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SEWING MACHINE
It is considered the quintessential Austrian misunderstood, Kufsteiner Josef Schneider Madersperger that in the first half of the 19th century focused on the construction of sewing machines and was not taken seriously by his surroundings and the authorities or even encouraged. The reality was of course much more complicated. Sewing machines of the 18th century was fiddling around the world since the middle. Step by step, until it came to successful solutions. Madersperger he had not. His models were after thorough examination can not really work by modern historians of technology. In other countries, there was already much more radical. While Madersperger was not observed, in 1830, in France there was Barthelemy Thimonnier who had built the first actually functioning sewing and made uniforms but in 1831 infuriated tailors, destroyed his whole factory.
The sewing machine has many fathers. As the fundamental patent holder applies Elias Howe in 1846. But the name has remained connected until today with sewing machines, Isaac Merrit Singer. Singer was a marketing genius. He courted the tailors, housewives and the American South-farmers who were still working with slaves and inquired for these cheap clothes. Singer invented the installment. Edward Clark, Singers partners, designed 1856 prototype for all subsequent installment payment transactions.
In addition to the United States, Germany was the country of the sewing machine factories. In Germany, there were about 200 of them, in Austria at least 40. Austria also has a famous sewing machine manufacturer, the native of the parish Hirsch Bach Johann Jax, the trading operation since 1867 with American Sewing Machines and in 1886 production of his own sewing machines and bicycles in Linz. Jax distinguished himself not only as an idiosyncratic industry pioneer, but also as a progressive social policy and committed Catholic. A century long were the sewing of the pride of every housewife and an important part of the equipment of young girls. They have since migrated to the museums. In the apartments, they are almost impossible to find. So has the great technology-historical events, which is currently hosted by the Upper Austrian State Museum under the slogan "Discover a collection", an event, many beautiful specimens, also from the production of Johann Jax to admire once again due.
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THE AUSTRIAN SEWING MACHINE TRADE
The following letter dated from Vienna, in June last to our contemporary the editor of La Machine a Coudre gives a good idea of the sewing machine trade of Austria:
I firstly beg to apologize to you and your readers, having delayed so long, with the monthly reports about the sewing machine manufacture and trade in Austria, which I promised you. Different reasons I could mention for this, but it would lead us too far and therefore it will be better to come to the subject at once. Since the existence or the manufacture of sewing machines, in Austria trials have been constantly made to manufacture machines for different purposes, though this branch of industry has not developed itself half as much as in Germany. No doubt, in Austria there are as many sewing machines used of German manufacture, as of Austrian manufacture and the Sewing Machine Company, formerly Frister & Rossmann at Berlin, furnishes the greater part of them. If we consider the total consumption of sewing machines in Austria, we shall see that the Singer Manufacturing Company stand at the head, they have not only one, but half-a-dozen of retail shops in Vienna and moreover branch offices in all the larger towns. The Howe and Wheeler & Wilson Companies are also represented here, but I cannot tell anything of their business for certain, I only know that both companies do not advertise much. But to come back to the home manufacture, I must firstly tell that the manufacturers here are very fond of manufacturing specialities and as a knowledge of this peculiarity is doubtless of some interest for your readers, I have spoken to the manager of a company, who stands in the first rank with respect to the variety and originality of their inventions. The firm of Karl Schultheiss has been established since the never to-be-forgotten exhibition and Krach
year 1873 and manufactures sewing machines, which occupy at least a honourable place upon the market. They are for gloves, hat leather, fur, edging, knitting and bag so wing. I shall explain the purpose of some of them. I must acknowledge, that until now, I had no notion what an edging, fur sewing machine could be for. Now I know what it is. The edging sewing machine is used by the cloth maker and the dyer, to cover the edge of the cloth with edging, that it might not be coloured as the rest of the cloth. The edging afterwards can easily be unsewed. The machine makes 200 stitches every minute. The fur sewing machine does saddler's work and sews hairy skins together; it therefore has a very ingenious additional attachment to stroke away the hairs. The glove sewing machine has a circular needle and rotary hook, working from the right to the left and from the left to the right. A machine which makes the same stitch as if it were done by hand, is the hat leather sewing machine. It finishes seven gross per day with any material, be it thread, silk, wool, &c. and makes stitches very small. The sewing machine for knitted goods is for sewing together gaiters, mittens, gloves, shawls, stockings, petticoats, &c. As an example of the way the machine will work I would mention that 500 gaiters were finished in a single day. You can sew with every kind of wool of which the different objects are knitted. The elasticity of the stitch is extraordinary and the stitch is equal to that done by hand, but more regular than the latter. According to the statement of the manufacturer, which afterwards was also confirmed by a purchaser, the bag sewing machine on stand finishes 550 bags a day and this number could become still larger. Of course much depends upon the zeal and ability of the workman. From several other purchasers I learnt that a zealous sempstress made one bag every minute, which would total up the astonishing cipher of 600 bags a day when working ten hours. Not less astonishing is the seam produced by this machine, it is overstitching with a lock-stitch, so that you need not fold the edge of the bag, as this seam closes it entirely. Moreover, this seam possesses the peculiarity of closing narrower the more the bag is filled, contrary to the seam made by hand. The sowing material and the wages for every bag don't amount to more than half a penny and the machine runs as rapidly as any other notwithstanding it weighs two cwt.
and a half. A large number of these machines have already been exported to England, France, Germany, Spain, Holland and the Indies.
The Sewing Machine Gazette August 1, 1882