N° d'objet
81/77
Créateur
Description
This is a Singer 66K sewing machine with serial number F6500974. It was is a heavy duty domestic sewing machine. According to the serial number it was manufactured in 1915. The machine has an oscillating hook and produces a lock-stitch. The metal machine sits on a wooden base with an accessory compartment. The black machine is decorated with painted designs. The object is part of the Barnett collection.
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.
Description physique
1 sewing machine: metal, wood, plastic
<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 // 81/77 Singer, Oscillating hook principle, c. 1920</SPAN></SPAN></P></DIV>
Historique d'archive
MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – 'Standard museum name: Sewing machine // Accession number: 81/77 // Classification: // Negative number: // Acquisition method: // Acquired from, date: Barnett Collection // Store: // Condition: // Recorder, date: JVB. 27.7.81 // Description: Singer sewing machine F6500974 // Dimensions: // Associated information: Manufactured (from serial number) either 1924 'Letter 'F' series' or between 1910 and 1920 'Serial nos from F1 to F9999999'. // References: Barnett catalogue No 51', Citation in publication [E.J. Barnett, ‘Sewing machines: a catalogue of the Barnett collection’ ([Reading]: University of Reading, 1982] – ’51 // Singer Oscillating Hook machine // This lock-stitch machine was manufactured on the oscillating hook principle introduced by the Singer Company in 1879. The hook, which enters the needle thread loop, oscillates about a vertical axis through just over half a revolution. The bobbin is supported by a stationary holder and is located off centre, so that the hook is able to carry the needle thread over and under it in order to bring about the interlocking of the two threads.’ (pp.38), MERL Miscellaneous note - According to the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society website Singer's Clydebank factory issued the serial number F6500974 from July 1915. [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]
Lieu de création
Clydebank
Date
1915 - 1915
Nom d'objet
Matériel
Dimensions
- Length 503 mm
- Width 220 mm
- Height 330 mm