Figure 96. — A. B. Howe sewing machine of about 1860. (Smithsonian photo 45525-C.) 



Figures 96, 97, and 98. — The Howe machines. It is 

 difficult for many to believe that the stamped legend "Elias 

 Howe patent, Sept. 10, 1846'" does not certify that a machine 

 is an original Howe. Although Elias Howe was granted a 

 patent for the lockstitch machine in 1846, he did not 

 establish a sewing-machine factory for about twenty years. 

 Early in the 1850s and later through the "Combination," 

 however, he licensed others to make machines using his 

 patent. These machines bore that patent date for which a 

 royalty was being paid. 



Among his early licensees was his elder brother Amasa 

 who organized the Howe Sewing Machine Co. in 1854. The 

 Amasa Howe machines were very good ones, and in 1862 

 Amasa won the prize medal at the London International 

 Exhibition. This immensely increased the popularity of the 

 machine and Elias offered to join Amasa by building a large 

 factory at Bridgeport, Connecticut, to fill the increasing 

 demand for more machines. The machines produced at 

 Bridgeport, however, although imitating the Amasa Howe 

 machines, proved inferior in quality. Amasa found that, 

 rather than helping his business reputation, his brother's 

 efforts were hurting him, and he severed business relations 

 with Elias. 



Because of their brief association, the 1862 prize medal 

 awarded to A. B. Howe was sometimes credited to Elias. 

 The latter did receive awards for his patent, but never for 

 his manufactured machines. When the two brothers dis- 

 solved their joint venture, Elias attempted to call his new 

 company the Howe Sewing Machine Co., but Amasa's claim 

 that this name had been his exclusive property for many 

 years was upheld by the courts. Elias then omitted the word 



'"Sewing" and called his company simply the Howe Ma- 

 chine Co. 



After Elias died in 1 8b 7 . the company was run by his 

 sons-in-law, the Stockwell brothers. To distinguish their 

 machines from those of A. B. Howe, they marked each 

 machine with a brass medallion picturing the head and 

 flowing locks of Elias Howe. They also continued to adver- 

 tise their machine as the "original" Howe. In about 1873, 

 B. P. Howe, Amasa's son, sold the Howe Sewing Machine 

 Co. to the Stockwell brothers, who continued to manufac- 

 ture Howe machines until 1886. 



The machines of the A. B. 1 [owe Sewing Machine Co. may 

 be dated by serial number approximately as follows: 



No figures are available for 1860-1870, but 20,051 

 machines were manufactured in 1871. 



The machines of the [Elias] Howe Machine Co. are not 

 believed to have begun with serial number 1, and no 

 figures are available for 1865-1867. After that, the machines 

 may be dated by serial number approximately as follows: 



Serial Number 



1 1 ,000—46,000 



46,001—91,843 



91,844—167,000 



167,001—301,010 



301,011—446.1110 



Year 



1868 

 1869 

 1870 

 1871 

 1872 



Serial Number 

 446,011—536,010 

 536,011—571,010 

 571,011—596,010 

 596,011—705,304 



Year 

 1873 

 1874 

 1875 

 1876 



No figures are available for 1877-1886. 



91 



