an Sewing-Machine Companies of the 19th Century

During the latter half of the 19th century, there was a total of two
hundred 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 representative number of these family
machines together with information concerning both the company and
serial-number dating are found in figures 68 through 132. 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. A summary of the existing
records kept by the "Combination" is given in figure 37.

As will be noted in the subsequent listing, 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 there are about sixty 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.

First Made Discontinued
Manufacturer or Earliest or Last
Sewing Machine or Company Record Record

Aetna Aetna Sewing Machine ca. 1867 ca. 1877
Co., Lowell, Mass.

Aiken and ----, Ithaca, N.Y. ca. 1855 before 1880
Felthousen

Alsop ---- -- ca. 1880

American American Sewing