﻿THE 
  SERVANT 
  IN 
  THE 
  HOUSE: 
  A 
  BRIEF 
  HISTORY 
  OF 
  

   THE 
  SEWING 
  MACHINE 
  

  

  By 
  Frederick 
  L. 
  Lewton 
  

   Curator, 
  Division 
  of 
  Textiles, 
  United 
  States 
  National 
  Museum 
  

  

  [With 
  8 
  plates] 
  

   The 
  Song 
  of 
  the 
  Shirt 
  

  

  With 
  fingers 
  weary 
  and 
  worn, 
  

  

  With 
  eyelids 
  heavy 
  and 
  red, 
  

   A 
  woman 
  sat, 
  in 
  unwomanly 
  rags, 
  

  

  Plying 
  her 
  needle 
  and 
  thread, 
  — 
  

   Stitch! 
  stitch! 
  stitch! 
  

  

  In 
  poverty, 
  hunger, 
  and 
  dirt; 
  

   And 
  still 
  with 
  a 
  voice 
  of 
  dolorous 
  pitch 
  — 
  

  

  Would 
  that 
  its 
  tone 
  could 
  reach 
  the 
  rich! 
  — 
  

   She 
  sang 
  this 
  "Song 
  of 
  the 
  Shirt!" 
  

  

  — 
  Thomas 
  Hood. 
  

  

  WHY 
  THE 
  SEWING 
  MACHINE 
  WAS 
  INVENTED 
  

  

  The 
  sewing 
  machine, 
  like 
  most 
  important 
  inventions, 
  was 
  the 
  

   result 
  of 
  the 
  needs 
  of 
  its 
  time 
  and 
  was 
  thought 
  out 
  and 
  brought 
  into 
  

   practical 
  reality 
  when 
  the 
  demand 
  became 
  acute 
  for 
  more 
  speed 
  and 
  

   increased 
  production 
  in 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  garments. 
  The 
  poverty 
  

   of 
  England's 
  seamstresses 
  as 
  told 
  in 
  Hood's 
  The 
  Song 
  of 
  the 
  Shirt, 
  the 
  

   need 
  of 
  uniforms 
  for 
  clothing 
  the 
  army 
  in 
  France, 
  and 
  the 
  periodically 
  

   sudden 
  needs 
  for 
  garments 
  hj 
  the 
  whale 
  fishermen 
  of 
  New 
  Bedford 
  

   and 
  other 
  New 
  England 
  fishing 
  ports, 
  all 
  were 
  reflected 
  in 
  attempts 
  

   to 
  improve 
  upon 
  sewing 
  by 
  hand. 
  When 
  these 
  various 
  attempts 
  did 
  

   appear 
  they 
  attracted 
  but 
  little 
  attention 
  at 
  first 
  except 
  from 
  those 
  

   who 
  feared 
  their 
  means 
  of 
  earning 
  a 
  living 
  would 
  be 
  taken 
  from 
  them 
  

   if 
  a 
  machine 
  to 
  sew 
  would 
  become 
  a 
  possibility. 
  The 
  machines 
  of 
  

   Barthelemy 
  Thimonnier 
  engaged 
  in 
  sewing 
  uniforms 
  for 
  the 
  army 
  in 
  

   France 
  were 
  destroyed 
  by 
  a 
  mob, 
  and 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  what 
  

   promised 
  to 
  be 
  America's 
  first 
  practical 
  machine 
  (that 
  of 
  Walter 
  

   Hunt 
  in 
  1834) 
  was 
  laid 
  aside 
  for 
  fear 
  of 
  taking 
  the 
  bread 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  

   mouths 
  of 
  the 
  seamstresses. 
  

  

  Even 
  though 
  sewing 
  machines 
  formed 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  interesting 
  

   exhibits 
  at 
  the 
  "great 
  exhibition" 
  in 
  the 
  Crystal 
  Palace 
  at 
  London 
  

  

  559 
  

  

  