As a lad I can remember my mum working away at her Singer sewing
machine, making frocks, repairing rips, lengthening curtains,
“taking stuff in.” In those days you saved money by making and mending. I can
remember running my finger across the protruding “S I N G E R” letters. That god of the sewing machine was Isaac
Singer and when I was in Torquay for a long weekend I took a half-hour walk
from the marina up to the main cemetery to look for him.
Though you can’t
get much more English than Torquay Isaac was an American. He didn’t just invent
things but was an actor too. Through his twenties he’d acted and this was his
main love. Aged 24 he obtained his first patent for a machine to drill rock. He
sold it for $2,000 (or £35,000 in today's money) to a company that built
canals. The money allowed him to return to his acting career. He went on tour,
forming a troupe known as the "Merritt Players" for about five years.
By 38 he was married
and had eight children to support so he continued to invent. He invented a
wood-block cutting machine and had an advance to build a working prototype.
Sadly the steam boiler in the factory where it was blew up and all was lost.
The wood-cutting machine was re-made but orders were poor. Luckily Lerow & Blodgett Sewing machines were being constructed
in the shop where Isaac worked and the boss asked him to see if he could make
improvements. He concluded they would be reliable if the shuttle moved in a
straight line rather than a circle and a curved needle would be better
On 12th
August 1851 he obtained US Patent number 8294 for his improvements and this
would lead to many mountains of cash for the rest of his life. It could sew 900
stitches per minute where as its equivalents could only do 40. The Singer
Sewing Machine Company was created to mass-produce his improved machine and
millions of homeowners could buy it with weekly instalments. Up until this time
sewing machines were rather industrial and used by tailors for garments, shoes
and bridles. Few people had them at home.
In 1856 Singer
manufactured 2,564 machines. Within four years this was up to 13,000. Big
factories were built in New York and New Jersey to cater for worldwide demand.
In shop windows price tags on sewing machines plummeted from $300 $10. Sales
rocketed. To conquer Europe the company bought a factory in Clydebank, near
Glasgow.
Isaac was riding
the highest whitest wave but this rich Romeo had a wandering willy
- over the years he fathered at least 24 children (at least!) with various
wives.
So why does this
New Yorker lie in an impressive tomb on the Devonshire coast? His productive
python meant he was looked down upon by New York society which he wanted to
enter into. In disgust he moved the family to Paris and never returned to America
again. They didn’t stay long as the Franco-Prussian War forced them to flee to
London. From here they moved down to Paignton on the Devon coast.
Aged 60 Isaac
purchased a Oldway Mansion, vast
estate to use as his private residence but he didn’t enjoy it for long as he
died here aged 64.
The machines that made the millions…
It was so hot I had a coffee to cool
down and saw the grave…
Impressive house, dude…
He did well…