The Invention of the Sewing Machine Part 15

No figures are available for 1860-1870, but 20,051 machines were manufactured in 1871.

The machines of the [Elias] Howe Machine Co. are not believed to have begun with serial number 1, and no figures are available for 1865-1867.

After that, the machines may be dated by serial number approximately as follows:

_Serial Number_ _Year_

11,000-46,000 1868 46,001-91,843 1869 91,844-167,000 1870 167,001-301,010 1871 301,011-446,010 1872 446,011-536,010 1873 536,011-571,010 1874 571,011-596,010 1875 596,011-705,304 1876

No figures are available for 1877-1886.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 97.--ADVERTISING BROCHURE distributed by E. Howe during the brothers' brief partnership; the machines are basically A. B.

Howe machines, 1863. (Smithsonian photo 49373-A.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 98.--HOWE (STOCKWELL BROTHERS) MACHINE, 1870.

(Smithsonian photo 45572-E.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 99.--PATENT MODEL OF CHRISTOPHER HODGKINS, November 2, 1852, a.s.signed to Nehemiah Hunt. (Smithsonian photo 34551.)]

Figures 99, 100, and 101.--THE N. HUNT (later, in 1856, Hunt & Webster and finally in 1858 Ladd and Webster) sewing machine was based on the patents of Christopher Hodgkins, November 2, 1852, and May 9, 1854, both of which were a.s.signed to Nehemiah Hunt. First manufactured in 1853, the machine, which closely resembled the Hodgkins' patent, won a silver medal at the exhibition of the Ma.s.sachusetts Charitable Mechanics a.s.sociation that same year.

In 1856 Hunt took a partner, and the company became Hunt & Webster. An interesting account of this company appeared as a feature article in _Ballou's Pictorial_, July 5, 1856, where it was reported that "the North American Shoe Company have over fifty of the latest improved machines, represented in these drawings [fig. 31], now running...." The article also estimated that a 55-million dollar increase in shoe manufacturing in Ma.s.sachusetts in 1855 was due to the sewing machine. In 1856 the Hunt & Webster machine again won a silver medal at the exhibition. Very late in 1858 the company became Ladd, Webster, & Co.

and continued to manufacture both family and manufacturing sewing machines until the mid-1860s.

The approximate date of manufacture can be determined by serial number:

_Serial Number_ _Year_

1-100 1853 101-368 1854 369-442 1855 443-622 1856 623-1075 1857 1076-1565 1858 1566-3353 1859

No figures are available for the 1860s.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 100.--RIGHT: HUNT & WEBSTER sewing machine of about 1855, serial number 414. (Smithsonian photo 48216-V.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 101.--LADD, WEBSTER & CO. sewing machine of about 1858, Boston, serial number 1497. (Smithsonian photo 46953.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 102.--IMPROVED COMMON SENSE sewing machine of about 1870. This machine is so very similar to the New England machines in its feed, threading, looping mechanism, and in its general design, that it is sometimes mistaken for the earlier New England machines (see figs. 112 and 113).

Dating from the early 1870s, the Improved Common Sense machine is about 10 inches in width, two inches larger than the New England machine. The spool holder is similar to Folsom's patented design, but is less refined. A page from an advertising brochure of the period verifies the name of the machine, but does not identify the manufacturer.

There are no patent dates or identifying names or numbers on the machine ill.u.s.trated. Although the Empire Co. also produced a machine of this style, their models are marked with their name and with Ketchum's patent date, April 23, 1863. Of the several styles of machine using the Raymond looper, this type seems to account for the largest volume manufactured, as evidenced by the proportionately higher number of examples still extant. (Smithsonian photo 48328-E.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 103.--JOHNSON SEWING MACHINE, 1857. Another of the all-but-forgotten manufacturers of the 1850s was Emery, Houghton & Co., who constructed the A.F. Johnson machines. Examination of existing machines indicates that they were manufactured in 1856 and 1857, and possibly a little longer. This one from 1857 bears the serial number 624, so we know that several hundred were manufactured. The head is ornately attractive, slightly reminiscent of Wheeler & Wilson models, and of standard size. (Smithsonian photo 48329-B.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 104.--"LADY" SEWING MACHINE of about 1859. The contemporary name of this machine is unknown. The unusual design of the head, or main support, is based in part on the design patent, number 216, of Isaac F. Baker, issued April 10, 1849, for a "new and useful design[,] for ornamenting furniture[,] called Cora Munro" who was a character in James Fenimore Cooper's _Last of the Mohicans_. The design shows a female figure wearing a riding dress and hat that is ornamented with a plume and a bow. Her right hand holds a riding stick and the left, her skirt. Trunks of trees and foliage complete the Baker design, which is known to have been used for girandoles of the period. A companion design was also patented by Baker, number 215, which is in the form of a man in military costume and is named "Major Heyward," for another character in _Last of the Mohicans_.

The sewing machines based on the "Cora Munro" design also use branch designs as the overhanging arms. A mother bird sits in the upper branch and descends to feed a young bird as the machine is in operation. The one ill.u.s.trated was used as the machine submitted with a request for patent by George Hensel of New York City for which patent 24,737 was issued on July 12, 1859. Since Hensel's patent application was for an improvement in the feed, there was no need for the highly decorative head unless such a machine was commercially available. The patent specifications merely state that the head is "ornamented." Another sewing machine of this type was used as the patent model by Sidney Parker of Sing Sing, New York, number 24,780, issued on the same date as the Hensel patent. Parker's patent also covered an improved feeding mechanism. In the patent description, however, the inventor states that "the general form of the machine is not unlike others now in use." By this he might have meant in the design, or possibly in the basic structural form. Other than the two machines described, no other examples are known to have survived, but "Lady" or "Cora Munro" sewing machines were manufactured. (Smithsonian photo 45506-D.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 105.--LANDFEAR'S PATENT SEWING MACHINE of about 1857. Another of the many machines that, except for isolated examples, have almost completely disappeared from the records is Landfear's machine. Fortunately, this manufacturer marked his machine--where many did not--stamping it: "Landfear's patent-Dec^r 1856, No. 262, W. H.

Johnson's Patent Feb. 26th 1856, Manfrd by Parkers, Snow, Brooks & Co., West Meriden, Conn." (There was a Parker sewing machine manufactured by the Charles Parker Co. of Meriden, but his machine was a double-thread chainst.i.tch machine and was licensed by the "Combination." The Landfear machine may have been an earlier attempt by a predecessor or closely related company.)

The Landfear patent was for a shuttle machine, but it also included a mode for regulating st.i.tch length. The name chosen for this machine may be incorrect, since the single-thread chainst.i.tch mechanism is primarily that of W. H. Johnson, but since the Johnson patent also was used on other machines the name "Landfear" was a.s.signed. The machine was probably another attempt to evade royalty payment to the "Combination."

The serial number 262 indicates that at least that many machines were manufactured, although this model is the only one known to be in existence. The support arm of the machine head is iron, cast as a vase of flowers and painted in natural colors. The paint on the head is original, but the table has been refinished, and the iron legs, which had rusted, have been repainted. (Smithsonian photo 48440-G.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 106.--LATHROP SEWING MACHINE of about 1873. These machines were manufactured by the Lathrop Combination Sewing Machine Co.

under the patents of Lebbeus W. Lathrop of 1869, 1870, and 1873. The machine used two threads, both taken from spools; moreover, it produced not only the double chainst.i.tch, but it was constructed to produce also a lockst.i.tch and a combined "lock and chain st.i.tch." The machine ill.u.s.trated bears the serial number 31 and the patent dates of Grover & Baker, and Bachelder among others, in addition to the first two Lathrop patent dates. The company lasted only a few years as it is included in the 1881 list of manufacturers that had ceased to exist. (Smithsonian photo 46953-F.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 107.--ILl.u.s.tRATION FROM A BROCHURE, marked in ink: "The National Portrait Gallery, 1855." Singer Archives. (Smithsonian photo 48091-E.)]

Figures 107 and 108.--THE NICHOLS AND LEAVITT sewing machines. One of Elias Howe's earliest licensees was J. B. Nichols. His machine, manufactured at first with George Bliss and later alone as J. B. Nichols & Co., was called Howe's Improved Patent Sewing Machine. It was, however, no more a Howe machine than any of the others produced under the Howe patent.

In July 1855 Nichols went into partnership with Rufus Leavitt, and the company name changed to Nichols, Leavitt & Co. In 1857 it was changed again to Leavitt & Co., and finally in the mid-1860s to Leavitt Sewing Machine Co. By the 1870s, it was defunct.

The Nichols-Leavitt machines can be dated by their serial numbers approximately as follows:

_Serial Number_ _Year_ _Company_

1-28 1853 Nichols & Bliss 29-245 1854 J. B. Nichols & Co.

246-397 1855 J. B. Nichols & Co.--Nichols, Leavitt & Co.

398-632 1856 Nichols, Leavitt & Co.

633-827 1857 Leavitt & Co.

828-902 1858 "

903-1115 1859 "

1116-1436 1860 "

1437-1757 1861 "

1758-2077 1862 "

2078-2400 1863 "

2401-2900 1864 "

2901-3900 1865 Leavitt Sewing Machine Co.

3901-4900 1866 "

4901-5951 1867 "

5952-6951 1868 "

6952-7722 1869 "

There is no record that the company was in existence after 1869.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 108.--LEAVITT SEWING MACHINE of about 1868, serial number 6907. (Smithsonian photo 48328.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 109.--LESTER SEWING MACHINE of about 1858. The Lester machine was first manufactured by J. H. Lester in Brooklyn, New York. His machine was based on the patents of William Johnson, John Bradshaw and others but not on the patents held by the "Combination,"

although he had secured a license. When the Old Dominion Company applied for a license from the "Combination," Lester learned of this, went to Richmond, and arranged to combine his business with theirs. Since the Lester machine was the better one, it was agreed to cease the manufacture of the Old Dominion machines early in 1860 and in March the company name was changed to the Lester Mfg. Co. Late in 1860, George Sloat entered the company with his Elliptic machine; the name was changed again, this time to Union Sewing Machine Co. The manufacture of both sewing machines continued until the outbreak of the Civil War the following year, which brought a conversion to arms production. The manufacture of Lester machines was never resumed.

The machine ill.u.s.trated was manufactured by J. H. Lester in Brooklyn; it bears the serial number 96. The number of Lester machines manufactured from 1858 through 1861 is not known, but it was probably less than 1,000. (Smithsonian photo P63359.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 110.--NE PLUS ULTRA of about 1867. Another of the interesting hand-turned chainst.i.tch machines of the late 1850s and 1860s was patented by O.L. Reynolds. The baster plates and the handle on the wheel are missing on this machine, but an interesting shield and draped-flag pattern is painted on the base.

Another machine of this type has the following inscription stamped on the baster plate: "Ne Plus Ultra, Patent Applied For, 174, O.L.

Reynolds, Patentee & Manufacturer, Dover N.H." Reynold's patent model, March 30, 1858, bears the serial number 110, indicating that the machine ill.u.s.trated here--which bears the serial number 26--was manufactured before the patent was obtained. (Smithsonian photo 48216-F.)]