Information on Sewing Machine Companies
Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company
TOYS
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Amasa B. Howe Sewing Machine Company The Amasa B. Howe Sewing Machine Company was founded in 1853 by Amasa Howe. In 1862 Amasa won the prize medal at the London International Exhibition. This increased the popularity of the machines. Elias Howe, Amasses brother offered to join him by building a large factory in Bridgeport, Conn.. The machines produced at the new factory were inferior to the older machines. Amasa found that rather than helping his business his brother’s efforts were hurting him and he severed business relations with Elias. Elias’s son in laws, the Stockwell Brothers, built machines at the Bridgeport factory. To distinguish their machine from Amasa’s machines they marked each machine with a brass medallion picturing the head of Elias Howe. They made the machines until 1880. When Amasa’s health failed he passed his company on to his son, B. P. Howe. In 1873 he sold the Howe Sewing Machine Company to the Stockwell Brothers and they continued making Howe sewing machines until 1886.
The Dauntless company was located in Norwalk, Ohio. They manufactured machines from 1877 - 1882. The name of the sewing machine was changed to New Dauntless in the later years of it’s production. The company also made a Queen sewing machine starting around 1881.
The Davis Sewing Machine Comany Job A. Davis started the company in 1860. The company was located in Watertown, NY and was incorporated in 1869. In 1924 Davis moved to Dayton, Ohio. In the late 1890's most Davis made machines were stenciled models. They were made and labeled for mail-order catalogs and retail stores. The Burdick sewing machine was the first Davis machine that Sears Roebuck & Co. sold. Davis also made most of the Minnesota brand machines old by Sears from 1900-1919. Most of the machines had a model letter printed on the head of the machine, although some did not. The Minnesota model C was the only Davis machine to be featured in a Sears Catalog, this occurred in 1919. Davis became dependant on the sales to Sears and when the contract was not renewed in 1919, the company would never recover. They closed their doors in 1924. Domestic Sewing Machine Company The company was founded in 1864 by William S. Mack and N.S. Perkins in Norwalk Ohio. In 1869 the company was incorporated. In 1871 the manufacturing rights were sold to a company in Newark, New Jersey. The NJ company sold their machines to the company in Ohio. In 1896 the companies consolidated into the New Jersey factory. They remained there until 1906 when operations were moved to Buffalo, NY. The White Sewing machine company, which was located in Cleveland, Ohio purchased the Domestic company in 1924. Domestic became a subsidiary of the White Company and continued to manufacture sewing machines under the Domestic Name. The Domestic company made Minnesota models to be sold by Sears Roebuck & Co. They also made a Franklin model machine that was sold through Sears from 1919 through the 1930s. Started in 1870 and located in Rockwell, IL, the company was first called St. John Sewing Machine Company. In 1883 the company was renamed the Royal Sewing Machine Company. By the end of 1894 the company was sold to Gilbert Woodruff and in 1895 the Illinois Sewing Machine Company was formed using the assets of the earlier company. In 1898 Will C. Free joined the company and became president in 1910. He then organized The Free Sewing Machine Company and the Illinois Sewing Machine Company became a subsidiary. Most of the sewing machines made by the Free Company were sold by mail-order companies or department stores. Machines that say “Illinois Sewing Machine Company” were made by the Free Company. In 1917 while working with Westinghouse, an electric model going by the name of Free-Westinghouse was introduced. In 1927 the Free Sewing Machine Company merged with the New Home Sewing Machine Company. Grover & Baker Sewing Machine Company The Grover and Baker Sewing Machine company was formed in the early 1850’s by two Boston tailors William O. Grover and William E. Baker. The company manufactured sewing machines from 1851 through 1875. Their sewing machine used two threads creating a double chainstitch. The machine was very popular from the 1850’s to the early 1870’s, but its popularity wore off because the machine used three times the amount of thread that a lockstitch machine used and had a very bulky stitch. The company also made lockstitch machines. The company was one of the original members of the sewing machine combination. The patents that the company held began to expire in the 1870s. The company was sold to the Domestic Sewing Machine Company along with the remaining patents in 1875.
The New Home Sewing Machine Company The New Home Sewing Machine Company was located in Orange, Massachusetts in 1876. The Company began manufacturing sewing machines in 1882. Many of the machines they manufactured were made for retailers and mail order houses. The machines were either vibrating shuttle or rotary machines. A greyhound dog with the words, "Light Running New Home", inscribed on it was the companies trademark. It was often found in the center of the bed plate. In 1927 The New Home Company merged with The Free Sewing Machine Company, and moved to Rockford, Illinois. In 1958 the Company moved along with the Free Sewing Machine Company to Los Angeles, California. In 1960 the New Home Company was purchased by the Janome Sewing Machine Company, Ltd., of Tokyo, Japan where it has remained ever since. Return to Top of Page
The Singer Manufacturing Company The I.M. Singer & Company was founded in 1850 by Isaac Meritt Singer, Orson Philps and George B. Ziebar. It was located in Boston, Massachusetts and was operated as a partnership until 1863. In 1863 a corporation was formed under the name of The Singer Manufacturing Company. But before this, in 1853 the company moved to New York City. The company moved again in 1873 to New Jersey. In 1856 the Singer Company was the first company to use installment plans to sell sewing machines. At the same time the company introduced the Singer Family Sewing machine. Ever since the late 1850s Singer sold only through authorized dealers. The company never sold stenciled models, which are machines made for department stores or mail order companies. The machines are usually given a different name. From 1857 through 1880’s Singer sewing machines had two serial numbers. The numbers may be related to the “Combination” royalties paid to the Singer Company. Until 1873 there was a difference of 4000 between the two numbers. Then after that the last three numbers were the same but the lower number was much lower then either number used in earlier years. The large number is thought to be the record of total production while the smaller number is thought to be referring to a machine of a certain style. After 1873 only the larger number should be used to date a machine. The Singer company is still around today but the machines are no longer made in the United States.
Standard Sewing Machine Company In 1844 Frank Mack and William S. Mack started the company in Cleveland, Ohio. The Company made a sewing machine that was labeled as a Kenmore, and it was sold by Sears Roebuck & Co. in their fall 1919 catalog. They also introduced a Sew handy machine in the 1920s. The company was sold to Osaka Fur Machine Company and then it was eventually bought by the Singer Mfg. Company in 1929. The Singer company made a featherweight sewing machine that looked like the Sew handy. They kept the original features and added some of their own. Singer called this a model 221 featherweight.
The White Sewing Machine Company was founded by Thomas White, and was incorporated in 1876. They were located in Cleveland, Ohio. The company made machines for retailers. In 1924 the White Company took over the Domestic Sewing Machine Company. After this the White Company continued to make Domestic and Franklin Sewing Machines for Sears Roebuck & Co. The White Sewing Machine Co. is one of the few sewing machine companies still in business today.
Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company James E. A. Gibbs saw his first sewing machine in 1855. It was a picture of a Grover & Baker. The machine in the picture was made of wood and only the top part was showing.. He could not see any thread on the machine or how the machine made a stitch. Gibbs thought that the stitch was made by one thread and then he thought of how the stitch would be made. He was only curious at the time and he had no intentions of inventing a sewing machine himself. In January 1856 Gibbs was visiting his father in Virginia. In a tailor’s shop he saw a Singer machine and was very impressed with it. Gibbs thought the machine was large, heavy, complicated and very expensive. He also thought that he could make a less expensive machine and went to work on inventing one. Gibbs did not have much time to work on a sewing machine because he had a family to support. He also did not have the proper tools or materials to work with. Most of his machine was made of wood and he made his own needles. By the end of April 1856 his machine was almost complete and his employers became interested in it and put up money to patent the machine. Gibbs went to Washington to look at the machines at the Patent Office. From there he went to Philadelphia and showed his machine to James Willcox, a builder of inventions. Willcox was very impress and arranged for Gibbs to work with his son, Charles Willcox. This led to forming the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company. The company manufactured their first chain stitch machine in 1857. A Willcox & Gibbs sewing machine on an iron frame stand with a treadle sold for $50 in the late 1850s. The only major change in the design of the Willcox & Gibbs sewing machine through the years was the thread holder and the tension. The early models until about the mid 1870s had a glass tension and the thread holder was in a vertical position. Later models have a removable thread holder placed at an angle and a nickel plated automatic tension. They also have the Willcox & Gibbs trademark brass medallion on them. The medallion said, “Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Coo., New York” and there is a picture of the a sewing machine in the center of the medallion. The company stopped manufacturing its chain stitch machine in 1946 but continued to make a commercial type machine until 1973, when they went out of business.
Carl Sieper of Germany manufactured Casige toy sewing machines from 1902 to 1975. The Casige company also made locks and keys. The trademark on their toy machines was an eagle with out stretched wings holding a key. The first two letters on the name of the company (CA) are the first two letters in the founders name. The next two letters (si) are the first two letters in his last name. The last two letters (ge) are the first two letters of his home country.
The F.W. Muller Hardware Factory was established by Friedrich Muller of Berlin, Germany in 1868. A few years later Muller started manufacturing toy sewing machines. Some of the models of toy machines were made for only a few years while others were made for up to 40 years. Thousands of machines were made through the years. Most of these were exported. Many catalogs and retailers carried the Muller toy sewing machines but started again after the war. In 1979 the factory closed it’s doors.
Singer began making toy machines in 1910 and continue to the present. The early toys were called “Model 20”, in 1950 the name was changed to “Sew handy. Model 20”. Simanco was found on many of the toys, it is an abbreviation for the singer Manufacturing company. The early model 20’s were made with different features. This enables us to identify the approximate year of production. 1910 - 1914 4 spokes, color black, oval base, no green felt on base, all nickel hand wheel, no tension regulator, no numbers on thread route. Singer name on front and back. 1914 - 1922 8 spokes, color black, oval base, no green felt on base, all nickel hand wheel, tension regulator, numbered thread route.on some models. Singer name on front and back. 1922 - 1930s 7 spokes, color black, oval base with green felt on base, nickel and black hand wheel, tension regulator, numbered thread route. Singer name on front and back. 1922 - 1930s Model 20-2 had the same features as above but Model 20-10 colors black, tan, light blue, red, light green, 7 spokes, rectangular base, 2 piece body covering mechanism, painted hand wheel, tension regulator, numbered thread route, Singer name on front and back, emblem on front, larger sewing bed. 1950s Called “Sew handy.” in advertisements. Some had small leather carrying cases and or dress-up doll patterns. Model 20 color green or tan, the hand wheel was stamped metal with no spokes. 1951 Model 20-10 color black, had special Singer Centennial Emblem. 1960s Sew handy. model 40K, color tan and white, came in plastic carrying case, hand crank, made from metal, Red Singer Emblem, enclosed body, Made in Great Britain. Sew handy. model 50D, color tan and white, came in plastic orange/red carrying case, electric, marked “Great Britain” |
