The Invention of the Sewing Machine Part 8

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 65.--THIS FANNING ATTACHMENT was commercially available from James Morrison & Co. in the early 1870s; it sold for one dollar as stated in the advertising brochure from which this engraving was copied. Other inventors also patented similar implements.

(Smithsonian photo 45513.)]

The first patent for an attachment was issued in 1853 to Harry Sweet for a binder, used to st.i.tch a special binding edge to the fabric. Other related attachments followed; among these were the hemmer which was similar to the binder, but turned the edge of the same piece of fabric to itself as the st.i.tching was performed. Guides for st.i.tching braid in any pattern, as directed by the movement of the goods below, were also developed; this was followed by the embroiderer, an elaborate form of braider. The first machine to st.i.tch b.u.t.tonholes was patented in 1854 and the first b.u.t.tonhole attachment in 1856, but the latter was not practical until improvements were made in the late 1860s. Special devices for refilling the bobbins were invented and patented as early as 1862, and the popularity of tucked and ruffled garments inspired inventors to provide sewing-machine attachments for these purposes also.

To keep the seamstress cool, C. D. Stewart patented an attachment for fanning the operator by an action derived from the treadle (fig. 65).

While electric sewing machines did not become common until the 20th century, several 19th-century inventors considered the possibility of attaching a type of motor to the machine. One was the 1871 patent of Solomon Jones, who added an "electro motor" to an 1865 Bartlett machine (fig. 66). The attachments that were developed during the latter part of the 19th century numbered in the thousands; many of these were superfluous. Most of the basic ones in use today were developed by the 1880s and remain almost unchanged. Even the recently popular home zigzag machine, an outgrowth of the b.u.t.tonhole machine, was in commercial use by the 1870s.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 66.--JONES "ELECTRO MOTOR" PATENT MODEL of 1871 on a Bartlett sewing machine. (Smithsonian photo P-63104.)]

Sewing-machine improvements have been made from time to time. Like other mechanical items the machine has become increasingly automatic, but the basic principles remain the same. One of the more recent developments, patented[84] in 1933 by Valentine Naftali et al., is for a manufacturing machine that imitates hand st.i.tching. This machine uses a two-pointed "floating needle" that is pa.s.sed completely through the fabric--the very idea that was attempted over one hundred years ago. The machine is currently used by commercial manufacturers to produce decorative edge-st.i.tching that very closely resembles hand st.i.tching.

THREAD FOR THE MACHINE

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 67.--SIX-CORD cabled thread.]

The need for a good thread durable enough to withstand the action of machine st.i.tching first created a problem and ultimately another new industry in this country. When the sewing machine was first developed the inventors necessarily had to use the sewing thread that was available. But, although the contemporary thread was quite suitable for hand sewing, it did not lend itself to the requirements of the machine.

Cotton thread, then more commonly a three-ply variety, had a glazed finish and was wiry. Silk thread frequently broke owing to abrasion at the needle eye. For the most part linen thread was too coa.r.s.e, or the fine variety was too expensive. All of the thread had imperfections that went unnoticed in the hands of a seamstress, but caused havoc in a machine. Quality silk thread that would withstand the rigors of machine st.i.tching could be produced, but it was quite expensive also. A new type of inexpensive thread was needed; the obvious answer lay in improving the cotton thread.[85]

In addition to the popular three-ply variety, cotton thread was also made by twisting together either two single yarns or more than three yarns. Increasing the number of yarns produced a more cylindrical thread. The earliest record of a six-ply cotton thread was about 1840.[86] And in 1850 C. E. Bennett of Portsmouth, New Hamps.h.i.+re, received a gold medal for superior six-cord, or six-ply, spool cotton at the Fair of the American Inst.i.tute. But the thread was still wiry and far from satisfactory. By the mid-1860s the demonstrated need for thread manufacturers in America brought George A. Clark and William Clark, third generation cotton-thread manufacturers of Paisley, Scotland, to Newark, New Jersey, where they built a large mill. George Clark decided that a thread having both a softer finish and a different construction was needed. He produced a six-cord cabled thread, made up of three two-ply yarns (see fig. 67). The thread was called "Clark's 'Our New Thread,'" which was later shortened to O.N.T. The basic machine-thread problem was solved. When other manufacturers used the six-cord cabled construction they referred to their thread as "Best Six-Cord"[87] or "Superior Six-Cord"[88] to distinguish it from the earlier variety made up of six single yarns in a simple twist. Another new side industry of the sewing machine was successfully established.

MANUFACTURE AND EXPORT, TO 1900

Sewing machines were a commodity in themselves, both at home and abroad.

In 1850, there were no establishments exclusively devoted to the manufacture of sewing machines, the few constructed were made in small machine shops. The industry, however, experienced a very rapid growth during the next ten years. By 1860 there were 74 factories in 12 States,[89] mainly in the East and Midwest,[90] producing over 111,000 sewing machines a year. In addition, there were 14 factories that produced sewing-machine cases and attachments. The yearly value of these products was approximately four and a half million dollars, of which the amount exported in 1861 was $61,000. Although the number of sewing-machine factories dropped from 74 in 1860 to 69 by 1870, the value of the machines produced increased to almost sixteen million dollars.

The number of sewing-machine companies fluctuated greatly from year to year as many attempted to enter this new field of manufacture. Some were not able to make a commercial success of their products. The Civil War did not seem to be an important factor in the number of companies in business in the North. Although one manufacturer ceased operations in Richmond, Virginia, and a Vermont firm converted to arms manufacture, several companies began operations during the war years. Of the 69 firms in business in 1870, only part had been in business since 1860 or before; some were quite new as a result of the expiration of the Howe patent renewal in 1867.

Probably due to the termination of many of the major patents, there were 124 factories in 1880, but the yearly product value remained at sixteen million dollars. The 1890 census reports only 66 factories with a yearly production of a little less than the earlier decade. But by 1900, the yearly production of a like number of factories had reached a value of over twenty-one million, of which four and a half million dollars worth were exported annually. The total value of American sewing machines exported from 1860 to 1900 was approximately ninety million dollars. The manufacture of sewing machines made a significant contribution to the economic development of 19th-century America.

FOOTNOTES:

[73] _Eighth Census, 1860, Manufactures, Clothing_ (United States Census Office, published Government Printing Office: Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., 1865).

[74] _Eighty Years of Progress of the United States_ (New York, 1861), vol. 2, pp. 413-429.

[75] GEORGE GIFFORD, "Argument of [George] Gifford in Favor of the Howe Application for Extension of Patent" (New York: United States Patent Office, 1860).

[76] Op. cit. (footnote 34).

[77] _Eighth Census, 1860, Manufactures_ (United States Census Office, published Government Printing Office: Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., 1865), "Women's Ready-Made Clothing," p. 83.

[78] Ibid., p. 64.

[79] National Archives, Record Group 92, Office of the Quartermaster General, Clothing Book, Letters Sent, volume 17.

[80] The author wishes to acknowledge the valuable help of Mr. Donald Kloster of the Smithsonian Inst.i.tution's Division of Military History for the preceding four references and related information.

[81] Letter of Nov. 4, 1871, to Col. Theo. A. Dodge, USA (Ret.), Boston, from Quartermaster General M. C. Meigs, in the National Archives, Record Group 92, Quartermaster General's Office, Letters Sent, Clothing Supplies, 1871.

[82] _Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900_, vol. 10, _Manufactures_, Part 4, Special Reports on Selected Industries (United States Census Office, Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., 1902).

[83] CHARLES M. KARCH, "Needles: Historical and Descriptive," in _Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900_, vol. 10, _Manufactures_, Part 4, Special Reports on Selected Industries (United States Census Office: Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., 1902), pp. 429-432.

[84] U.S. patent 1,931,447, issued to Valentine Naftali, Henry Naftali, and Rudolph Naftali, Oct. 17, 1933. The Naftali machines are manufactured by the American Machine and Foundry Company and are called AMF St.i.tching Machines.

[85] See Appendix V, p. 135, "A Brief History of Cotton Thread."

[86] _The Story of Cotton Thread_ (New York, The Spool Cotton Company, 1933).

[87] J. and P. Coats spool cotton.

[88] Willimantic spool cotton.

[89] New Hamps.h.i.+re, Vermont, Ma.s.sachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky.

_Eighth Census, 1860, Manufactures_ (United States Census Office, published by Government Printing Office: Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., 1865.)

[90] Sewing-machine manufacture in the South was just beginning to blossom when it was curtailed by the outbreak of the Civil War. See Lester sewing machine, figure 109 on page 102.

II. American Sewing-Machine Companies of the 19th Century

During the latter half of the 19th century, there was a total of two hundred or more sewing-machine companies in the United States. Although a great many manufacturing-type machines were sold, this business was carried on by relatively few companies and most were primarily concerned with the family-type machines. A representative number of these family machines together with information concerning both the company and serial-number dating are found in figures 68 through 132. A great many of the companies were licensed by the "Combination," but, in addition, some companies were constructing machines that did not infringe the patents, other companies infringed the patents but managed to avoid legal action, and there were numerous companies that mushroomed into existence after the "Combination" was dissolved in 1877. Most of the latter were very short-lived. It is difficult to establish the exact dates of some of these companies as many of their records were incomplete or have since disappeared; even a great many of the "Combination" records were lost by fire. A summary of the existing records kept by the "Combination" is given in figure 37.

As will be noted in the subsequent listing, only a small percentage of the companies were in business for a period longer than ten years; of those that continued longer, all but a few had disappeared by 1910.

Today there are about sixty United States sewing-machine companies. Most of them manufacture highly specialized sewing machines used for specific types of commercial work; only a few produce family or home-style machines. Foreign compet.i.tion has increased, and the high cost of skilled labor in this country has made compet.i.tion in this consumer-product field increasingly difficult. The countless varieties of American family sewing machines, so evident in the 19th century, have pa.s.sed away.

First Made Discontinued Manufacturer or Earliest or Last Sewing Machine or Company Record Record

Aetna Aetna Sewing Machine ca. 1867 ca. 1877 Co., Lowell, Ma.s.s.

Aiken and ----, Ithaca, N.Y. ca. 1855 before 1880 Felthousen

Alsop ---- -- ca. 1880

American American Sewing 1854 -- Machine Co.

American b.u.t.tonhole, American b.u.t.tonhole, 1869 ca. 1874 Overseaming and Overseaming and Sewing Machine Sewing Machine Co., (fig. 68) Philadelphia, Pa.

Later New American Sewing ca. 1874 ca. 1886 American Machine Co., (fig. 69) Philadelphia, Pa.

American Magnetic American Magnetic 1853 1854 (fig. 70) Sewing Machine Company, Ithaca, N.Y.

Atlantic (fig. 71) ---- 1869 ca. 1870