flet
Weed sewing machine |1873 |Illustrated, advertising leaflet
Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine |ca. 1869 |Illustrated, instruction booklet
Wheeler and Wilson sewing machine |ca. 1870-1875 |Illustrated, advertising leaflet
Wheeler and Wilson no. 8 machine |ca. 1878 |Illustrated, instruction booklet
Wilson sewing machine |1872 |Illustrated, advertising leaflet

V. A Brief History of Cotton Thread

Although Samuel Slater's wife is credited with making the first cotton
sewing thread from yarns spun at the Pawtucket, Rhode Island, mill in
about 1794, cotton thread did not become a manufactured item at that
time. Slater turned all his interests to producing cotton-twist yarns
needed for the warps of cotton fabrics. By 1809, however, the agents of
Almy and Brown, partners and distributors for Slater, were advertising
cotton thread as follows:

Factory Cotton and Thread Store, No. 26 Court Street opposite
Concert Hall. George Connell, Agent for Almy and Brown of
Providence and Pawtucket Manufactories, has now for sale from eight
to ten thousand weight of yarn, for weaving ... five hundred pounds
cotton thread, in hanks, from No. 12 to 60 of a superior quality
and very white.[91]

Although it was a short hop from the spinning of cotton warps to the
twisting of these cotton yarns to form a sewing thread, the general
manufacture of cotton thread as an industry did not originate in the
United States but rather in Scotland in the early 19th century.
Napoleon's blockade, which curtailed Great Britain's importation of
silk--needed not only for fabrics but also for making heddle strings for
the looms--stimulated the production of cotton thread there. James and
Patrick Clark, in desperation, attempted to substitute cotton for silk
in their manufacture of these heddle strings. When they were successful,
they considered that if cotton could be used successfully for this
purpose it could also be made suitable for sewing thread. In 1812 they
built a factory in Paisley, Scotland, which had long been noted for its
textile industries. The thread was sold in hanks. About 1820 James'
sons, James and John, who were now running J. & J. Clark & Co., began to
wind the thread on spools. For this service they charged an extra
halfpenny, which was refunded when the empty spool was returned. The
thread was usually a three-ply or s