II. American Sewing-Machine Companies 

 of the 19th Century 



During the latter half of the 19th century, there 

 was a total of two hundred 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 representative number of these 

 family machines together with information con- 

 cerning both the company and serial-number dating 

 are found in figures 68 through 132. 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 com- 

 panies 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 dis- 

 appeared; even a great many of the "Combination" 

 records were lost by fire. A summary of the existing 

 records kept by the "Combination" is given in 

 figure 37. 



As will be noted in the subsequent listing, only a 

 small percentage of the companies were in business 

 for a period longer than ten years: of those that con- 

 tinued longer, all but a few had disappeared by 

 1910. Today there are about sixty United States 

 sewing-machine companies. Most of them manu- 

 facture 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. 



Sewing Machint 



Aetna 



Aiken and Felthousen 



Alsop 



American 



American Buttonhole, Overseaming and 

 Sewing Machine (fig. 68) 



Later New American (fig. 69) 

 American Magnetic (fig. 70) 



Manufacturer or Company 



Aetna Sewing Machine Co., Lowell, 

 Mass. 



, Ithaca, N.Y. 



American Sewing Machine Co. 



American Buttonhole, Overseaming 

 and Sewing Machine Co., Phila- 

 delphia, Pa. 



American Sewing Machine Co., 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



American Magnetic Sewing Machine 

 Company, Ithaca. N.Y. 



First Made 



at Earliest 



Record 



ca.1867 



1854 

 1869 



ca.1874 



Discontinued 

 or Last 

 Rei ord 



ca.1877 



before 1880 

 ca.1880 



ca.1874 

 ca.1886 



65 



