Figure 39. — One of the first commercial machines produced by the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine 

 Co. in 1857, this machine bears no serial number, although the name "James E. A. Gibbs" is inscribed in 

 two places on the cloth plate. It was used as the patent model for Gibbs' improvement on his 1857 patent 

 issued the following year on August 10. 1858. (Smithsonian photo P. 6393.) 



Singer machine. Gibbs was very much impressed, 

 but thought the machine entirely too heavy, compli- 

 cated, and cumbersome, and the price exorbitant. 

 It was then that he recalled the machine he had 

 devised. Remembering how simple it was, he 

 decided to work in earnest to produce a less-expensive 

 type of sewing machine. 



Gibbs had little time to spend on this invention 

 since his family was dependent upon him for support, 

 but he managed to find time at night and during 

 inclement weather. In contemporary references, 

 Gibbs is referred to as a farmer, but since he is also 

 reported to have had employers, it may be surmised 

 that he was a farmhand. In any event, his decision 

 to try to produce a less-expensive sewing machine 

 suffered from a lack of proper tools and adequate 

 materials. Most of the machine had to be constructed 

 of wood, and he was forced to make his own needles. 

 By the end of April 1856, however, his model was 



sufficiently completed to arouse the interest of his 

 employers, who agreed to furnish the money necessary 

 to patent the machine. 



Gibbs went to Washington, where he examined 

 sewing-machine models in the Patent Office and other 

 machines then on the market. Completing his in- 

 vestigations, Gibbs made a trip to Philadelphia and 

 showed his invention to a builder of models of new 

 inventions, James Willcox. Much impressed with 

 the machine, Willcox arranged for Gibbs to work 

 with his son, Charles Willcox, in a small room 

 in the rear of his shop. After taking out two minor 

 patents (on December 16, 1856, and January 20, 

 1857), Gibbs obtained his important one, U.S. 

 patent No. 17,427 on June 2, 1857 (fig. 38). His 

 association with Charles Willcox led to the formation 

 of the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company, 

 and they began manufacturing chainstitch machines 

 in 1857 (fig. 39). The machine used a straight needle 



46 



