AMERICAN SEWING MACHINE  COMPANIES

OF  

19th  CENTUARY

During the latter half of the 19th century, there was a total of 200 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 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 companies 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 disappeared; even a great many of the“Combination” records were lost by fire.

Only a small percentage of the companies were in business for a period longer than ten years; of those that continued longer, all but a few had disappeared by 1910. Today (1970) there are about 60 United States sewing-machine companies. Most of them manufacture 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.

List of American Sewing Machine Companies (From the Sewing Machine Adrance - 1884)
1884

 

 

Geographical Index

of

American Companies

 

 

CONNECTICUT

Bridgeport

D. W. Clark

Jerome B. Secor

Goodbody Sewing Machine Co.

Howe Machine Co. (Elias)

Secor Machine Co.

American Hand Sewing Machine Co.

Wheeler & Wilson Mfg. Co.

 

Bristol

Nettleton & Raymond

Watson & Wooster

 

Danbury

Bartram & Fanton Mfg. Co.

 

Hartford

Morrison, Wilkinson & Co.

Weed Sewing Machine Co.

 

Meriden

Fosket and Savage

Charles Parker Co.

Parker Sewing Machine Co.

 

Middletown

Victor Sewing Machine Co.

 

Norwich

Greenman and True Mfg. Co.

 

Waterbury

Waterbury Co.

 

West Meriden

Parkers, Snow, Brooks & Co.

 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

 

Washington

Post Combination Sewing Machine Co.

 

ILLINOIS

Belleville

Thomas M. Cochrane Co.

J. H. Drew & Co.

 

Belvidere

June Mfg. Co., 70

National Sewing Machine Co.

 

Chicago

Chicago Sewing Machine Co.

Eldredge Sewing Machine Co.

Free Sewing Machine Co.

Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co.

Scates, Tryber & Sweetland Mfg.

Sigwalt Sewing Machine Co.

H. B. Goodrich

June Mfg. Co.

 

Rockford

Free Sewing Machine Co.

 

MAINE

 

Biddeford

Shaw & Clark Sewing Machine Co.

 

MASSACHUSETTS

 

Boston

O. Phelps

J. F. Paul & Co.

Boston Sewing Machine Co.

Bradford & Barber, mfgs.

John P. Bowker

Empire Sewing Machine Co.

Finkle & Lyon Sewing Machine Co.

Grover & Baker Sewing Machine Co.

Nichols & Bliss

J. B. Nichols & Co.

Nichols, Leavitt & Co.

N. Hunt & Co.

Hunt and Webster

Emery, Houghton & Co.

Ladd, Webster & Co.

Leavitt & Co.

Leavitt Sewing Machine Co.

Safford & Williams Makers

C. A. French

F. R. Robinson

Howard & Davis

I. M. Singer & Co.

Butterfield & Stevens Mfg. Co.

Williams & Orvis Sewing Machine Co.

 

Chicopee Falls

Shaw & Clark Co.

Chicopee Sewing Machine Co.

 

Florence

Florence Sewing Machine Co.

 

Foxboro

Foxboro Rotary Shuttle Co.

 

Lowell

Aetna Sewing Machine Co. ?

 

Lynn

Woolridge, Keene and Moore

 

Orange

Gold Medal Sewing Machine Co.

Johnson, Clark & Co. (Manufactory)

Grout & White

New Home Sewing Machine Co.

 

Springfield

Leader Sewing Machine Co.

Springfield Sewing Machine Co.

D. B. Wesson Sewing Machine Co.

 

Winchendon

J. G. Folsom

William Grout

 

Worcester

Goddard, Rice & Co.

 

MICHIGAN

Detroit

Decker Mfg. Co.

C. G. Gardner

 

MISSOURI

St. Louis

Wardwell Mfg. Co.

 

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Dover

O. L. Reynolds Manufacturing Co.

 

Marlboro

Thurston Mfg. Co.

 

Mason Village

Franklin Sewing Machine Co.

 

NEW JERSEY

Elizabethport

Singer Mfg. Co. (manufactory, not office)

 

Paterson

Whitney Sewing Machine Co.

 

NEW YORK

Binghamton

Independent Sewing Machine Co.

 

Brooklyn

J. H. Lester

G. L. Du Laney

 

Ithaca

Aiken and Felthousen (patentees)

American Magnetic Sewing Machine Co.

Clinton Brothers

T. C. Thompson

 

New York

Avery Sewing Machine Co.

A. Bartholf, Mfg.

Bartholf Sewing Machine Co.

Bartlett Sewing Machine Co.

Barlow & Son

Beckwith Sewing Machine Co.

Demorest Mfg. Co.

Charles A. Durgin

Elliptic Sewing Machine Co.

Eureka Shuttle Sewing Machine Co.

Excelsior Sewing Machine Co.

Madame Demorest

First and Frost

L. Griswold

Howe Sewing Machine Co. (Amas)

Thos. A. Macauley Mfg.

New York Sewing Machine Co.

Planer, Braunsdorf & Co.

T. W. Robertson

I. M. Singer & Co.

Singer Mfg. Co.

Standard Shuttle Sewing Machine Co.

Henry Stewart & Co.

Stewart Mfg. Co.

E. E. Lee & Co.

Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Co.

 

Watertown

Davis Sewing Machine Co.

Wheeler, Wilson & Co.

 

Westmoreland

A. B. Buell

 

OHIO

Cleveland

Wilson (W. G.) Sewing Machine Co.

Domestic Sewing Machine Co. (after 1924)

Leslie Sewing Machine Co.

Standard Sewing Machine Co.

White Sewing Machine Co.

 

Dayton

Davis Sewing Machine Co.

 

Elyria

West & Willson Co.

 

Norwalk

Dauntless Mfg. Co.

Wm. A. Mack & Co., and N. S. Perkins

Domestic Sewing Machine Co.

 

Springfield

Royal Sewing Machine Co.

St. John Sewing Machine Co.

 

Toledo

Jewel Mfg. Co.

 

PENNSYLVANIA

Erie

Noble Sewing Machine Co.

 

Philadelphia

American Buttonhole, Overseaming & Sewing Machine Co.

Centennial Sewing Machine Co.

Elliptic Sewing Machine Co.

George B. Sloat and Co.

Rex & Bockius

Grant Bros. & Co.

B. W. Lacey & Co.

Parham Sewing Machine Co.

Philadelphia Sewing Machine Co.

Quaker City Sewing Machine Co.

E. Remington & Sons

Taggart & Farr

 

Pittsburgh

Love Mfg. Co.

 

RHODE ISLAND

Providence

Household Sewing Machine Co.

Providence Tool Co.

 

VERMONT

Brattleboro

Samuel Barker and Thomas White

Brattleboro Sewing Machine Co.

Estey Sewing Machine Co.

Higby Sewing Machine Co.

Nettleton & Raymond (Charles Raymond)

 

Windsor

Lamson, Goodnow & Yale

Vermont Arms Co.

 

VIRGINIA

Richmond

Lester Mfg. Co.

Union Sewing Machine Co.

Old Dominion Sewing Machine Co.

 

WISCONSIN

Milwaukee

Whitehill Mfg. Co.

 

 

 

Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Louise Pattison

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