The collection of the Kasimov Museum-Reserve contains a sewing machine ‘Gosshveimashina’. It was made in the 1920s at a factory in Podolsk — before the October revolution the factory belonged to the American company ‘Singer’.
‘Singer’ was founded by an American inventor and industrialist Isaac Singer. He was born in 1811 in the city of Pittstown, New York, in a family of immigrants from Germany. Young Singer had many occupations: he was a civil engineer and a theater actor where he participated in plays based on the works of William Shakespeare.
However, that did not bring him much money, so he got a job at a sewing machine repair shop. Such popular devices were constantly breaking down. As the legend says, Singer got tired of repairing low-quality machines and promised the owner to come up with a more convenient model. He borrowed $40 from a friend and it took him 11 days to assemble a new sewing machine. In August 1851, his invention was patented.
As the time went on, sewing machines ‘Singer’ appeared in the Russian Empire. The company opened several shops in different parts of the country, where they sold around 600 thousand items per year, and the total number of employees was 20 thousand people. The cost was quite high, since at first the machines were supplied from abroad. So, only wealthy people could afford it.
In 1856, ‘Singer’ decided to sell their sewing machines by installment: one could pay for it in parts. From that time, the machines were in high demand. Later, the company decided to open a factory in Russia — in Podolsk, next to Moscow. The factory was opened in 1902.
However, ‘Singer’ didn’t work long in Podolsk: in 1918 it was nationalized and until 1923, the workshops were closed. In 1924, the production departments were reopened, but the products began to be sold under the brand name “Gosshveimashina”. In the 1930s, state factories for the sewing machines production were opened in other parts of the country — but those under the brand “Singer” were no longer produced.
‘Singer’ was founded by an American inventor and industrialist Isaac Singer. He was born in 1811 in the city of Pittstown, New York, in a family of immigrants from Germany. Young Singer had many occupations: he was a civil engineer and a theater actor where he participated in plays based on the works of William Shakespeare.
However, that did not bring him much money, so he got a job at a sewing machine repair shop. Such popular devices were constantly breaking down. As the legend says, Singer got tired of repairing low-quality machines and promised the owner to come up with a more convenient model. He borrowed $40 from a friend and it took him 11 days to assemble a new sewing machine. In August 1851, his invention was patented.
As the time went on, sewing machines ‘Singer’ appeared in the Russian Empire. The company opened several shops in different parts of the country, where they sold around 600 thousand items per year, and the total number of employees was 20 thousand people. The cost was quite high, since at first the machines were supplied from abroad. So, only wealthy people could afford it.
In 1856, ‘Singer’ decided to sell their sewing machines by installment: one could pay for it in parts. From that time, the machines were in high demand. Later, the company decided to open a factory in Russia — in Podolsk, next to Moscow. The factory was opened in 1902.
However, ‘Singer’ didn’t work long in Podolsk: in 1918 it was nationalized and until 1923, the workshops were closed. In 1924, the production departments were reopened, but the products began to be sold under the brand name “Gosshveimashina”. In the 1930s, state factories for the sewing machines production were opened in other parts of the country — but those under the brand “Singer” were no longer produced.
