The sewing machine also contributed to the popu- 

 larity of certain fashions. Ready-made cloaks for 

 women were a business of a few years' standing when 

 the sewing machine was adopted for their manufac- 

 ture in 1853. Machine sewing reduced the cost of 

 constructing the garment by about eighty percent, 

 thereby decreasing its price and increasing its popu- 

 larity. In Xew York City alone, the value of the 

 "cloak and mantilla" manufacture in 1860 was 

 $6 18, 400. rr Crinolines and hoopskirts were easier to 

 stitch by machine than by hand, and these items had 

 a spirited period of popularity due to the intro- 

 duction of the sewing machine. Braiding, pleating, 

 and tucking adorned many costume items because 

 they could be produced by machine with ease and 

 rapidity. 



In addition to using the sewing machine for the 

 manufacture of shirts, collars, and related men's 

 furnishings, the machine was also used in the pro- 

 duction of men's and boy's suits and reportedly gave 

 "a vast impetus to the trade." 7 * The Army, however, 

 was not quite convinced of the sewing machine's 

 practical adaptation to its needs. Although a sewing 

 machine was purchased for the Philadelphia Quarter- 

 master Depot as early as 1851, they had only six 

 by 1860. On March 31, 1859, General Jesup of the 

 Philadelphia Depot wrote to a Xechard & Company 

 stating that the machine sewing had been tried but 

 was not used for clothing, only for stitching caps and 

 chevrons. In another letter, on the same day, to 

 "Messers Hebrard & Co., Louisiana Steam Clothing- 

 Factory, X. Orleans," Jesup states: "Machine sewing 

 has been tried with us, and though it meets the re- 

 quirements of a populous and civilized life, it has been 

 found not to answer for the hard wear and tear and 

 limited means of our frontier service. Particular at- 

 tention has been paid to this subject, and we have 

 abandoned the use of machines for coats, jackets and 

 trousers, etc and use them on caps and bands that are 

 not exposed to much hard usage. . . . " 79 At this 

 period prior to the Civil War, the Army manufac- 

 tured its own clothing. As the demands ot war in- 

 creased, more and more of the Army's clothing sup- 

 plies were furnished on open contract — with no 



Figure 55. — Blake's leather-stitching machine 

 patent model of July 6, 1858: the inventor claimed 

 the arrangement of the mechanism used and an 

 auxiliary arm capable of entering the shoe, which 

 enabled the outer sole to be stitched both to the 

 inner sole and to the upper part of tin -Inn 

 (Smithsonian photo 50361.) 



specifications as to stitching. 80 Machine stitching, 

 in fact, is found in most of the Civil War uniforms. 

 One of the problems that most probably affected the 

 durability of the machine stitching in the 1850s was 

 the sewing thread, a problem that was not solved 

 until the 1860s and which is discussed later under 

 "thread for the machine." 



SHOE MANUFACTURE 



Another industry that was aided b) the new inven- 

 tion was that of shoe manufacture. Although the 

 earliest sewing-machine patents in the United States 

 reflect the inventors' efforts to solve the difficult task 

 of leather stitching, and, although machines w in- 

 used to a limited extent in stitching some parts of 



''''Eighth Census, 1860, Manufactures (United States Census 

 Office, published Government Printing Office: Washington, 

 D.C., 18(55), "Women's Ready-Made Clothing," p. 83. 



"8 Ibid., p. 64. 



79 National Archives, Record Group 92, Office of the Quarter- 

 master General, Clothing Book, Letters Sent, volume 1 7. 



80 The author wishes to acknowledge the valuable help of 

 Mr. Donald Kloster of the Smithsonian Institution's Division 

 of Military History for the preceding four references and 

 related information. 



59 



