AMERICAN SEWING MACHINE COMPANIES
OF
19th CENTUARY
During the latter half of the 19th century, there was a total of 200 or more sewing-machine companies in the United States. Although a great many manufacturing-type machines were sold, this business was carried on by relatively few companies and most were primarily concerned with the family-type machines. A great many of the companies were licensed by the “Combination”, but, in addition, some companies were constructing machines that did not infringe the patents, other companies infringed the patents but managed to avoid legal action and there were numerous companies that mushroomed into existence after the “Combination” was dissolved in 1877. Most of the latter were very short-lived. It is difficult to establish the exact dates of some of these companies as many of their records were incomplete or have since disappeared; even a great many of the“Combination” records were lost by fire.
Only a small percentage of the companies were in business for a period longer than ten years; of those that continued longer, all but a few had disappeared by 1910. Today (1970) there are about 60 United States sewing-machine companies. Most of them manufacture highly specialized sewing machines used for specific types of commercial work; only a few produce family or home-style machines. Foreign competition has increased and the high cost of skilled labor in this country has made competition in this consumer-product field increasingly difficult. The countless varieties of American family sewing machines, so evident in the 19th century, have passed away.
Geographical Index
of
American Companies
CONNECTICUT
Bridgeport
D. W. Clark
Jerome B. Secor
Goodbody Sewing Machine Co.
Howe Machine Co. (Elias)
Secor Machine Co.
American Hand Sewing Machine Co.
Bristol
Danbury
Hartford
Morrison, Wilkinson & Co.
Meriden
Fosket and Savage
Charles Parker Co.
Parker Sewing Machine Co.
Middletown
Victor Sewing Machine Co.
Norwich
Greenman and True Mfg. Co.
Waterbury
Waterbury Co.
West Meriden
Parkers, Snow, Brooks & Co.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Washington
Post Combination Sewing Machine Co.
ILLINOIS
Belleville
Thomas M. Cochrane Co.
J. H. Drew & Co.
Belvidere
June Mfg. Co., 70
National Sewing Machine Co.
Chicago
Chicago Sewing Machine Co.
Eldredge Sewing Machine Co.
Free Sewing Machine Co.
Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co.
Scates, Tryber & Sweetland Mfg.
Sigwalt Sewing Machine Co.
H. B. Goodrich
June Mfg. Co.
Rockford
Free Sewing Machine Co.
MAINE
Biddeford
Shaw & Clark Sewing Machine Co.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston
O. Phelps
J. F. Paul & Co.
Boston Sewing Machine Co.
Bradford & Barber, mfgs.
John P. Bowker
Finkle & Lyon Sewing Machine Co.
Grover & Baker Sewing Machine Co.
N. Hunt & Co.
Hunt and Webster
Emery, Houghton & Co.
Ladd, Webster & Co.
Safford & Williams Makers
C. A. French
F. R. Robinson
Howard & Davis
I. M. Singer & Co.
Butterfield & Stevens Mfg. Co.
Williams & Orvis Sewing Machine Co.
Chicopee Falls
Shaw & Clark Co.
Chicopee Sewing Machine Co.
Florence
Florence Sewing Machine Co.
Foxboro
Foxboro Rotary Shuttle Co.
Lowell
Lynn
Woolridge, Keene and Moore
Orange
Gold Medal Sewing Machine Co.
Johnson, Clark & Co. (Manufactory)
Grout & White
Springfield
Leader Sewing Machine Co.
Springfield Sewing Machine Co.
D. B. Wesson Sewing Machine Co.
Winchendon
J. G. Folsom
William Grout
Worcester
Goddard, Rice & Co.
MICHIGAN
Detroit
Decker Mfg. Co.
C. G. Gardner
MISSOURI
St. Louis
Wardwell Mfg. Co.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Dover
O. L. Reynolds Manufacturing Co.
Marlboro
Thurston Mfg. Co.
Mason Village
Franklin Sewing Machine Co.
NEW JERSEY
Elizabethport
Singer Mfg. Co. (manufactory, not office)
Paterson
Whitney Sewing Machine Co.
NEW YORK
Binghamton
Independent Sewing Machine Co.
Brooklyn
J. H. Lester
G. L. Du Laney
Ithaca
Aiken and Felthousen (patentees)
American Magnetic Sewing Machine Co.
Clinton Brothers
T. C. Thompson
New York
Barlow & Son
Charles A. Durgin
Eureka Shuttle Sewing Machine Co.
Excelsior Sewing Machine Co.
Madame Demorest
First and Frost
L. Griswold
Howe Sewing Machine Co. (Amas)
Thos. A. Macauley Mfg.
New York Sewing Machine Co.
T. W. Robertson
I. M. Singer & Co.
Singer Mfg. Co.
Standard Shuttle Sewing Machine Co.
Henry Stewart & Co.
Stewart Mfg. Co.
E. E. Lee & Co.
Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Co.
Watertown
Westmoreland
A. B. Buell
OHIO
Cleveland
Wilson (W. G.) Sewing Machine Co.
Domestic Sewing Machine Co. (after 1924)
Leslie Sewing Machine Co.
Standard Sewing Machine Co.
Dayton
Elyria
West & Willson Co.
Norwalk
Dauntless Mfg. Co.
Wm. A. Mack & Co., and N. S. Perkins
Springfield
Royal Sewing Machine Co.
St. John Sewing Machine Co.
Toledo
Jewel Mfg. Co.
PENNSYLVANIA
Erie
Noble Sewing Machine Co.
Philadelphia
American Buttonhole, Overseaming & Sewing Machine Co.
Centennial Sewing Machine Co.
George B. Sloat and Co.
Rex & Bockius
Grant Bros. & Co.
B. W. Lacey & Co.
Parham Sewing Machine Co.
Philadelphia Sewing Machine Co.
Quaker City Sewing Machine Co.
E. Remington & Sons
Taggart & Farr
Pittsburgh
Love Mfg. Co.
RHODE ISLAND
Providence
Household Sewing Machine Co.
Providence Tool Co.
VERMONT
Brattleboro
Samuel Barker and Thomas White
Brattleboro Sewing Machine Co.
Estey Sewing Machine Co.
Higby Sewing Machine Co.
Nettleton & Raymond (Charles Raymond)
Windsor
Lamson, Goodnow & Yale
Vermont Arms Co.
VIRGINIA
Richmond
Lester Mfg. Co.
Union Sewing Machine Co.
Old Dominion Sewing Machine Co.
WISCONSIN
Milwaukee
Whitehill Mfg. Co.
Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Louise Pattison
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM