LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Sewing Machines: Patent
built 780 days ago
The standard history of sewing machines is Grace Rogers Cooper's book, The Sewing Machine: Its Invention and Development. First published in 1968, and then revised and expanded in 1976, it provided the foundation for the history of the sewing machine. Most of the photographs in her book are of sewing machines and patent models in the National Museum of American History's Textile Collection. Serving as a guide to the collection and an early classic in the history of the sewing machine, Cooper's book remains in demand. As part of this project, Cooper's book, as well as Frederick Lewton's The Servant in the House, will be scanned and linked to the website at www.sil.si.edu.
Source:
James Edward Allen Gibbs (1829-1902), a farmer from Raphine in Rockbridge County, Virginia patented the first chain-stitch single-thread sewing machine on June 2, 1857. In partnership with James Wilcox, Gibbs became a principal in Wilcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company. Wilcox & Gibbs commercial sewing machines are still used in the 21st century.
Source:
In 1834, Walter Hunt built America's first (somewhat) successful sewing machine. He later lost interest in patenting because he believed his invention would cause unemployment. (Hunt's machine could only sew straight steams.) Hunt never patented and in 1846, the first American patent was issued to Elias Howe for "a process that used thread from two different sources."
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Patent