Inventarnummer
81/98
Hersteller
Beschreibung
This is a Singer sewing-machine, model 63-8 with serial number AC782831. This small industrial machine was designed for manufacturing umbrellas. It is unusual in that it is left-handed, the driving wheel being on the left and the needle on the right. According to the serial number the machine was manufactured in 1929. 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
<DIV STYLE="text-align:Justify;font-family:Georgia;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;font-size:16;color:#000000;"><P><SPAN><SPAN>Part of the Barnett Collection of Sewing Machines // James Nutcombe Barnett was a University of Reading member of staff from 1964, working for the Department of Cybernetics and Engineering, until his death on October 4th 1978. The sewing machines were bequeathed to the university and became part of the Museum of English Rural Life collection in 1981. // The descriptions below include: manufacturer's name, model, use and when available a date. // ... Top Shelf // ... 81/98 Singer, 63-8, possibly for umbrella manufacturing</SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV>
Bestandsgeschichte
MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – 'Standard museum name: Sewing machine // Accession number: 81/98 // Classification: // Negative number: // Acquisition method: // Acquired from, date: Barnett Collection // Store: // Condition: // Recorder, date: JVB. 27.7.81 // Description: Singer sewing machine 63-8 // Dimensions: // Associated information: // References: Barnett catalogue No 61', Citation in publication [E.J. Barnett, ‘Sewing machines: a catalogue of the Barnett collection’ ([Reading]: University of Reading, 1982] – ‘61 // Singer 63-8 machine // This small industrial machine is supposed to have been designed for manufacturing umbrellas. It is unusual in that it is left-handed, the driving wheel being on the left and the needle on the right.’ (pp.46), MERL Miscellanous note - According to the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society website Singer's Elizabethport factory issued the 'AC' series numbers from 1928 to 1930 and the serial number AC782831 from 21 August 1929 to type '63' machines. [http://ismacs.net accessed 2018-01-24]., 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]
Entstehungsort
Elizabethport
Datum
1929 - 1929
Objektbezeichnung
Material
Format
- Length 300 mm
- Width 185 mm
- Height 315 mm