T accession number catalog number T Nominate this object for photography. Interesting info to me. My grandmother who was from Conn. The name was Issac Singer. My memory of my grandmother was she said it was Singer sewing machine!
But they sold the franchise very early on. My written memories are from Just fun to look back. Bernice Martin Fri, See our privacy policy. Collections Search Search for Show only items with images. He was working in a machine-shop in Boston in when he was given a sewing machine to repair.
Eleven days later he had constructed a better sewing machine, which he patented. He then set up I. To increase his share of the soaring profits, Singer ruthlessly pushed Phelps out of the company and swindled Zieber out when the latter fell ill. Singer convinced him he had little time left to live and owed it to his family to settle his affairs, by selling his shares to Singer at a knock-down price.
By Boston Public Library. During his itinerant life as an actor, he embroiled himself in relationships with multiple women at the same time.
He continued this habit even more ostentatiously after he gained fame and wealth as a businessman. In the s, he had to step down from the leadership of his own company because of the scandal brewing over his affairs. By the end of his life, he had fathered 22 children with five different women. Who knew the world of sewing machines was so scandalous? Though Singer died in , the company he founded continued to thrive.
Over the years, I. The company dominated the global sewing market for a century, from its inception in up until the s.
Leading up to WWI, the company outsold the combined sales of all the other sewing machine companies worldwide! The company supported the Union Army during the Civil War and provided machines to sew the army uniforms. During both world wars, the company ceased sewing machine production for a time. Instead, they manufactured items under government contracts. These products included bombs and munitions! Despite the war efforts, the early 20th century also saw a surge in innovative sewing machine designs.
These innovations include the invention of the first electric-powered domestic machine. Famously sold at the Chicago World Fair in , the Featherweight featured aluminum parts.
This model exemplified the innovation of Singer sewing machines during this era. After WWII, overseas competition for sewing machine manufacturing ratcheted up intensely. Both European and Japanese manufacturers flooded the market with new machines. This unprecedented level of competition pushed Singer out of its top seat in the market. Since Isaac Singer sold his first machine in , the company has patented and sold thousands of models.
Some antique models remain popular for their rarity and collectibility. On the other hand, many vintage models remain popular for actual sewing today because of their high quality. Any sewing machine made before is considered an antique. This covers a wide timespan and hundreds of different Singer models.
The company consistently delivered machines featuring new and improved designs during this era. For example, in Singer sold the first machine with a vibrating shuttle. In they produced the first workable electric sewing machine. But out of all the many models sold during this timeframe, the Turtleback and the Fiddlebase stand out from the crowd.
Why do Singer machines have such cute nicknames? The names seem to have developed organically over time. They often stem from the appearance of the machine. It also featured an iron treadle for the first time. While the Turtleback had some flaws, it remains a sought-after antique today because of its rarity. The Singer 12, also called the Fiddlebase, had more long-lasting success and lives on as a valued antique!
It was the first reliable lockstitch machine on the market and could sew through multiple layers of fabric. At the time, these innovations stunned the world. This model sold from around the end of the Civil War through the beginning of the 19th century.
Like the Turtleback model, the Fiddlebase remains extremely sought-after in the antique community. Despite its age, you may find Fiddlebase models still in working condition today. By it was the biggest sewing machine manufacturer worldwide.
They incorporated in , under the name Singer Manufacturing Company. At 12, he left home with minimal education and started working a string of odd jobs as an unskilled laborer. As a teen, Singer took on a promising apprenticeship as a mechanic, but his interest in acting soon spurred him to abandon the job and form a traveling theater troupe instead. While on a national tour with the Merritt Players, Singer frequently engaged in promiscuous behavior, resulting in the birth of some dozen and a half illegitimate children.
After nine years on tour, Singer went broke and the group was forced to disband. After Singer's acting endeavor fell apart, he resumed work as an apprentice mechanic. In , he established himself as an inventor when, while working in Illinois, he patented a rock-drilling machine for the government.
A decade later, he invented a wood-and-metal-carving machine and then opened his own factory in which to manufacture his product. Unfortunately, the factory was destroyed in an explosion. By , Singer was working at a machine shop as a sewing machine repairman.
When his boss asked him to fix a Lerow and Blodgett sewing machine, Singer put his inventor's hat on and went so far as to design and construct a superior model—in a mere matter of days.
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