Singer Corporation is a manufacturer of sewing machines, first established as
I.M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by
Isaac Merrit Singer with New York lawyer
Edward Clark. Best known for its
sewing machines, it was renamed
Singer Manufacturing Company in 1865, then
The Singer Company in 1963. It is currently based in
La Vergne, Tennessee near
Nashville. Its first large factory for mass production was built in
Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1863.
Presidents
Tom Singer Burough (1851-1863)
Inslee Hopper (1863-1875)
Edward S. Clark (1875-1882)
George Ross McKenzie (1882-1889)
Frederick Gilbert Bourne (1889-1905)
Sir Douglas Alexander (1905-1949)
Milton C. Lightner (1949-1958)
Donald P. Kircher (1958-1975)
Joseph Bernard Flavin (1975-1987)
Paul Bilzerian (1987-1989)
James H. Ting (1989-1997)
Steve Goodman (1998-2004)
History
In 1885 Singer produced its first "
vibrating shuttle" sewing machine, an improvement over contemporary oscillating shuttle designs.
The 11,000 workers at the largest factory of Singer, in Clydebank, went on strike in March-April 1911, ceasing to work in solidarity of 12 female colleagues protesting against work process reorganization. Following the end of the strike, Singer fired 400 workers, including all strike leaders and purported members of the IWGB, among whom was Arthur McManus, who later went on to become the first chairman of the Communist Party of Great Britain between 1920 and 1922.
Early Singer Company Sales Figures
| 1853 |
1859 |
1867 |
1871 |
1873 |
1876 |
| 810 |
10,953 |
43,053 |
181,260 |
232,444 |
262,316 |
World War II
During
World War II, the company suspended sewing machine production to take on government contracts for weapons manufacturing. Factories in the US supplied Americans with
Norden bomb sights,
M1 Garand rifle receivers while factories in Germany provided their armed forces with weapons.
In 1939, the company was given a production study by the government to draw plans and develop standard raw material sizes for building M1911A1 pistols. The next year, April 17th, 1940, Singer was given an educational order of 500 units with serial numbers No. S800001 - S800500. The educational order was a program set up by the US Ordnance Board to learn how easily a company with no gun-making experience could tool up from scratch and build weapons for the government. After the 500 units were delivered to the government; the management decided their expertise would be better used in producing artillery and bomb sights. The pistol tooling and manufacturing machines were transferred to Remington Rand and some went to the Ithaca Gun Company. Original and correct Singer pistols are highly desired by collectors. In excellent condition, Singer pistols sell anywhere from $25,000 to $60,000. Current collector value is as high as $80,000 at auction.
Diversification
In the 1960s the company diversified, acquiring the
Friden calculator company in 1965,
Packard Bell Electronics in 1966 and
General Precision Equipment Corporation in 1968. GPE included
Librascope and
The Kearfott Company, Inc. In 1987 Kearfott was split, the
Kearfott Guidance & Navigation Corporation was sold to the
Astronautics Corporation of America in 1988. The Electronic Systems Division was purchased by
GEC-Marconi in 1990, renamed GEC-
Marconi Electronic Systems (and later incorporated into
BAE Systems) while the Sewing Machine Division was sold in 1989 to
Semi-Tech Microelectronics, a publicly traded Toronto-based company. For several years in the 1970's, Singer set up a national sales force for phototypesetting machines made by another Massachusetts company, Graphic Systems Inc.
Present situation
Today, the Singer Corporation produces a range of consumer products, including
electronic sewing machines. It is now part of
SVP Worldwide, which also owns the
Pfaff and
Husqvarna Viking brands, which is in turn owned by
Kohlberg & Company, which bought Singer in 2004. Its main competitors are
Brother Industries and
Aisin Seiki - a
Toyota Group company that manufactures Toyota, Necchi and E&R; Classic Sewing Machines.
Singer Buildings
Singer was heavily involved in Manhattan real estate in the 1800s through
Edward Clark, a founder of the company. Clark had built
The Dakota apartments and other Manhattan buildings in the 1880s. In 1900, the Singer company retained
Ernest Flagg to build a 12-story loft building at Broadway and Prince Street in Lower Manhattan. The building is now considered architecturally notable, and has been restored.
The 47-story Singer Building, completed in 1908, was also designed by Flagg, who designed two landmark residences for Bourne. Constructed during Bourne's tenure, the Singer Building (demolished in 1968) was then the tallest building in the world. In addition to works in North America, the Singer Corporation also had the honour of creating the largest clock face in the world, the Singer's clock at its Clydebank, Scotland factory which opened in 1885 and closed in 1980. Singer railway station, built to serve the factory, is still in existence to this day.
Another famous Singer Building, designed by architect Pavel Suzor, was built in 1902-1904 at Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg for headquarters of the Russian branch of the company. This modern style building (situated just opposite to the Kazan Cathedral) is officially recognized as an object of Russian historical-cultural heritage.
with electric retrofit]]
See also
History of the sewing machine
Toyota Sewing Machines
Aisin Seiki
Singer railway station
References
External links
Singer Corporation
Singer Corporation Worldwide Official website
Singer Memories: company story
Singer Direct Singer history timeline
Singer in WWII Singer's contribution to the war effort
Singer sewing machine serial numbers and dates
Singer sewing machine blog: pictures and stories
Toyota Sewing Machines Japan Official website
Toyota Sewing Machines Europe Official website
Opelika Sewing Featured Singer E-Retailer
Sewing Machines, Historical Trade Literature Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Singer Sewing company South Africa Singer Sewing Company South Africa
Category:Companies established in 1851
Category:Companies based in Nashville, Tennessee
Category:Manufacturing companies based in Tennessee
Category:Sewing machine brands
Category:Clark family
