‘Name’
‘Instructor’s name’
The Scientific American printed in its edition published on September 22, 1860, that sewing machine is the third most important invention of mankind next only to the plough and spinning Jenny. (Perkin, 2002).Though there is no proper data as to who exactly invented the first sewing machine, Thomas Saint of Britain who filed a patent in the year 1790, is generally considered to be the first to discover a working model. But mass marketing of these sewing machines were first done by Isaac Merritt Singer, who made it a household product across the globe. (Forsdyke, 2013)
Economic impact
Though initially people lamented that the invention of this machine would kill handicraft, sewing machines provided a lot of women economic freedom. Before the invention of this machine, women were solely responsible for creating the family garments. Mending a torn garment or stitching new clothing, took most of the time of a women’s daily routine. After the advent of sewing machines, not only does this time drastically reduce, but women were also able to earn huge income for their family by working as a seamstress.(Abbot, 1981) Clothing industry, benefited as a whole, as these sewing machines enabled production of clothes with better quality and at a large scale. On the negative side, it put many tailors out of work, as mending a cloth or designing a garment was easily done mechanically with these machines.
The following table gives the mean wages, and the number of persons employed in jobs using sewing machines as on May 2012, in the US.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.
Impact on Relationships
Prior to this invention, making a dress material took a long time and the job mostly rested with the lady of the house. It is said that the average time required to make an ordinary men shirt by hand is 10 hours and to make men dress shirt is 14 hours. (Holmes, 2010) Sewing machine made this job easier and gave the women the time to concentrate on their family and it hugely improved the family relationships.
Impact on education
In the early twentieth century many women earned lucrative income through sewing profession than women working in sweatshops, and this income helped them support their family and in educating their children. But on the negative side, many young children were made to work on sewing machines by factories, and this affected their chance of getting a normal education. I quote
" Not just women but men and thousands of children toiled over sewing machines. In 1907, 60,000 children were shut up in sweatshops or sent out as messengers on the lower East Side of Manhattan.." (Abbot, 1981)
Impact on Environment
Sewing machine is not only a means to earn a living, but it also enables us to do our bit for saving this planet. Yes, it is easier to go to a cloth store and purchase a variety of new clothes when your old cloth is torn or need to be mended. But you will be doing Mother Earth a favor if you would use your sewing machine to patch up that cuffs on your old shirt or mend your torn jacket. On the other hand, the noise made by some of the older models was a source of noise pollution. The sewing machine also, like any other industrial products, makes use of lubricating oil to function smoothly. But one cannot use any oil as it could damage the machine by gumming up. So only industrially processed petrochemical oil are used, which is a strain on the already depleting fossil fuel resources, given the fact that there are millions of sewing machines used on a daily basis worldwide. Also sewing machine workers have a danger of contacting diseases like ganglion cysts, carpal tunnel syndrome and shoulder and neck disorders, because the nature of their work involves repetitive wrist movements executed with, non-neutral postures of hand, neck and shoulder. (Herbert and Plattus, ND)
Moral Impact
Mahatma Gandhi described a sewing machine as “one of the few useful things ever invented” and said a needle is a primary need of a man. (Time magazine, 1986) When asked if he is against machinery, Gandhi replied that he was just against indiscriminate multiplication, and said that he is favor of machine such as sewing machines which reduces labor and minimizes the burdens of lots of cottage industries. He added that these machines are invented on humanitarian considerations to improve the working conditions of millions of workers and not motivated by greed. (Tinytechindia, 17-6-1926). On the negative side it did destroy the childhood of thousands of child workers who were employed in the sweatshops, and also people were made to work in very unfriendly conditions and for very long hours in factories since the advent of sewing machine.
Thus, the sewing machine liberated millions of women from the strenuous job of stitching by hand and gave them economic freedom. Today a lot of things other than clothes are being sewn and many new improvements are done to the sewing machine and the contributions of the sewing machine to the economic and social development of the twentieth century is enormous.
Reference pages
- Barbara Rudolph. (March 3, 1986). Time Magazine. Dropped stitch. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960805,00.html
- Chuck Holmes. (April 22, 2010). Bone sewing needle. Retrieved from http://www.moah.org/exhibits/virtual/sewing.html
- Graham Forsdyke. (June 17, 2013) ISMACS. A Brief History of the Sewing Machine. Retrieved from http://www.ismacs.net/sewing_machine_history.html
- Joan Perkin. (December 2012). History Today. Sewing Machines: Liberation or Drudgery for Women. Retrieved from www.historytoday.com/joan-perkin/sewing-machines-liberation-or-drudgery-women
- Robin Herbert, Rebecca Plattus. (ND) Health Effects and Environmental Issues. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/safework_bookshelf/english?content&nd=857171041
- Tinytechindia. Mahatma Gandhi's Views. Retrieved from http://www.tinytechindia.com/gandhi.htm
- Shirley Abbott, The National Museum of American History, (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, 1981) 213-223. Retrieved from historywired.si.edu/detail.cfm?ID=502
