I have a Kenmore that my mom bought new in 1976 because she was flirting with the salesman. She never used it, but I ended up with it several years later and I'm still using it.

Ha! Lucky you!

This one was originally my mom's, also. Only she bought it new, right out of high school, and used it tons - many of my clothes as a child were made on it.
I learned to sew on it when I was in elementary school, she let me take it with me to college (she has other machines), and it's been the most reliably useful thing I've owned ever since.

I always recommend the older Japanese-made sewing machines to people looking for an inexpensive starter. They're pretty much bulletproof.

Japanese import machines from the 50's-70's are the unsung workhorses of vintage machines. I see these a lot in thrift stores. The 70's Kenmores are maybe the most common machines out there. They seem bulletproof. I think the 60's breed of Japanese machines are even better, but they are harder to find. I would recommend anyone buy one of these over a Singer HD all day even if they cost the same.