The beginnings of the Singer sewing machine .

But the sewing machine arrived at a state in which, invented its essential and perfected the mechanisms, they demonstrated its practical utility. It was only pending, by the men of energy and business , the ability necessary to continue the manufacture, looking for the future means to introduce the product in the market. Those that, at first, appreciated the importance of the sewing machine as a factor of commercial advance of the world, were dedicated with ardor to promote this industry. Factories in Bridgeport, Cambridge, Boston and New York settled down, as well as in other cities, for the exclusive manufacture of these machines.

The importance of New York as a commercial center was soon recognized by the manufacturers , and so they decided to establish in this city their main warehouses and distribution centers for all New England .

Sewing Machine of multiple needles, for industrial use . It would sew from two up to twelve parallel seams at the same time.

The most important, not only among the inventors, but as a manufacturer was Isaac M. Singer, whose name began to be known in 1850. His first machine patented in 1857, had a vertical needle, moved by a suspended axis, driven by a wheel placed in a carving of the table. An elastic compressor located to a side of the needle held to the fabric, gave the movement to the arm that had the needle , and to the shuttle, by means of a transmission. Two threads were used in it , and did a closed backstitch ; the loop of the thread of the needle was hooked in every advance of the thread shuttle. Singer also introduced the pedal movement , to replace the work by hand ; but, although it may seem strange, being today the pedal movement a characteristic universally adopted in the mechanic machines , he discarded this invention in the beginning and resigned to patent it. It can bee seen that the devices patented in his machine did not present great differences with respect to those of other inventors. It was very similar to the machine of Howe, but very superior from the point of view of the manufacture.

The Singer machines are remarkable by the fact that, since the time they appeared in the market , they always gave good results , sewing perfectly. As we have seen, the fundamental mechanical bases of the sewing machine were already known before Singer took care of the problem to solve. Later it was already too late to obtain original patents; but his clear perception of the work made by his predecessors, and his capacity to adapt to the practice and to use, not only his own initiatives, but those of the others, placed him at the top of the manufacturers in this branch of the industry. As soon as it was seen that the Singer machine was successful, the proprietors had to defend themselves against the claims of Elias Howe. Singer appeared as the most obstinate defender, leaning on the primitive inventions of Hunt ; but later Singer, and with him all the other manufacturers, had to be tributary of Elias Howe, soliciting, in 1855, an authorization of this person to use his patents. Singer underwent a robust blow when the court sentenced against him.

His ideal would have been to construct an economic machine , with an accessible price for the poor dressmaker women, but the cost of Howe's patents transformed this device into an impossible task .

However, the aid that Singer needed, arrived from an unexpected way. His main advisor, Mr. Clark, proposed to help him financially and to turn the business in a lucrative company, if he yielded him half of the possible benefits. Clark was a man of energy, imagination and enthusiasm without limits. He approved the great idea of Singer to introduce the sewing machine in all homes, and it was only a financial question of organization and resources making it. Established the I. M. Singer and Co. society, the future of the machine of his name was assured .

The first Singer machines were constructed, mainly, to be used in the works of the factories; but when it was noticed, clearly, that they also could be one of so many domestic accessories, several modifications were made so that conserving its characteristic qualities they could have their own lightness and elegance to adapt to the domestic uses. The arrival of Singer to the manufacture field marked a new era in the sewing apparatuses . With a wonderful organization and the application of scientific principles, the Singer Company always took the initiative in the improvements, introducing constantly new models for all kinds of jobs , although in general form and structures they were similar to the original types. The manufacture and sale of these machines, have not been interrupted since they appeared in the market, and although in it there are many competitors because the patent rights expired towards the year 1877, the Singer is still widely extended. As much as this one as the other sewing mechanical machines assembled thruought the XX Century , they dispose three combinations of mechanisms; one, to form the stitch, combined with applications to regulate and to maintain the degree of tension of threads; devices disposed to hold to the material at the entrance and exit of the needle, in the part in which the stitch forms, and an adjustable and automatic mechanism to make advance the fabric longitudinally, at equal intervals once formed the stitches . Three classes of seams could be made ; of simple chain stitch or drum, of double chain stitch and closed backstitch . In the first of these three sewing forms a single thread is used; the others need two, one in the needle and another one underneath this one. Each class had their favorite among the dressmaker women . The closed backstitch is resembled to the weave in its formation, , whereas the chain stitch , that undoes easily, looked more like the socket point. Considering the sewing statistics circa 1930 , it was calculated that 90 % of the domestic machines sewed in close backstitch .

Machine used towards 1930 to make eyelets automatically .

As it has been noted above , to sew in backstitch , the lower thread must pass through the loop formed by the upper one. This is obtained in two ways: the first consists of passing a shuttle that contains in its interior a bobbin with a thread through the loop formed by the upper thread, combining the alternative movements of the shuttle with those of up and down of the needle. The second means to do a backstitch is based on hooking the loop formed by the thread of the needle, by means of a rotating hook, that, widening this loop , passes it through a central coil, that carries the thread winding and that is lodged in the center of the hooking system. This method was invented by A. B. Wilson, and is known by principle Wheeler & Wilson or central coil.

An intermediate combination between the alternative shuttle and the rotating hook was that of the oscillating coil machines , introduced by the Singer Company. It had a hook shaped shuttle , not very different from the one of the Wilson system, having a bobbin inside with a great thread capacity. The machines of oscillating hooking and rotating system work with great delicacy and speed . In all the cases, to sew closed backstitch , one of the essential mechanisms is constituted by a bar, to which a needle with the eye near the end is attached, through where it passes the upper thread , the same as when it is the alternative shuttle or when is used the oscillating or rotating hooking with the bobbin for the lower thread.

Accessory to embroider: Device adaptable to the industrial machines and home machines: it served to embroider initials, monogramas, drawings of adornment and all class of festoons.

One of the applications of the sewing machine that has made a true revolution, has been the one related to the shoe industry . The McKay machine was invented in 1858 by Lyman R. Blake, and its numerous improvements have been remarkable, recognizes the same inventor. It was constructed by McKay after several years of patient work and to spend more than 130,000 dollars, until reaching practical results. This machine was used extensively in the United States and Europe, but it had the disadvantage by which the shoes sewn with it could not have later new soles sewed to them, needing the soles to be nailed or stuck , which caused them to lose flexibility. In the Goodyear binding machine, that was patented for the first time in 1871, a border in the material was done , that later was attached to the sole by an outer seam.

The shoes made in this way were much more flexible and could be reformed by the shoemaker, putting new soles to them by the ordinary manual procedure. This remarkable machine was, from a principle, applied to the manufacture of boots and shoes and was later applied to the preparation of the finest classes.

Machine to stick bellboys: by means of an ingenious mechanism, the needle entered with high accuracy into the hole of the button, stopping automatically when the button was sewn.

In 1842, J. J. Greenough, patented a machine to sew leathers and other hard materials, but it did not become popular . The following year, Jorge H. Corliss, the inventor of the Corliss steam engine, patented a similar machine, that had two needles with the eye near the end, and worked horizontally, although the holes were previously made by awls. The movements took place by an eccentric device and the advance was automatic. The machines to sew furs and leathers became usual later in all the branches of this industry, in the shoemaking work , and the different seams that are need in the confection of gloves, in clothing adornment and in saddlery .

The sewing machines previous to the Singer model , did not have another means to put them in movement that the ordinary crank. This obliged to occupy the right hand, not leaving free the left one but to fix and to guide the material that was sewed. Singer introduced a mechanism to move them with the feet, and this was a great improvement to use the machine; but as many predecessors in this industry, he did not believe he had made a great discovery, and he did not request a special patent for the device.

Although Singer already adopted the pedal in his first machines and , consequently, the hands were left free to take care of the work , it has been made ingenious efforts to also avoid the work of the feet . Naturally, in the great factories, the machines were moved by the driving force, but a lot talent was employed to adopt the motor to the domestic necessities. During the first twenty years of the sewing machine , after its introduction in the commerce , numerous patents were granted to obtain it.

Most of these patents were based on the action of coiled steel spring, that needed to be winded in the same way that in a clock. Nevertheless, these fantastic ideas, did not produce any practical result to their ingenious inventors. But when the electricity got to be of universal application, a complete change took place , permitting the sewing machine to work independently of the feet and the hands, if there was electrical current in the house. A small motor, with the power of eighth of horse, was placed in the upper part or underneath the small table, and fed by a plug installed in the wall or any lampholder with its corresponding switch, being the cost of the work almost the same one that the one of the lighting system of a lamp of medium intensity. With this breakthrough a greater average speed was obtained, arriving at 800 stitches per minute, instead of the 200 to 400 that they reached with the use of the pedal. The speed of the seam could be regulated by a very ingenious way, acting, simply, by pressure on the same pedal.

According to statistics in the first years of XIX Century , the greatest number of sewing machines sold corresponded to those ones made for domestic use, and most of them were acquire by people without capital, who could not pay for them in cash ; but with the intention of improving the positioning of these machines, the Singer Company devised, in 1856, the system to sell them on credit, and this form extended by the world with great success. By this means, the buyer paid for his machine by a small weekly or monthly installments plan and, frequently, he earned with them the sufficient amount of money to make the payments for the eventual purchase.

From the beginning the idea was very well received by the public. Offices and deposits in all the important cities of the United States, and nearing populations settled down, of such a luck, that even the villages entered in the organization. It was a new method to do business , finding the consumers in it the advantages of the direct purchase, in addition to being able to do it on installments , and the comfort of being able to easily acquire accessories and spare parts, and when any important improvement was introduced in the system of the machines, advantageous conditions settled down to acquire the new models, changing them by the old ones.

The system gave so satisfactory results, that towards the year 1863, seven years after starting the business, the sales had raised from 21,000 machines a year to 42,000 in the year 1867, whereas in following the four years the production increased so quickly that in 1871 it reached the number of 181,600 machines assembled . After retiring with great fortunes, both main partners of the primitive company, another new one was constituted , which extended its operations to all the countries of the world. Reaching the Chinese residents in the Tibet border , the Caucasus farmers , even the solitary shepherds who lived in the Arctic Circle could acquire the sewing machine on credit , with the same credit facilities as the women who resided in New York, London or Paris. The Singer company did not recognize differences between geographic nations, nor limits; it laid its way by where it saw a field adapted for its activities. It maintained towards the year 1928 8,000 branches scattered everywhere, and in every country it established a different and special organization, in agreement with the local laws and customs; and when the necessities and the demand required it, the company established its own factory. The primitive factory was in Elizabeth, New Jersey, United Sates of America but soon it was surpassed in importance by another one of the same company in Clydebank, Scotland, United Kingdom , that was the greatest one of the world towards the beginnings of XX Century dedicated to sewing machines . In normal times it gave work to more than 14,000 people. The company was, also, proprietor of great forests in the United States of America, where it would cut the necessary wood for the boxes and cabinetmaking of the Singer. machines, being enormous the annual consumption of iron, steel and other metals.

The first Singer machine: The first machines were arranged to be mounted in the superior part of their own packing box, a coarse wood connecting rod united the pedal with the crank of the dentated steering wheel. A fixed poster in the outside announced the merits of the machine, constituting this ordinary drawer the primitive furniture of the Singer machines.