Since Alice Morgan Powell's letter of 1888 discussed her new sewing machine, it occurred to me that this was probably too early for electricity in rural Texas, so she must have been talking about a mechanical sewing machine.
I found a picture in Wikipedia of a treadle model, which apparently meant that a foot pedal was used to move the parts. That's interesting when you think about it, because the foot pedal was retained on 20th century electric models --- adapted as a way to engage the power.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singer_Corporation#Singer_Buildings
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You may be surprised, but treadle machines were in commercial use until relatively recently. I remember seeing sailmakers working with them in the 1960s and have always hoped to find one of those machines which were immensely powerful and would make light work of turning up one's Levis!
ReplyDeleteDidn't those older domestic machines have lovely artwork?
Oh really? Yes, I am surprised; that makes one wonder about the necessity of applying electricity to the machines, if the earlier invention worked just as well!
ReplyDeleteBy artwork, I guess you mean the decorative painting on the old machines. I've hardly ever seen one, so I don't recall.