Quality silk thread that would withstand the rigors of 

 machine stitching could be produced, but it was 

 quite expensive also. A new type of inexpensive 

 thread was needed ; the obvious answer lay in improv- 

 ing the cotton thread. 88 



In addition to the popular three-ply variety, cotton 

 thread was also made by twisting together either two 

 single yarns or more than three yarns. Increasing 

 the number of yarns produced a more cylindrical 

 thread. The earliest record of a six-ply cotton thread 

 was about 1840. 80 And in 1850 G. E. Bennett of 

 Portsmouth, New Hampshire, received a gold medal 

 for superior six-cord, or six-ply, spool cotton at the 

 Fair of the American Institute. But the thread was 

 still wiry and far from satisfactory. By the micl- 

 1860s the demonstrated need for thread manufac- 

 turers in America brought George A. Clark and 

 William Clark, third generation cotton-thread manu- 

 facturers of Paisley, Scotland, to Newark, New Jersey, 

 where they built a large mill. George Clark decided 

 that a thread having both a softer finish and a different 

 construction was needed. He produced a six-cord 

 cabled thread, made up of three two-ply yarns (see 

 fig. 67). The thread was called ''Clark's 'Our New 

 Thread,' " which was later shortened to O.N.T. The 

 basic machine-thread problem was solved. When 

 other manufacturers used the six-cord cabled construc- 

 tion they referred to their thread as "Best Six-Cord" 87 

 or "Superior Six-Cord" 88 to distinguish it from the 

 earlier variety made up of six single yarns in a simple 

 twist. Another new side industry of the sewing 

 machine was successfully established. 



MANUFACTURE AND EXPORT, TO 1900 



Sewing machines were a commodity in themselves, 

 both at home and abroad. In 1850, there were no 

 establishments exclusively devoted to the manufacture 

 of sewing machines, the few constructed were made in 

 small machine shops. The industry, however, ex- 



perienced a very rapid growth during the next ten 

 years. By 1860 there were 74 factories in 12 States, 89 

 mainly in the East and Midwest, 90 producing over 

 1 1 1 ,000 sewing machines a year. In addition, there 

 were 14 factories that produced sewing-machine cases 

 and attachments. The yearly value of these products 

 was approximately four and a half million dollars, 

 of which the amount exported in 1861 was $61,000. 

 Although the number of sewing-machine factories 

 dropped from 74 in 1860 to 69 by 1870, the value of 

 the machines produced increased to almost sixteen 

 million dollars. 



The number of sewing-machine companies fluc- 

 tuated greatly from year to year as many attempted 

 to enter this new field of manufacture. Some were not 

 able to make a commercial success of their products. 

 The Civil War did not seem to be an important 

 factor in the number of companies in business in the 

 North. Although one manufacturer ceased operations 

 in Richmond, Virginia, and a Vermont firm converted 

 to arms manufacture, several companies began op- 

 erations during the war years. Of the 69 firms in 

 business in 1870, only part had been in business 

 since 1860 or before; some were quite new as a result 

 of the expiration of the Howe patent renewal in 1867. 



Probably due to the termination of many of the 

 major patents, there were 124 factories in 1880, but 

 the yearly product value remained at sixteen million 

 dollars. The 1890 census reports only 66 factories 

 with a yearly production of a little less than the earlier 

 decade. But by 1900, the yearly production of a 

 like number of factories had reached a value of over 

 twenty-one million, of which four and a half million 

 dollars worth were exported annually. The total 

 value of American sewing machines exported from 

 1860 to 1900 was approximately ninety million dollars. 

 The manufacture of sewing machines made a signi- 

 ficant contribution to the economic development of 

 19th-century America. 



85 See Appendix V, p. 135, "A Brief History of Cotton 

 Thread." 



86 The Story of Cotton Thread (New York, The Spool Cotton 

 Company, 1933). 



87 J. and P. Coats spool cotton. 



88 Willimantic spool cotton. 



89 New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island. 

 Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, 

 Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky. Eighth Census, 1860, Manufactures 

 (United States Census Office, published by Government 

 Printing Office: Washington, D.C., 1865.) 



90 Sewing-machine manufacture in the South was just begin- 

 ning to blossom when it was curtailed by the outbreak of the 

 Civil War. See Lester sewing machine, figure 109 on page 102. 



64 



