The Invention of the Sewing MachineCooper, Grace Rogers
History
The Invention of the Sewing Machine
Cooper, Grace Rogers
Sewing machines -- History
[Illustration: Figures 119 and 120.--SHAW & CLARK SEWING MACHINES. In
addition to the early style Monitor sewing machine sold by Shaw & Clark
without a name or any identifying marks, the company continued to
manufacture machines after a lawsuit with the "Combination" forced them
to take out a license. They manufactured an adapted version of their
Monitor and an entirely new design patented in 1861. Their machines were
now marked with the company name and a list of patent dates including
those of Howe, Wheeler and Wilson, Grover and Baker, and Singer and the
Batchelder patent, together with their own design patents. In 1867 the
company moved from Biddeford, Maine, to Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts.
In the same year, they began manufacturing a machine of the design
patented by T. C. Page. The company is believed to have become the
Chicopee Sewing Machine Company which appeared the following year and
remained in business only a very short time. One Chicopee sewing machine
is in the Smithsonian collection.]
[Illustration: Figure 121.--SINGER "Traverse Shuttle Machine--Letter A."
(Smithsonian photo 58984.)]
Figures 121 and 122.--SINGER SEWING MACHINES. From 1850 to 1858 the
Singer company produced heavy manufacturing-type sewing machines similar
to the patent model shown earlier (fig. 28). The first machine for
family use, Singer's new "Family" sewing machine (fig. 33) was
manufactured from 1858-1861. Their second-style family machine was
called the "Traverse Shuttle Machine--Letter A;" it was manufactured
from 1859 to 1865, when they introduced their third family machine and
called it the "New Family" sewing machine. This style machine continued
until about 1883 when the "Improved Family" machine appeared. In
addition to the lockstitch machines, Singer also manufactured
chainstitch machines, and many highly specialized manufacturing
machines.
From 1857 through the 1880s, the Singer machines were marked with two
serial numbers. It is possible that the numbers were related to the
"Combination" royalties paid by the Singer company. Until about 1873
there was a difference of exactly 4,000 in the two numbers, thus one
machine would be marked 12163 and directly below it would be marked
16163. From 1873 the last three digits of the two numbers continued to
be the same but the lower number might be much lower in value than
either number used in earlier years. The larger number is believed to
have been a record of total production while the lower number may have
referred to a machine of a particular style. The Singer company records
can shed no light on the meaning of the top (or lower of the two) serial
numbers. Generally, in the earlier machines, the difference in the two
numbers will not affect the dating of a machine by more than one year.
Since dating by serial number can only be estimated, the two numbers do
not add an appreciable variable prior to 1873. Only the larger number,
however, should be considered in dating machines after 1873.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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