Part 8 (1/2)

[Illustration: 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 fro 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 stitch a special binding edge to the fabric Other related attach these were the hee of the sa was perfor braid in any pattern, as directed by the oods beloere also developed; this was followed by the embroiderer, an elaborate form of braider The first machine to stitch buttonholes was patented in 1854 and the first buttonhole attachment in 1856, but the latter was not practical until improvements werethe bobbins were invented and patented as early as 1862, and the popularity of tucked and ruffled gar-machine attachments for these purposes also

To keep the sea the operator by an action derived fro 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 ”electro66) The attach 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 re rowth of the buttonhole machine, was in coure 66--JONES ”ELECTRO MOTOR” PATENT MODEL of 1871 on a Bartlett sewing -machine improvements have been made from time to time Like other ly 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 aThisneedle” that is passed coh the fabric--the very idea that was atteo The machine is currently used by co that very closely rese

THREAD FOR THE MACHINE

[Illustration: Figure 67--SIX-CORD cabled thread]

The need for a good thread durable enough to withstand the action offirst created a problem and ulti machine was first developed the inventors necessarily had to use the sewing thread that was available But, although the conte, it did not lend itself to the requirements of the machine

Cotton thread, then lazed finish and iry Silk thread frequently broke owing to abrasion at the needle eye For the most part linen thread was too coarse, 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 ors ofcould be produced, but it was quite expensive also A new type of inexpensive thread was needed; the obvious answer lay in i the cotton thread[85]

In addition to the popular three-ply variety, cotton thread was also le yarns orthe 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 Portsold medal for superior six-cord, or six-ply, spool cotton at the Fair of the American Institute But the thread was still wiry and far from satisfactory By the mid-1860s the deht George A Clark and Williaeneration cotton-thread manufacturers of Paisley, Scotland, to Newark, New Jersey, where they built a largeboth a softer finish and a different construction was needed He produced a six-cord cabled thread,67) The thread was called ”Clark's 'Our New Thread,'” which was later shortened to ONT 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 frole yarns in a si 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 establish 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]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 ah the nu-machine factories dropped from 74 in 1860 to 69 by 1870, the value of the machines produced increased to al-reatly 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 nuh one inia, and a Veran 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 A machines exported from 1860 to 1900 was approxi nificant contribution to the economic development of 19th-century Ahth Census, 1860, Manufactures, Clothing_ (United States Census Office, published Governton, DC, 1865)

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

[75] GEORGE GIFFORD, ”Argue] 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 Governton, DC, 1865), ”Wo,” p 83

[78] Ibid, p 64

[79] National Archives, Record Group 92, Office of the Quarter Book, Letters Sent, volue the valuable help of Mr Donald Kloster of the Smithsonian Institution'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, fros, in the National Archives, Record Group 92, Quarter Supplies, 1871