uish it from the earlier variety made
up of six single yarns in a simple twist. Another new side industry of
the sewing machine was successfully established.

MANUFACTURE AND EXPORT, TO 1900

Sewing machines were a commodity in themselves, both at home and abroad.
In 1850, there were no establishments exclusively devoted to the
manufacture of sewing machines, the few constructed were made in small
machine shops. The industry, however, experienced a very rapid growth
during the next ten years. By 1860 there were 74 factories in 12
States,[89] mainly in the East and Midwest,[90] producing over 111,000
sewing machines a year. In addition, there were 14 factories that
produced sewing-machine cases and attachments. The yearly value of these
products was approximately four and a half million dollars, of which the
amount exported in 1861 was $61,000. Although the number of
sewing-machine factories dropped from 74 in 1860 to 69 by 1870, the
value of the machines produced increased to almost sixteen million
dollars.

The number of sewing-machine companies fluctuated greatly from year to
year as many attempted to enter this new field of manufacture. Some were
not able to make a commercial success of their products. The Civil War
did not seem to be an important factor in the number of companies in
business in the North. Although one manufacturer ceased operations in
Richmond, Virginia, and a Vermont firm converted to arms manufacture,
several companies began operations during the war years. Of the 69 firms
in business in 1870, only part had been in business since 1860 or
before; some were quite new as a result of the expiration of the Howe
patent renewal in 1867.

Probably due to the termination of many of the major patents, there were
124 factories in 1880, but the yearly product value remained at sixteen
million dollars. The 1890 census reports only 66 factories with a yearly
production of a little less than the earlier decade. But by 1900, the
yearly production of a like number of factories had reached a value of
over twenty-one million, of which four and a half million dollars worth
were exported annually. The total value of American sewing machines
exported from 1860 to 1900 was approximately ninety million dollars. The
manufacture of sewing machines made a significant contribution to the
economic development of 19th-century America.

FOOTNOTES:

[73] _Eighth Census, 1860, Manufactures, Clothing_ (United States Censu