built the 237 may be gone, its sewing legacy is still stitching away.