Inventarnummer
81/97
Hersteller
Beschreibung
This is a Singer 'New Family' sewing machine with serial number 3529071 and factory number 638271. It was manufactured in 1879. It is an oscillating shuttle lock-stitch machine. The metal machine is painted black with decoration in gold and sits on a wooden base. The object is part of the Barnett Collection. Nothing more is known about the history of this specific machine.
Invented in the early 19th century, the sewing machine sped up the process of making clothes both domestically and commercially. Within the home, it reduced the amount of time women spent tailoring clothes for their families, enabling them to craft more garments for sale. Due to the sewing machine, the clothing industry flourished, with different fashions becoming available for the middle classes. However, workers did not see an increase in wages and they suffered in dreadful working conditions. The demand for better wages formed an important arm of the suffragette movement.
Physische Beschaffenheit
1 sewing machine: metal, wood
Bestandsgeschichte
MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – 'Standard museum name: Sewing machine // Accession number: 81/97 // Classification: // Negative number: // Acquisition method: // Acquired from, date: Barnett Collection // Store: // Condition: // Recorder, date: JVB. 27.7.81 // Description: Singer sewing machine. 3529071 638271 // Dimensions: // Associated information: // References: Barnett catalogue No 32', Citation in publication [E.J. Barnett, ‘Sewing machines: a catalogue of the Barnett collection’ ([Reading]: University of Reading, 1982] – ’32 // Singer New Family machine // The original Singer machines Nos. 1 and 2 were intended for industrial use, but in 1858 the Company brought out a lightweight Family machine and in 1865 the more substantial New Family machine. This machine was manufactured for about twenty years, in which time over four million were built. In general appearance it resembles the machines manufactured well into the twentieth century. The basic price was 4 guineas but it was available ‘richly ornamented in pearl’ for 10 shillings extra. // It is an oscillating shuttle lock-stitch machine, in which the shuttle moves transversely to the direction of the cloth feed (i.e. along the length of the bed). The machine is operated by turning a handle acting through step-up gearing, but there is provision for belt drive from a treadle. The main shaft carrying a fly-wheel brings about the motion of the needle bar and, through bevel gearing, drives a vertical shaft which gives motion to the shuttle driver and the four-motion feed mechanism. The bobbin winder is driven by frictional contact with the rim of the balance wheel.’ (pp.23), MERL Miscellaneous note - According to the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society website Singer's factory issued the serial number 3529071 in 1879. [http://ismacs.net accessed 2017-12-01]., MERL Miscellaneous note - The sewing machine was arguably the first internationally mass marketed consumer good, and the Singer Manufacturing Company was predominantly responsible for this. Founded by travelling showman Isaac Singer in 1851, the American company flourished not because of its technical expertise but due to its innovative advertising and purchasing options. Notably, it invented hire purchase and part exchange. Its factory in Clydebank, Scotland, was one of the largest in the world, and produced machines not only for the UK but also globally. By 1912, 90% of sewing machines purchased outside the USA were Singer machines. Singer was the seventh largest company in the world at this time. [Added by Tim Jerrome for the Barnett project, 2022]
Datum
1879 - 1879
Objektbezeichnung
Material
Format
- Height 250 mm
- Length 480 mm
- Depth 235 mm