On this segment of The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation, Mo Rocca meets with Curator of Domestic Life Jeanie Miller to learn about how the sewing machine changed the clothing industry and daily life.
Way back when, making clothing was a household enterprise. Many families raised the raw materials and did much of the labor-intensive spinning, weaving and hand-sewing to produce the clothing they needed. Textiles were precious, and most people had only a few garments. Before the sewing machine, making clothing was a time-consuming task. By hand, sewing a shirt took about 14 hours; with a machine, a little over an hour.
Innovator Elias Howe created the first sewing machine that was a prototype for many sewing machines that came after it, but Isaac Singer developed the first practical sewing machine for home use in the 1850s.
The Singer company's marketing strategies proved to be innovative as well. It was one of the first companies to introduce an installment plan, making it more accessible for consumers. Other innovative marketing strategies used by Singer included advertising aimed at women and foreign sales.
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Explore sewing-related artifacts in The Henry Ford's Digital Collections: bit.ly/2ORJLp3
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