Chapter IV: Part 4

Among his early licensees was his elder brother Amasa who organized the Howe Sewing Machine Co. in 1854. The Amasa Howe machines were very good ones, and in 1862 Amasa won the prize medal at the London International Exhibition. This immensely increased the popularity of the machine and Elias offered to join Amasa by building a large factory at Bridgeport, Connecticut, to fill the increasing demand for more machines. The machines produced at Bridgeport, however, although imitating the Amasa Howe machines, proved inferior in quality. Amasa found that, rather than helping his business reputation, his brother's efforts were hurting him, and he severed business relations with Elias.

Because of their brief association, the 1862 prize medal awarded to A. B. Howe was sometimes credited to Elias. The latter did receive awards for his patent, but never for his manufactured machines. When the two brothers dissolved their joint venture, Elias attempted to call his new company the Howe Sewing Machine Co., but Amasa's claim that this name had been his exclusive property for many years was upheld by the courts. Elias then omitted the word "Sewing" and called his company simply the Howe Machine Co.

After Elias died in 1867, the company was run by his sons-in-law, the Stockwell brothers. To distinguish their machines from those of A. B. Howe, they marked each machine with a brass medallion picturing the head and flowing locks of Elias Howe. They also continued to advertise their machine as the "original" Howe. In about 1873, B. P. Howe, Amasa's son, sold the Howe Sewing Machine Co. to the Stockwell brothers, who continued to manufacture Howe machines until 1886.

The machines of the A. B. Howe Sewing Machine Co. may be dated by serial number approximately as follows:

_Serial Number_ _Year_

1-60 1854
61-113 1855
114-166 1856
167-299 1857
300-478 1858
479-1399 1859

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.

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 assigned to Nehemiah Hunt. First manufactured in 1853, the machine, which closely resembled the Hodgkins' patent, won a silver medal at the exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association 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 Massachusetts 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.

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 illustrated. 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.)]

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 illustrated 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.)]

The Landfear patent was for a shuttle machine, but it also included a mode for regulating stitch length. The name chosen for this machine may be incorrect, since the single-thread chainstitch mechanism is primarily that of W. H. Johnson, but since the Johnson patent also was used on other machines the name "Landfear" was assigned. 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.)]

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.

The machine illustrated 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.)]

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 illustrated here--which bears the serial number 26--was manufactured before the patent was obtained. (Smithsonian photo 48216-F.)]

By the latter half of 1858, Nettleton & Raymond had moved from Bristol, Connecticut, to Brattleboro, Vermont. The patented improvement of the two-thread chainstitch machine received that year was in the name of "Raymond, assignor to Nettleton," although the machines of this type bear neither name nor patent date. No record of the price for which they were sold has been found, but it would be fair to estimate that it was probably about $25. This style of machine was discontinued when the manufacture of the simpler, more profitable New England model began, a machine that Raymond had initiated just before the partners left Bristol. (Smithsonian photo 45505-E.)]

In 1858 Nettleton and Raymond had moved from Bristol, Connecticut, to Brattleboro, Vermont. Also in Brattleboro at this time were Thomas H. White and Samuel Barker, who were manufacturing a small machine called the Brattleboro. White left Vermont in 1862 and went to Massachusetts. There, in partnership with William Grout, he also began to manufacture New England machines; these were basically the same as the Raymond machines. After a short time, Grout left the partnership with White and moved to Winchendon, there continuing to make New England machines for approximately one more year. In 1865, J. G. Folsom of Winchendon exhibited a New England machine at the Tenth Exhibition of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association along with his Globe machine. Whether both machines were manufactured by him or whether he might have been exhibiting one of Grout's machines is not known.

There is no record that New England machines were manufactured after 1865. There is a great similarity between these machines and the Improved Common Sense sewing machines of the 1870s. It is believed that the name "Common Sense" was given by frugal New Englanders to several of the cheaper chainstitch machines of the 1860s.]

This Quaker City machine, serial number 18, was purchased by Benjamin F. Meadows of Lafayette, Alabama, for $150 just prior to the Civil War. Relatively few machines of this type were manufactured, and the Quaker City Sewing Machine Co. existed for only a few years. Its apparent hope for a southern market was short-lived, and it was unable to compete either with the companies licensed under the "Combination" or with those producing less expensive machines. (Smithsonian photo 46953-A.)]

's Improvements." (Smithsonian photo 48091-F.)]

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.

_Serial Number_ _Year_

1-100 1850
101-900 1851
901-1711 1852
1712-2521 1853
2522-3400 1854
3401-4283 1855
4284-6847 1856
6848-10477 1857
10478-14071 1858
14072-25024 1859
25025-43000 1860
43001-61000 1861
61001-79396 1862
79397-99426 1863
99427-123058 1864
123059-149399 1865
149400-180360 1866
180361-223414 1867
223415-283044 1868
283045-369826 1869
369827-497660 1870
497661-678921 1871
678922-898680 1872
898681-1121125 1873
1121126-1362805 1874
1362806-1612658 1875
1612659-1874975 1876

Since records of annual production from 1877 to the turn of the century are not complete, it is difficult to establish yearly approximations. Using the machines submitted as patent models, and thus known to have been manufactured before the date of deposit, however, has provided us with the following date guides. By 1877 there had been 2 million machines manufactured, 3 million by 1880, 4 million by 1882, 5 million by 1884, 6 million by 1886, 7 million by 1888, 8 million by 1889, 9 million by 1890, and 10 million by 1891.

Figures 124 and 125.--TAGGART & FARR sewing machine, 1860. The Taggart & Farr is an almost forgotten machine. It was based on Chester Farr's patent of August 9, 1859. The machine, however, was in commercial production as early as 1858, the year the patent application was made. Using two threads--both taken directly from the spool--to form a chainstitch, the machine was operated basically by treadle but also by hand. The drive wheel is missing on this machine, but it would normally appear on the right.

The name and patent date were painted on the end of the machine. This was true of many other machines of this period, which is why so many go unidentified once the paint has become worn. Several thousand Taggart & Farr machines were manufactured, but the company is believed to have had a short life, for it was among those that had disappeared by 1881.

In 1853 a Watson machine was exhibited at the New York Industry of All Nations Exhibition, but this was a single-looping machine; Watson received a patent for this single-thread machine on November 25, 1856.

In the December 13, 1856, issue of _Scientific American_ a machine called Watson's "Family" sewing machine was illustrated and described. It was a small machine (only 8 by 5 inches) manufactured by Watson & Wooster and selling for $10. References to the Watson single-thread machine occur as late as 1860, but no examples are known to have survived. (Smithsonian photo 48221-B.)]

It began in 1851 as A. B. Wilson; from 1852 to 1856 it was the Wheeler, Wilson & Co., Watertown, Connecticut; and from 1856 to 1876, it was Wheeler & Wilson Mfg. Co., Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The style of the head changed very little during these years (see figs. 26 and 27). Both a table style with iron legs and a cabinet model were made: the head was usually mounted to stitch from left to right. In 1861, the company introduced the famous glass presser foot, patented on March 5 of that year by J. L. Hyde. The presser foot was made of metal but shaped like an open [?] into which was slid a small glass plate, with a hole for the needle descent. The glass allowed the seamstress to observe the stitching and to produce very close-edge stitching. It remained a favorite of many women for years. In 1876, the new No. 8 machine was introduced and a new series of serial numbers was initiated. It is, therefore, imperative to know that the machine is one of the earlier style machines before using the following list of serial numbers to date the machines, approximately as follows:

_Serial Number_ _Year_

1-200 1851
201-650 1852
651-1449 1853
1450-2205 1854
2206-3376 1855
3377-5586 1856
5587-10177 1857
10178-18155 1858
18156-39461 1859
39462-64563 1860
64564-83119 1861
83120-111321 1862
111322-141099 1863
141100-181161 1864
181161-220318 1865
220319-270450 1866
270451-308505 1867
308506-357856 1868
357857-436722 1869
436723-519930 1870
519931-648456 1871
648457-822545 1872
822546-941735 1873
941736-1034563 1874
1034564-1318303 1875
1138304-1247300 1876

Records of the second series of serial numbers dating from 1876 are not available.]

The machine illustrated is a standard lockstitch machine, which would have been set into a sewing-machine table and operated by a treadle. The small handle was used to start the wheel, and thus the stitching operation, in the forward direction. This machine bears the serial number 28241 and the following patents: "Mar. 14, 1876, May 2, 1876, Oct. 24, 1876, Jan. 16, 1877, Mar. 20, 1877, Mar. 27, 1877," which are primarily the patents of D'Arcy Porter and George W. Baker.

The machines of the 1870s may be dated approximately as follows:

_Serial Number_ _Year_

1-9000 1876
9000-27000 1877
27001-45000 1878
45001-63000 1879

(Smithsonian photo 48329-H.)]

It has not been possible to secure information on records of serial numbers from the late 1870s through the 1920s to aid in dating machines of that period. For the preceding years, however, the machines may be dated approximately as follows:

_Serial Number_ _Year_

1-10000 1857
10001-20000 1858
20001-30000 1859
30001-40000 1860
40001-50000 1861
50001-60000 1862
60001-70000 1863
70001-80000 1864
80001-90000 1865
90001-100000 1866
100001-115000 1867
115001-130000 1868
130001-145000 1869
145001-160000 1870
160001-190127 1871
190128-223766 1872
223767-239647 1873
239648-253357 1874
253358-267879 1875
267880-279637 1876

Although the Willcox and Gibbs company is still in existence, for the past several decades the company has limited itself to the production of specialized manufacturing machines rather than family machines. (Smithsonian photo 58986.)]

<----

SINGLE THREAD

1. Running stitch.

2. Back stitch.

3. Fast stitch.

4. Chainstitch.

5. Coiled-loop chainstitch.

6. Knitted-loop chainstitch.

7. Knotted-loop chainstitch.

8. Loop enchained by second alternate stitch.

9. Each loop locks and enchains alternate loops.

10. Staple stitch (for waxed threads only).

TWO THREADS

11. Double-needle chainstitch.

12. Double-thread chainstitch (one needle).

13. Double-looped chainstitch.

14. Chain with interlocking thread.

15. Under-thread through its own loop.

16. Two needles penetrate fabric from opposite sides.

17. Two needles working from the same side.

18. Double interlocking loop.

19. Lockstitch.

20. Twist in needle thread.

21. Double twist in needle thread.

22. Twist in shuttle thread.

23. Double twist in shuttle thread.

24. Knot stitch, shuttle thread knotted at every stitch.

25. Knot stitch, shuttle thread knotted at every other stitch.

26. Knot stitch, shuttle thread through the needle thread loop and
knotted around the loop.

27. Shuttle thread pulled to the surface and interlocked with
succeeding stitch to form an embroidery stitch.

28. Wire-lock stitch, thread locked in place with wire.

THREE THREADS

29. Two shuttles, each locking alternate loops.

30. Double loop with interlocking third thread.

31. Two shuttle threads, both locking each loop.

32. Two shuttle threads intertwining and locking each loop.

33. Single thread; loop of needle thread drawn up over the edge and
locked by needle at its next descent.

34. Two threads; loops of needle thread, above and below, extend to
the edge of the fabric, and are locked by shuttle thread.

35. Two threads; needle penetrates back from edge, its loop passed
to and interlocked by the needle at its next descent over the
edge, and this second needle-loop locked by shuttle thread.

36. Two threads; shuttle thread drawn up over the edge of the
fabric to the line of the needle thread.

37. Two threads; needle loop through the fabric locked by needle
loop over the edge and second loop locked by second thread.

38. Two threads; edge of fabric covered by shuttle thread.

39. Three threads; third thread laid around the stitch at the edge
of the fabric.

ORNAMENTAL STITCHES

40. Zigzag; single thread chainstitch (4).

41. Zigzag; two-thread lockstitch (19).

42. Zigzag; two-thread chainstitch (13).

43. Zigzag; chain stitch with interlocking thread (14).

44. Zigzag; double loop with interlocking third thread (30).

45. Zigzag; running stitch (1).

46. Zigzag; two needles and shuttle.

47. Zigzag; variation of 46.

48-52. Zigzag stitches for sewing straw braid.

53-62. Straight straw-braid stitches.

63-67. Special embroidery stitches.

68. Saddler's stitch.]

* * * * *

In the _Sewing Machine News_, vol. 3, no. 5, p. 12 (1881), there were listed a number of then "defunct" machines and companies. Among these are many well-known names and little-known names for which at least one additional reference can be found. There are some, however, for which this is the only reference to date. These are: Blanchard, Babcock, Banner, Brown Rotary, Cottage, Cole, Duplex, Economist, Erie, Gutman, Hill, Hancock & Bennett, Jenks, Lockmar, La Favorite, Learned, Leggett, McCoy, McCardy, Medallion, McArthur & Co., Monopoly, Moreau, Mack, Niagra, New Cannaan, Orphean, Pride-of-the-West, Seamen & Guiness, Surprise, Stackpole, Shanks, Stanford, Troy, Utica, United States Family, Weaver, Wagner, and Williams. Some of these names may have been a "special" name given to machines manufactured by one of the known companies, but at least a few are names of machines manufactured for a very short time prior to 1881 about which we would like to know more.

III. Chronological List of U.S. Sewing-Machine Patent Models in the Smithsonian Collections

There are more than seven hundred sewing-machine patent models and a similar number of attachment models in the Smithsonian collections. Most of these machines were received in 1926 when the Patent Office disposed of its collection of hundreds of thousands of models. Prior to 1880, models had been required with the patent application; although the requirement was discontinued that year, patentees continued to furnish models for another decade or so. All models prior to 1836 were lost in a Patent Office fire of that year, but since the sewing-machine patent history dates from the 1840s, most of the historically important ones of this subject have been preserved.

These models form a valuable part of the record of the invention, supplementing the drawings and the text of the written specifications. The early sewing-machine models were made to order, either by the inventor or a commissioned model maker. As soon as sewing machines were produced commercially, it was less expensive for the patentee to use a commercial machine of the period, to which he added his change or improvement, than to have a complete model constructed to order. Some of the commercial machines used in this way are the only examples known to be in existence, and as such, are of more interest in establishing the history of the manufactured machine than for the minor patented changes.

During the period of the "Sewing Machine Combination," many patentees attempted to invent and patent "the different machine." This was either a radical change in style or an attempt to produce a far less-expensive type of machine. These machines were not always put into commercial production, but the patent models give an indication of the extent to which some inventors went to simplify or vary the mechanics of machine sewing.

The following is a list of those sewing-machine patent models in the Smithsonian Institution collections: