﻿580 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1929 
  

  

  sewing, 
  and 
  a 
  continuous 
  thread, 
  it 
  is 
  doubtful 
  if 
  any 
  but 
  the 
  experi- 
  

   mental 
  machine 
  was 
  ever 
  made, 
  so 
  that 
  nothing 
  was 
  done 
  by 
  this 
  

   inventor 
  toward 
  making 
  his 
  invention 
  useful 
  to 
  manldnd. 
  

  

  To 
  Barthelemy 
  Thimonnier, 
  however, 
  belongs 
  the 
  credit 
  for 
  having 
  

   been 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  put 
  the 
  sewing 
  machine 
  to 
  practical 
  and 
  public 
  use. 
  

   While 
  his 
  machine, 
  patented 
  in 
  France 
  in 
  1830, 
  adopted 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  

   features 
  of 
  Saint's 
  machine, 
  Thimonnier 
  put 
  his 
  machine 
  to 
  a 
  practical 
  

   and 
  useful 
  pm*pose, 
  and 
  had 
  it 
  not 
  been 
  for 
  the 
  opposition 
  of 
  the 
  very 
  

   class 
  of 
  people 
  who 
  have 
  since 
  been 
  benefited 
  by 
  it 
  he 
  would 
  undoubt- 
  

   edly 
  have 
  found 
  profit 
  in 
  the 
  enterprise. 
  

  

  To 
  Walter 
  Hunt 
  belongs 
  the 
  honor 
  of 
  having 
  invented 
  the 
  needle 
  

   with 
  the 
  eye 
  ia 
  the 
  point 
  and 
  having 
  first 
  combined 
  the 
  shuttle 
  and 
  

   the 
  eye-pointed 
  needle 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  lock 
  stitch; 
  and 
  this 
  was 
  as 
  early 
  

   as 
  1832, 
  or 
  shortly 
  thereafter, 
  while 
  Thimonnier 
  had 
  only 
  just 
  suc- 
  

   ceeded 
  in 
  sewing 
  with 
  a 
  machine, 
  nor 
  can 
  this 
  honor 
  be 
  taken 
  away 
  

   from 
  Hunt 
  because 
  he 
  neglected 
  to 
  pursue 
  his 
  invention 
  and 
  introduce 
  

   the 
  sewing 
  machine 
  to 
  the 
  world. 
  

  

  To 
  Elias 
  Howe 
  must 
  be 
  given 
  the 
  credit 
  for 
  the 
  first 
  introduction 
  of 
  

   the 
  sewing 
  machine 
  to 
  the 
  prominent 
  position 
  which 
  it 
  now 
  occupies. 
  

   There 
  is 
  no 
  denying 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  due 
  to 
  his 
  persistency 
  that 
  

   most 
  of 
  the 
  principles 
  of 
  good 
  sewing 
  were 
  demonstrated 
  by 
  his 
  patent. 
  

   As 
  one 
  writer 
  has 
  expressed 
  it: 
  "With 
  inventive 
  abilities 
  inferior 
  to 
  

   those 
  of 
  Walter 
  Hunt 
  he 
  (Howe) 
  had 
  an 
  adaptness 
  to 
  follow 
  out 
  a 
  

   single 
  object 
  persistently, 
  and 
  he 
  reaped 
  the 
  field." 
  The 
  combina- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  an 
  eye-pointed 
  needle 
  and 
  shuttle 
  using 
  two 
  continuous 
  threads 
  

   to 
  produce 
  a 
  lock 
  stitch 
  was 
  a 
  feature 
  of 
  the 
  embroidering 
  machine 
  

   invented 
  by 
  John 
  Fisher 
  in 
  England 
  in 
  1844, 
  but 
  the 
  English 
  had 
  

   never 
  improved 
  upon 
  the 
  idea 
  nor 
  had 
  even 
  apphed 
  it 
  to 
  a 
  machine 
  to 
  

   do 
  ordinary 
  sewing 
  prior 
  to 
  the 
  sale 
  of 
  Howe's 
  third 
  machine 
  to 
  William 
  

   Thomas 
  for 
  use 
  in 
  his 
  corset 
  factory. 
  Although 
  the 
  eye-pointed 
  

   needle 
  was 
  invented 
  by 
  Hunt 
  and 
  used 
  by 
  him 
  in 
  1834, 
  and 
  was 
  

   patented 
  in 
  England 
  in 
  1841 
  as 
  part 
  of 
  a 
  glove-stitching 
  machine 
  

   using 
  the 
  chain 
  stitch, 
  nevertheless 
  Howe's 
  machine 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  

   to 
  be 
  patented 
  anywhere 
  having 
  a 
  needle 
  with 
  the 
  eye 
  in 
  the 
  point 
  

   which 
  carried 
  a 
  continuous 
  thread 
  and 
  made 
  a 
  lock 
  stitch. 
  

  

  Howe's 
  machine 
  was 
  capable 
  of 
  sewing 
  a 
  seam 
  well 
  but 
  it 
  must 
  

   be 
  admitted 
  that 
  the 
  machine 
  was 
  far 
  from 
  perfect. 
  As 
  constructed 
  

   it 
  could 
  never 
  have 
  come 
  into 
  use 
  as 
  a 
  labor-saving 
  machine 
  for 
  

   family 
  use, 
  for 
  it 
  could 
  not 
  sew 
  anything 
  but 
  straight 
  seams, 
  and 
  such 
  

   seams 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  longer 
  than 
  the 
  baster 
  plate. 
  

  

  Of 
  all 
  the 
  pioneers 
  of 
  sewing 
  machine 
  invention 
  Allen 
  B. 
  Wilson 
  

   was 
  decidedly 
  the 
  most 
  original 
  in 
  his 
  ideas. 
  His 
  devices 
  were 
  unique 
  

   and 
  lasting 
  in 
  their 
  usefulness. 
  No 
  sewing-machine 
  device 
  except 
  

   the 
  eye 
  in 
  the 
  point 
  of 
  the 
  needle 
  has 
  come 
  into 
  such 
  universal 
  use 
  as 
  

   his 
  4-motion 
  roughened-surface 
  feed. 
  The 
  vast 
  majority 
  of 
  the 
  sew- 
  

  

  