1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: Hello, Hello. This is our next installment in our weekend offerings, 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,039 Speaker 1: which are classic episodes that we're sharing again so that 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: some of our newer listeners can enjoy some of our 4 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: past topics. And today we're going to go back to 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the invention of the sewing machines. Episode originally came out 6 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: in March. It is a topic near and dear to 7 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: both of our hearts, but it's also loaded with a 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: lot of drama in addition to covering the technical developments 9 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: that got us all to the point of being able 10 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: to sew with a machine. Yeah, there's even some violence. 11 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: It's very uh, it's high drama. So enjoy and hopefully 12 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: have a more peaceful day than they had. Welcome to 13 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: stuff you missed in history class from how Stop works 14 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 15 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: Fry and I am Tracy V. Wilson, and I'm excited 16 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: because we're talking about one of my favorite things today. 17 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:05,880 Speaker 1: It's an invention that I love and owe a great 18 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: deal of um gratitude to all of the people involved, 19 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: as do I not maybe to quite the extent that 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: you do, but I also am quite fond of what 21 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: we're talking about today, which is the sewing machine. Yes, 22 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: you so extensively every day, and I do not so extensively, 23 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: but I do know how to sew, and I have wonderful, 24 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,160 Speaker 1: fond memories of my mother. Mostly they're fond. Sometimes they're frustrated, 25 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: but mostly they're fond of my mother teaching me how 26 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: to sew when I was a child. Oh yeah, my 27 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: mom didn't teach me. She sewed like a fiend. Just 28 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:38,200 Speaker 1: about everybody in my family does. But I was one 29 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: of those people that did not want someone over my 30 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,679 Speaker 1: shoulder telling me what to do. So she gave me 31 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: tools and I learned a lot by making a lot 32 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: of mistakes. But I still love it, and I literally 33 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: do so just about every single day. That's awesome. It's 34 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: a part of my you know, my life stability thing 35 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: to get at least a few scenes in each day. 36 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: And the invention of the sewing machine is actually a 37 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: pretty interesting story. It involves a lot more fighting and 38 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: anger than you might suspect, since we think about sewing 39 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: is kind of a nice, quiet activity, but it's uh 40 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: the invention of the machines that allow us to do 41 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: it not so quiet or delightful or peaceful. Not really. 42 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: If you watch Schoolhouse Rock growing up, you probably know 43 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: about a lie as how in a very you know, 44 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:27,640 Speaker 1: punctuated short version of story. And if that's in the 45 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: Mother Necessity song, I love are wondering, I love it. 46 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: But there are actually a lot of different people in 47 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 1: the mix when it comes to who actually invented the 48 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,919 Speaker 1: sewing machine, even though how does generally get most of 49 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: the credit in history, and there are reasons for that, 50 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: which we'll talk about. But the patent battle that went 51 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: on in the US about who got the rights to 52 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:52,919 Speaker 1: it is like tabloid fodder, and it kind of did 53 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 1: play out in some ways in the papers and magazines 54 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: of the day, almost in the way that tabloids show 55 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: of celebrity arguments. Now. It's pretty fascinating. So prior to 56 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: sewing machines, of course, the very earliest way people were 57 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: sewing was to use a sharpened bone or stick and 58 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: punch holes in whatever their fabric was, normally leather, to 59 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: pass a lacing through right, so the stick or the 60 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: bone would go through it all away, and then you 61 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: would lace well, or you could just punch it, or 62 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: you could punch it. But it wasn't an all type situation, right, 63 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: But it wasn't like what happened later when needles got 64 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: eyes in them that you could actually put your lacing 65 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: through and draw the lacing through along with the needle. Yeah, 66 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: which was you know, a huge step forward in in 67 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: making sewing more easy and quicker. And then as needles 68 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: got refined and could be made smaller and smaller out 69 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: of metal, a whole you know, new form of art 70 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: was born in the form of embroidery. But getting to 71 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: the sewing machine is kind of an interesting trail because 72 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: it was right in step with the Industrial Revolution for 73 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: good reason. As textile manufacturer became more streamlined, less expensive, 74 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: people had access to more cloth, so they wanted to 75 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: make more things, but they needed to be able to 76 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: do so more quickly as well. So in seventeen fifty five, 77 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: Charles Wisenthal patented a needle for a sewing machine. The 78 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,279 Speaker 1: machine never came to fruition, but the needle was interesting 79 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:28,280 Speaker 1: because it had points on each end and an eye 80 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: in the middle, and it kind of passed back and 81 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: forth through the fabric and carried that the thread with 82 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 1: it to make sort of a um a stitch that 83 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: kind of replicated what human hands could do, right, and 84 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: a lot of the very first attempts to mechanize selling. 85 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: We're all about replicating what people do with their hands 86 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: when they saw yes. And then in sevent ninety was 87 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: the next significant patent. There are many many patents along 88 00:04:58,000 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: the way that we're not going to mention because they're 89 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: just really too numerous, right, it would become sort of 90 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,760 Speaker 1: it would be a list. And then in se uh 91 00:05:06,800 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: but so then Thomas Saint, who was an English cabinet maker, 92 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: patented a machine and I know you love the title 93 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: of I'm gonna let you read it an entire new 94 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: method of making in completing shoes, boots, splatter dashes, clogs, 95 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: and other articles by means of tools and machines also 96 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:28,560 Speaker 1: invented by me for that purpose, and of certain compositions 97 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,320 Speaker 1: of the nature of japan or varnish, which will be 98 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:36,599 Speaker 1: very advantageous and many useful applications. That is a really 99 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,640 Speaker 1: good blanket coverall title for something that you're going to invent. Well, 100 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: and you still see patent titles that are like that 101 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:44,119 Speaker 1: today that are the title is just so exceptionally broad. 102 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: If you're if you're looking for patents for specific things 103 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: you have to develop some patent searching mojo, and that 104 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: is very much like that, except that this one is 105 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,279 Speaker 1: particularly long and delightful. Well, and part of the reason 106 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,520 Speaker 1: is that st actually was describing three different machines and 107 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: that pat he really wasn't doing like a narrow pattern. 108 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: It was kind of like, I have all these good 109 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: ideas a patent all at once, and so that's why 110 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: they fall under one title. The second of those machines 111 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: is actually for stitching, and it wasn't really particularly practical, 112 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: but it had several components that we would associate with 113 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,679 Speaker 1: modern sewing machines. It had a table where the cloth 114 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: could feed through, It had an arm with a needle, 115 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: and it had continuous thread feed from a spool. Now, 116 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: no actual examples of Saints machine have ever been found, 117 00:06:31,080 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: but there was an Englishman in eighteen seventy three that 118 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: found the plans for it and actually tried to build 119 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: the machine. It wouldn't work quite right, um, but he 120 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: eventually did some tweaking and and made one that more 121 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: or less worked. But that was another kind of big 122 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 1: advancement in terms of adding in things that got retained 123 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:52,920 Speaker 1: in many for future models. Right, some people have theorized 124 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: that the st patent is on purpose a little bit 125 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: wrong so that no one could steal his ideas, which 126 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: is kind of that's a common patent trickery. Yes, So 127 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: that would explain why Newton Wilson, when he tried to 128 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: rebuild his just couldn't quite get it right without making 129 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: his own tweaks. In eighteen o four, Thomas Stone and 130 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: James Henderson got a patent in France. Their machine made 131 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: an overcast stitch that's a lot like a hand stitch, 132 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: like a whip stitch. So I was going to try 133 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: to describe what that looks like, and and I was, 134 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: it's going to be more confusing than if I just 135 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: skipped that it is. It's basically if you're stitching and 136 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: your thread comes, for example, up through the cloth and 137 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: then around the raw edge of the cloth and then 138 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 1: back in underneath, so that it makes kind of a spiral. 139 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: Right that The example that I am immediately seeing in 140 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: my mind is the way that Aragorn's sleeves are connected 141 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: to his vest in his Lord of the Rings costume, 142 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 1: like the primary one that he wears all through Fellowship 143 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: of the Ring, which is actually something that the costume 144 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: designers pointed out that he could just whip his sleeves 145 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: back on and then off got hot. So Thomas Stone 146 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: and James Henderson made a machine that would do that essentially, 147 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,239 Speaker 1: but there since there wasn't a continuous speed on the thread, 148 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: it was a stop and goat process. Yes, so not 149 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: quite ideal, but we're getting closer. Uh. And also in 150 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: eight No. Four, John Duncan of Glasgow patented an embroidery 151 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: machine and it didn't really function in the same way 152 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: as a sewing machine for joining fabric, but it did 153 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: introduce an I pointed needle, which becomes really vital in 154 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: successful sewing machines in the future. So for a visual 155 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: and I pointed needle is one where the whole for 156 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:35,439 Speaker 1: the thread is in the same end as the point, 157 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: the sharp point of it, which is the opposite of 158 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: how most hand selling needles mark. And that I point 159 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: a needle comes up in a I don't want to 160 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: characterize it as false, but there is an account that 161 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:52,199 Speaker 1: comes up later in the as things really get heated up, 162 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:56,120 Speaker 1: where one inventor claims that he had a vision for this, 163 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: and it's it's not always it's not substantiated. In any way, 164 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,560 Speaker 1: and it's kind of bizarre. Will give a brief mention 165 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: of it, but this is important again. John Duncan in 166 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: eighteen o four with the eye point a needle. Yes. 167 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: So then in eighteen o seven Edward Walter Chapman and 168 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,440 Speaker 1: Walter Chapman received a British patent for a machine that 169 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: was the first that did not require the needle to 170 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: pass all the way through the fabric. And this is 171 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: a significant development because again that's something that still holds 172 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: true in sewing machines today, but at the time there's 173 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: was the first that didn't kind of mimic hand stitching 174 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: and that the needle went all the way through one 175 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: side and out the other. Yes, Instead, it sort of 176 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: poked down and then it did not pass all the 177 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: way through and come out the other side like that. 178 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:44,320 Speaker 1: The point of it goes all the way down, but 179 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:46,800 Speaker 1: the whole needle doesn't pass all the way through. If 180 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: you haven't really watched the sewing machine work, uh, that 181 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:53,360 Speaker 1: might not be the thing that you would visualize immediately, 182 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 1: but in a in a sewing machine today, the needle 183 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: kind of dips down and then out instead of going 184 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: all the way through and coming completely out the other. Yeah, 185 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: and it had two needles in the thread actually got 186 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 1: passed between them in a really sort of arduous rethreading technique. 187 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 1: And it was only intended to sew things like belting 188 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: and ropes together. It wasn't good for joining two fabrics 189 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 1: together for garments because it really did take quite a 190 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 1: long time. It would take you almost as long as 191 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 1: just hand stitching it. But the idea of the needle 192 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: not passing all the way through is important. In eighteen thirty, 193 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:28,679 Speaker 1: Bartelomy Tomantier. It was a French tailor and his machine 194 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 1: created a chain stitch. It was the first machine to 195 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: be produced in a quantity, and he had eighty machines 196 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,280 Speaker 1: that worked in a shop in Paris within ten years. 197 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,679 Speaker 1: People were not super happy, especially tailor's taylor who had 198 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: been making their living by sewing things by hand, were 199 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: afraid that this machine was going to take away their livelihood, 200 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: and so a mob of angry tailor's broke into the 201 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:55,640 Speaker 1: shop and destroyed all of the machines and Timonia was 202 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:59,439 Speaker 1: forced to flee, but he did eventually obtain financial backing 203 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:02,680 Speaker 1: to contin knew the development of his work um and 204 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:06,920 Speaker 1: despite great advancements in speed, and the acquisition of three 205 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,480 Speaker 1: new patents. He ended up holding two patents in France 206 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 1: and one in Britain. The French Revolution kind of stalled 207 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: his efforts and really robbed him of what could have 208 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,560 Speaker 1: been a legacy in the sewing machine trade. Uh. But 209 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:23,680 Speaker 1: then in eighteen thirty two to eighteen thirty four, Uh, 210 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 1: there's a really important development in America, which is that 211 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: Walter Hunt created a machine that made a lock stitch 212 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,959 Speaker 1: and used to thread sources similar to like a spool 213 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,360 Speaker 1: and bobbin that we use today rather than the single 214 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:39,280 Speaker 1: thread chain stitch. And Hunt worked on a lot of 215 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:42,280 Speaker 1: inventions and he didn't really see the sewing machine as 216 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,080 Speaker 1: going anywhere for him. He didn't think it was particularly important, 217 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: so he sold it off without patenting it to a 218 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:52,559 Speaker 1: George A. Aerosmith. Historians mark this design as the first 219 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,560 Speaker 1: time that machine development stopped being about replicating human hand 220 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: stitching and actually just being its own thing and letting 221 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: the mecca is um kind of defined the design of 222 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:05,080 Speaker 1: how it was going to do the stitching, but it 223 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: could only do straight lines, and it couldn't so for 224 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 1: a long continuous line. But Hunts machine design sat dormant 225 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 1: for a while, but two decades later, Hunt is going 226 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:16,960 Speaker 1: to become a really major player in some of the 227 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: legal battles that were going on. One important thing to 228 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:24,960 Speaker 1: note right about this time is that the American records 229 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: are a little foggy. Uh. The Patent Office had a 230 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,960 Speaker 1: fire in eighteen thirty six that destroyed a lot of records, 231 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: so that was problematic and the legal battles that are 232 00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: to come. Yes, and there's is a brief side note. 233 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: A lot of what was destroyed was the descriptions of items, 234 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: like they still had lists of patents that existed, and 235 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: they actually put a call out to people that held 236 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: patents and said, hey, send us a fresh description. We 237 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 1: lost those records, but not many people answered. So there 238 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:56,360 Speaker 1: are a lot of inventions sitting in the legal record 239 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: there that are it's just the title. We don't know 240 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: what they were doing. Some of them were really simple, 241 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: like specialty alls that were made for certain fabrics. But 242 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: there's a lot of stuff that probably got lost along 243 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:10,839 Speaker 1: the way right well, And there were huge advancements in 244 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: machinery happening right at that time, so it's unfortunate that 245 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: we have so few records of so many of them. 246 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: And then in eighteen forty two, John J. Greenow, who 247 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 1: was an American, also patented a machine that could make 248 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: a running stitch and a backstitch, but no models other 249 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: than the patent version were ever made, and his patent 250 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,560 Speaker 1: remained significant because it's recognized as the first American sewing 251 00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 1: machine patent because remember, Hunt didn't patent his invention, and 252 00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: apparently Aerosmith, who he sold it to, didn't patent it either, 253 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,160 Speaker 1: even though he had the rights at that point. Now, 254 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,560 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty three, Benjamin W. Bean was awarded the 255 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,440 Speaker 1: second US sewing machine patent. His machine was different from 256 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: the others because it fed the fabric through gears on 257 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,960 Speaker 1: the way through the machine. These are precursors to what's 258 00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: known as feed dogs today, which are these sort of 259 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: toothy little thing things that are under the fabric that 260 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: kind of nudged the fabric along under the presser foot, 261 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: which is the thing that holds the fabric down while 262 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: the needle does its work. Um Has also had a 263 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: clamp mechanism so that he could attach the sewing machine 264 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,720 Speaker 1: to a table. And then in later eighteen forty three, 265 00:14:17,720 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: George H. Corliss, who you may recognize the name because 266 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:24,760 Speaker 1: he also invented the corless steam engine, invented a mechanism 267 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: after examining split seams on a pair of boots. His 268 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: machine was given the third sewing machine patent in the US, 269 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 1: and it could perform what's called a saddler stitch to 270 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: join pieces of leather, which is a stitch that still 271 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,680 Speaker 1: used in some machines today. Uh. But in eighteen forty 272 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: four he gave up on the machine because he couldn't 273 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,240 Speaker 1: get financial backing and he was really more interested in 274 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: his steam work at that point. A year later, James 275 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: Rodgers got the fourth US sewing machine patent. He really 276 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: only had one small change to the design that Bean 277 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: had developed earlier. The gears were positioned a little differently 278 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: to a out for a simpler needle shape, and later 279 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: patents of Beans used the same setup. And then we 280 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: get to like the heavy hitter. Yes. Elias how Jr. 281 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 1: Uh And he was born to a farming family in Spencer, 282 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: Massachusetts in eighteen nineteen, and he left home at sixteen 283 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: to make his way training as a machinist, and he 284 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: eventually landed a job in Boston and allegedly he overheard 285 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: a conversation in the instrument shop where he worked between 286 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: two people regarding the need for a mechanized method for sewing, 287 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,520 Speaker 1: and that allegedly sparked him to work on a design 288 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 1: of his own at one point when he was homesick 289 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: from work and his brain was just going a little 290 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: bit crazy being idle. There's also this is where I'll 291 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:48,880 Speaker 1: mentioned that weird sort of rumory legend d part of 292 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: the story, which is that in some instances how claims 293 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: that he had a dream involving like tribal chiefs. It's 294 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: very um interesting. There are actually a lot of online 295 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: places where you can look at dream analysis of this 296 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: dream that led him to the use of the I 297 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 1: pointed needle for the machine, but we know it had 298 00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: already been in use, and in fact, he doesn't mention 299 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: that in the patent or claim in his patent that 300 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,560 Speaker 1: he invented that. So it's kind of an interesting, weird 301 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:23,560 Speaker 1: side story, and it often gets told as, oh, the 302 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 1: idea for the showing machine came to him in a dream, 303 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: but that's really oversimplified, and it's kind of taking the 304 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: actual engineering part of it out of the equation, which 305 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: isn't really smart to do. Right. I I usually take 306 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: the it came to me in a dream inventor story 307 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: with a grain of salt, because while it's completely feasible 308 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,680 Speaker 1: that as you're thinking on something you may have sort 309 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: of an epiphany on it while sleeping, like it's usually 310 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: presented as bolt from the blue, out of nowhere, suddenly 311 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: had this dream, which is not very likely and is 312 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: more often just an attempt to mythologize where the thing 313 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: came from. Actually, and we know, I mean, we've been 314 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,360 Speaker 1: you know, discussing all of these sort of small steps 315 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: forward in sewing machine engineering. That none of this just 316 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: sprouted overnight. It was all, you know, a slow burn 317 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: developmental process. Right. These things built on one another for 318 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:18,120 Speaker 1: a long time. But in September of eighteen forty six, 319 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 1: How was granted the fifth U S. Patent, which was 320 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:24,119 Speaker 1: Patent number fifty for a sewing machine, and it was 321 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: actually his second version of the sewing machine. His first 322 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:30,720 Speaker 1: prototype was working in eighteen forty five and was used 323 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:34,880 Speaker 1: to sew seams on at least two and possibly more 324 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,119 Speaker 1: men's suits that were made of wool and house. Pattent 325 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: includes five very specific claims as to the working to 326 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 1: those to his machine, and those came up later in courts. Again, 327 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: none of them mentioned a dream scenario where he thought 328 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 1: of how to make a needlework. And we're not going 329 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:54,639 Speaker 1: to read all five of them because it is kind 330 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:58,280 Speaker 1: of a lengthy description, but they basically cover the forming 331 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:02,199 Speaker 1: of the seam, the lifting of the thread, holding the 332 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: thread in place by shuttle, the way of arranging and 333 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: combining levers with a sliding box, and holding the cloth 334 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,960 Speaker 1: to be sewed uh into the machine. So this are 335 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: sort of the five steps that his patent covered. And 336 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:20,680 Speaker 1: all of these are kind of interesting because most of 337 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: them involve action created by the combination of other pieces. 338 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: None of these say I invented this piece or that piece. 339 00:18:29,480 --> 00:18:32,360 Speaker 1: It's all pretty much focused on the engineering of how 340 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,200 Speaker 1: pieces came together, right, His patent is very process oriented 341 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:40,800 Speaker 1: rather than which is very important in later legal battles. 342 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:44,640 Speaker 1: But how tried for three years to get manufacturers interested 343 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,200 Speaker 1: in his design and willing to make it, and really struggled, 344 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,159 Speaker 1: and eventually, with the help of his brother who he 345 00:18:51,320 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 1: sent on ahead of him to England, they sold the 346 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:58,679 Speaker 1: British patent rights to William Thomas for two fifty British 347 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,640 Speaker 1: pounds sterling, and How actually went to Britain to work 348 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: with Thomas and adapted the machine to make umbrellas and corsets, 349 00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:09,679 Speaker 1: but that business deal did not prove to be especially profitable. 350 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,120 Speaker 1: Some accounts suggest that the relationship between How and Thomas 351 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: got really, really contentious and argumentative, and that Thomas didn't 352 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: really want to pay How as an employee the salary 353 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: that he had suggested he would pay. Once the changes 354 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:27,400 Speaker 1: to the initial machine had been made. He was kind 355 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: of done with him. So there's a little bit of 356 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:42,439 Speaker 1: drama there now, but How decided to come back. In 357 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 1: the meantime there's another development and eighty eight, John A. 358 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:52,159 Speaker 1: Bradshaw was granted the sixth US Selling machine patent. His 359 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,399 Speaker 1: design was focused on correcting errors and How's designs and 360 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: some of his language here is just a little insulting. 361 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,399 Speaker 1: He's not very nice about it. Um One of the 362 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,359 Speaker 1: things that happens in patent is a thing called the 363 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: prior art, and that sort of a description of all 364 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:10,679 Speaker 1: the stuff that came before what you're patenting, and his 365 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: would include language like this is a very bungling device 366 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,239 Speaker 1: and as a great incumbrance to the action of the 367 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: machine that was his description of How's needle design right. 368 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,920 Speaker 1: So in eighteen forty nine How returned to the US 369 00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: after leaving his British business endeavors and discovered that there 370 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 1: was a lively sewing machine enterprise of foot that in 371 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: the time that he was gone, Suddenly people went, oh, 372 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: sewing machines are a great idea, we should be making 373 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: and selling them. Uh. And there was even a machine 374 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,159 Speaker 1: which was which had the seventh U S Patent based 375 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: on Bradschad Bradshaw's design that was in production and being 376 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 1: offered for sale. The patent went to Charles Morey and 377 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:53,639 Speaker 1: Joseph B. Johnson in eighty nine, but they were actually 378 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:57,160 Speaker 1: selling it even before the patent was granted and finalized, 379 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: and before all of that, they were also featured in 380 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:03,720 Speaker 1: Scientific American, which was featuring a lot of articles about 381 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: various machine developments, and sewing machines come up in it 382 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 1: a lot. Then, in mid eighteen forty nine, Jatha S 383 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: Knit was issued a patent on a slightly modified version 384 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,040 Speaker 1: of the Maury Johnson machine. His change had to do 385 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:21,960 Speaker 1: with the way that the cloth was held. Taught during stitching. 386 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:23,919 Speaker 1: If you don't hold your cloth with the right tension, 387 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,000 Speaker 1: your stitches are going to be all bunched up and yucky. 388 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 1: So that's an important development, but it seems to have 389 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:31,960 Speaker 1: died on the vine. It didn't actually get into production. 390 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: But on the very same day that the knit patent 391 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:38,359 Speaker 1: was issued, John Batchelder was also given a patent for 392 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 1: a model that featured a continuous sewing mechanism and an 393 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: endless belt to feed cloth into the machine, and Bachelder 394 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,160 Speaker 1: sold that patent to I Am Singer, to Isaac Singer. 395 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:51,439 Speaker 1: You'll know that name if you do any sewing in 396 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:53,879 Speaker 1: the mid eighteen fifties, and it actually became one of 397 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: the most important elements of singers designed. I learned to 398 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: sew on a singer. I think most people did of 399 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,119 Speaker 1: our age well. And in addition to having learned to 400 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 1: sew on a singer, I know that both of my 401 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 1: grandmother's had in their their stuff that came with them 402 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 1: when they got married and established a household treadle sewing 403 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: machines that were singer machines. I have a treadle singer 404 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,680 Speaker 1: that is from I think nineteen ten, yes, and it 405 00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:22,600 Speaker 1: was in Brian's family from the day it was sold. 406 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:24,520 Speaker 1: Like they purchased it, and it's been handed down and 407 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,160 Speaker 1: came to me, and I'm very grateful for It needs 408 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,880 Speaker 1: some restoration, which is one of my side projects that 409 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:33,880 Speaker 1: I never get to but I will eventually. So sadly 410 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:35,879 Speaker 1: this thing that has quite fond memories for both of 411 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 1: us is also where suddenly sewing machines become all kinds 412 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:44,919 Speaker 1: of contentious, really really argumentative things going on. So in 413 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,160 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty, Allan B. Wilson was working on a lock 414 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: stitch machine which used a mechanism very very similar to 415 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:55,880 Speaker 1: the modern machine. His mechanism could also stitch forward and backward, 416 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,760 Speaker 1: which was a first uh, and he applied for a 417 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,719 Speaker 1: patent after making a set a prototype model, but he 418 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:03,840 Speaker 1: was contacted by the people who owned the brad Shop 419 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:06,919 Speaker 1: patent from eighty eight with a claim that they owned 420 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,399 Speaker 1: the concept of the double pointed shuttle that made up 421 00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 1: part of his machine, and that claim was completely false, 422 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,800 Speaker 1: but Wilson couldn't afford to fight them, and he gave 423 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:17,680 Speaker 1: up half of his claim to A. Pe Cline and 424 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:21,119 Speaker 1: Edward Lee in November of eighteen fifty, but after just 425 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 1: a few months he sold them the rest of his 426 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:26,680 Speaker 1: interest and retained only limited rights, and he pretty much 427 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: got shafted in the deal. He never made any money 428 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:31,360 Speaker 1: off of it. He didn't even I don't think, get 429 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 1: full payment for all of the rights that he sold them, 430 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:36,960 Speaker 1: and it was it was not true their claim in 431 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,359 Speaker 1: the first place. Yeah, but he just didn't, you know, 432 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:46,359 Speaker 1: he was uh, you know, relatively modest means inventor. He 433 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,880 Speaker 1: didn't he couldn't fight a big business at that point, 434 00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,480 Speaker 1: so he kind of found what seemed like the most 435 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: equitable solution, which is to sell at that point. But 436 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: they went on to pretty decent success with it, and 437 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: they still used his names in the app. They actually 438 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: placed an added Scientific American in eighteen fifty one that 439 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:07,320 Speaker 1: said a by Wilson's sewing machine the best and only 440 00:24:07,359 --> 00:24:10,639 Speaker 1: practical sewing machine, not larger than a ladies work box, 441 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:14,480 Speaker 1: for the trifling sum of thirty five dollars. Just they're 442 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,479 Speaker 1: still making money off of his name, and he's just 443 00:24:17,119 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: he's not involved anymore, completely out of the loop and 444 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:24,119 Speaker 1: kind of mistreated. At that point, Elias Howe decided that 445 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: he needed to protect his rights and royalties from all 446 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:30,920 Speaker 1: of these inventions that were being sold everywhere, and so 447 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,560 Speaker 1: if he could trace his roots back to his design, 448 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:38,400 Speaker 1: he went after them. Before How's work, most machines were 449 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: taking all kinds of different approaches to making stitches, but 450 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: from Bradshaw on most of the stitching processes were improvements 451 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:52,359 Speaker 1: on the design and his patents number fifty or his 452 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,560 Speaker 1: patent number forty seven fifty from eighteen forty six, so 453 00:24:55,600 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 1: if he could trace work back to that, he would 454 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,679 Speaker 1: jump on it. Yes, And in eighteen fifty, after watching 455 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:05,160 Speaker 1: one of Isaac Singer's sons perform a demonstration of their 456 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,320 Speaker 1: machine that they were selling, How contacted Singer about the 457 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:11,560 Speaker 1: infringement on his patent and eventually demanded two thousand dollars 458 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,439 Speaker 1: in royalty payment. And at the time, you know, the 459 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: Singer family was just starting out selling some machines. They 460 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: were like, we don't have that kind of money. Uh. 461 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:21,239 Speaker 1: And he came back later and I was like, well, 462 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:23,960 Speaker 1: you're doing pretty well now and demanded a bigger sum. 463 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:27,000 Speaker 1: And then negotiations did not go well and got really ugly. 464 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 1: In a hurry, Singer physically threatened to lie as How uh. 465 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:32,720 Speaker 1: And Singer was known for having a bit of a 466 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:38,879 Speaker 1: hot temper and doing some kind of unkind dealings. And 467 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: intimidation tactics when it came to his work with business partners. 468 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 1: So between How who felt very wronged at this point, 469 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:50,919 Speaker 1: and Singer, who was pretty aggressive, which paid off for 470 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,000 Speaker 1: him in many ways, it really got ugly in a hurry. 471 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,679 Speaker 1: But in eighteen fifty two How found a way to 472 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: fight them, which is that he sold half of his 473 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,440 Speaker 1: interest in his patent to George Bliss, who manufactured machines 474 00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: that he built his house patent, but they actually had 475 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: changed pretty significantly from how his original design. But even so, 476 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,879 Speaker 1: the money that How made from this partnership funded his 477 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: patent lawsuits, of which there were many, and he really 478 00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,879 Speaker 1: went after Singer with vigor. He did not like him. 479 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 1: He sued other manufacturers, but the suit against Singer was 480 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:26,399 Speaker 1: the most combative, and after a judgment though in house 481 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 1: favor in a suit that he had brought against UM 482 00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,600 Speaker 1: a group called Laro and Blodgett, other firms started to 483 00:26:32,600 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: settle because they kind of saw the turning of the 484 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:37,800 Speaker 1: tide and that probably other judgments were going to fall 485 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:39,679 Speaker 1: in house favor. So a lot of firms were just like, 486 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,120 Speaker 1: how can we work this out out of court? Yeah, Basically, 487 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 1: now that he had the money to do it. He 488 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:48,280 Speaker 1: was winning. Yes. In eighteen fifty three, as suits were 489 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: beginning to be settled, How started selling his royalty licenses. 490 00:26:52,160 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: He sold them to a lot of different groups, Um 491 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:02,480 Speaker 1: along with his brother. Uh. These licenses let manufacturers use 492 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,119 Speaker 1: any part of the How patent in their machines, and 493 00:27:05,160 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 1: some of them were stamped with his name and patent information. Uh. 494 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 1: Some have been incorrectly identified as house machines when they 495 00:27:12,840 --> 00:27:16,920 Speaker 1: really weren't. And his brother, also manufacturing machines at this time, 496 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: was pretty successful at it. So were we really have 497 00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: two big players at this point, How and all the 498 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:26,640 Speaker 1: people he sold his royalty licenses to and singer yes. 499 00:27:27,359 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: And then in on July eighteen fifty three, two advertisements 500 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:35,640 Speaker 1: ram on the same page of the New York Daily Tribune. 501 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: I will read the first one. It says the sewing machine. 502 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 1: It has been recently decided by the United States Court 503 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,680 Speaker 1: that Elias How Jr. Of number three oh five Broadway 504 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,359 Speaker 1: was the originator of the sewing machines now extensively used. 505 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:51,960 Speaker 1: Call it his office, and see forty of them in 506 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 1: constant use upon cloth, leather, et cetera. And judge for 507 00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: yourselves as to their practicality. Also see a certified copy 508 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:01,639 Speaker 1: from the records of the United States Courts of the 509 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:06,040 Speaker 1: injunction against Singers Machine so called, which is conclusive. You 510 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:08,840 Speaker 1: that want sewing machines be cautious how you purchase them 511 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,800 Speaker 1: of others than him or those licensed under him. Else 512 00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: the law will compel you to pay twice over right. 513 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:18,080 Speaker 1: So at that point there was in an injunction against 514 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,639 Speaker 1: singers machine. It was kind of like being put on hold, 515 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: but the suit had not settled yet. And then there 516 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,720 Speaker 1: is the other ad that ran, which is the singer ad. 517 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:33,119 Speaker 1: The singer ad said sewing machines. For the last two years, 518 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: Elias how Junior of Massachusetts has been threatening suits and 519 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,200 Speaker 1: injunctions against all the world who make use or sell 520 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,520 Speaker 1: sewing machines. We have sold many machines, are selling them rapidly, 521 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: and have good right to sell them. The public do 522 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,720 Speaker 1: not acknowledge Mr. House pretensions, and for the best reasons. 523 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: One machines made according to how It's patent are of 524 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 1: no practical use. He tried several years without being to 525 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:02,440 Speaker 1: being able to introduce one too. It is notorious, especially 526 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,280 Speaker 1: in New York, that How was not the original inventor 527 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: of the machine combining the needle and shuttle, and that 528 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: his claim to that is not valid. Finally, we make 529 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 1: and sell the best sewing machines. It all sounds so polite, 530 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:18,600 Speaker 1: but it's so snarky. It's really snarky, and it's so 531 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: different from what we think of and adds today that 532 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 1: it's not at all what you would expect to see 533 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:29,520 Speaker 1: with two companies that are in in competition with one another. Uh, 534 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:33,000 Speaker 1: and How went after Singer for libel because you know, 535 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: Singer at that point was not just saying that they 536 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,520 Speaker 1: were selling machines, but that How was wrong and that 537 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:42,120 Speaker 1: he didn't invent these things. And these were all, you know, 538 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 1: part of a an ongoing legal battle, so they kind 539 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: of were really playing fast and loose with language. You'll 540 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:52,080 Speaker 1: notice the houses very careful to only say things that 541 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,480 Speaker 1: are accurate and true and like come and see the 542 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 1: certificate we have from the government. But not at no 543 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: point does he say, you know, and Singers an idiot, 544 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: or that he he's trying to steal ideas like he 545 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 1: It's very carefully worded, whereas Singers is a little more Singers. 546 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: Singers is like this guy is a liar and he's stupid. Yeah, 547 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,520 Speaker 1: so that's why how I went after Singer for Liabel 548 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:17,840 Speaker 1: and the New York Daily Tribune as well. There is 549 00:30:17,880 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: also a story about Scientific American kind of printing there, like, okay, 550 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:25,520 Speaker 1: the libel thing against the papers a little silly, you guys, 551 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: Like they kind of would post these opinions on the 552 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:32,560 Speaker 1: state of affairs periodically, which is kind of interesting. Singer 553 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: kind of went on a personal crusade to discredit how 554 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:39,040 Speaker 1: his claim to writes on the selling Machine. He would 555 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:42,800 Speaker 1: seek out machines and inventors that predated How his work 556 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,800 Speaker 1: to try to prove that what How did was not original. 557 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:50,400 Speaker 1: He went to Europe and even China. And the problem 558 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 1: was the wording of how It's patent. He had patented 559 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:56,560 Speaker 1: the combination of the shuttle and the I pointed neatle, 560 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:01,200 Speaker 1: not just the invention of a particular element of the machine. 561 00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: So his patent claim was pretty accurate. Nobody had patented 562 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,760 Speaker 1: that process. All these different pieces of it had been patented, 563 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:13,440 Speaker 1: but not all put together correct. So eventually Singer even 564 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:16,960 Speaker 1: colluded with Walter Hunt, remember him from earlier on. He 565 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:19,760 Speaker 1: made a machine and never patented it. He uh he 566 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:23,120 Speaker 1: brought in engineer William Whiting Singer did to help resurrect 567 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: Hunt's design because Hunt apparently found old pieces of the 568 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:28,560 Speaker 1: machine like in an attic, but couldn't actually get them 569 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 1: all together and working anymore. He couldn't quite remember how 570 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:35,960 Speaker 1: it all went, But so this engineer assisted him. And 571 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,720 Speaker 1: then Hunt attempted to file for patent on his eighteen 572 00:31:38,800 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: thirty four invention to establish that he and not Elias 573 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:46,040 Speaker 1: How had in fact invented the sewing machine. Again, the 574 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 1: Scientific American kind of made their opinion known. They published 575 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:53,160 Speaker 1: a rather scathing commentary on Hunt's assertions, calling them quote 576 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:57,280 Speaker 1: rusty claims UH. And a trial at the Patent Office followed. 577 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:00,760 Speaker 1: And after hundreds of pages of testing money like, Singer 578 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: found everybody he could to kind of feed Hunt's case 579 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:07,680 Speaker 1: because he really wanted to take down How any way 580 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: he could. Uh. There were hundreds and hundreds of pages 581 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,400 Speaker 1: in a long drawn out trial, but Pattent Commissioner Charles 582 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:17,080 Speaker 1: Mason ruled in favor of How on eight fifty four, 583 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:20,520 Speaker 1: and he said the Mason said that Hunt's loss was 584 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 1: due in part to the eighteen years he sat on 585 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 1: his design. UH. And Hunt actually appealed to the Circuit 586 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: Court of the District of Columbia, claiming that Mason didn't 587 00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: really have the authority to make such a ruling, but 588 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 1: Mason's ruling was upheld by the court. So, spurred by 589 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,880 Speaker 1: the success of this decision and still in a big 590 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: fight with Singer, how decided that the next thing he 591 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,960 Speaker 1: would do was file suits against every establishment selling Singer 592 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:50,280 Speaker 1: machines in Boston and asked for preliminary injunctions to shut 593 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:55,000 Speaker 1: down those sales. Uh Hunt's previous invention was invoked by 594 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:57,240 Speaker 1: those named in the suits, claiming, no, no, there's still 595 00:32:57,320 --> 00:32:59,520 Speaker 1: some doubt even though there had been a ruling already 596 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:02,080 Speaker 1: as to whether or not how really had the rights 597 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 1: to all of the machines being sold, And so they 598 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 1: tried to, you know, they were dredging up that case 599 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,640 Speaker 1: that had already been decided. But the judge in the 600 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:14,120 Speaker 1: matter still deemed House patents infringed upon and he found 601 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:17,800 Speaker 1: in House favor. So the Boston defendants, who were now 602 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:22,160 Speaker 1: in some serious business trouble, they had had their business 603 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:25,120 Speaker 1: basically shut down, they turned around and filed suits against 604 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 1: Singer for basically kind of dragging them into this mess. 605 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:33,160 Speaker 1: And giving them patents and machines that they really had 606 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: no legal right to sell. Singer and How eventually settled 607 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 1: their suit, and they announced they had done so in 608 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:44,800 Speaker 1: Scientific American in August of eighteen fifty four, which should 609 00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: have settled the matter, but it did not at all. 610 00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,560 Speaker 1: The piece did not last for very long. Um. Now 611 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:53,880 Speaker 1: that he was in control of the sewing machine industry, 612 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:57,520 Speaker 1: How started working on improvements to his own machine. But 613 00:33:57,640 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 1: this resulted in a lot of the companies he had 614 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 1: gone after suing him for patent infringement, since many of 615 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: them held patents on the basic improvements that he was 616 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:09,560 Speaker 1: trying to implement. There's just no end to the litigation. 617 00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:20,920 Speaker 1: There's really not. In eighteen fifty six, the president of 618 00:34:20,960 --> 00:34:23,240 Speaker 1: Grover and Baker, which was one of the companies involved 619 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:26,840 Speaker 1: in these suits against How. The president's name was Orlando B. Potter, 620 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:30,480 Speaker 1: and he proposed an interesting truce, a concept which became 621 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:32,880 Speaker 1: known as a combination, not to be confused with the 622 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:36,440 Speaker 1: undergarment of the same name, a patent combination. And he 623 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:40,080 Speaker 1: kind of took a step back and realized, we are 624 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,840 Speaker 1: all just hurting ourselves at this point. We are wadded 625 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,960 Speaker 1: up in litigation all the time, and we are holding 626 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:51,160 Speaker 1: up production and just throwing money into legal actions. What 627 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:54,320 Speaker 1: we would rather be doing is making and selling sewing machine. 628 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,879 Speaker 1: So he started said, let's do that. Yeah, they all 629 00:34:57,960 --> 00:35:03,320 Speaker 1: joined forces. Uh Potter's Company, How, Wheeler, Wilson and Company, 630 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,480 Speaker 1: and Singer all joined forces. They pulled their patents to 631 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,920 Speaker 1: make one unified combination patent for sewing machine and how 632 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:13,440 Speaker 1: it was pretty resistant to this idea at first because 633 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:15,240 Speaker 1: he felt like he was giving up more than anybody 634 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 1: else in order to get this deal together, but he 635 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:22,400 Speaker 1: eventually relented. Um he only agreed to join the sewing 636 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,880 Speaker 1: machine Combination, which is sometimes called the sewing Machine Chap trust, 637 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:31,000 Speaker 1: if the other parties agreed to stipulations. And those stipulations 638 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:35,839 Speaker 1: were pretty astute business moves. One was how would get 639 00:35:35,840 --> 00:35:38,400 Speaker 1: a five dollar royalty on every machine sold in the 640 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:41,640 Speaker 1: US and a dollar for every machine that was exported 641 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,000 Speaker 1: to another country. And it's estimated that between eighteen fifty 642 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:47,320 Speaker 1: six when this deal was struck in eighteen sixty seven, 643 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: when house patent expired, he made more than two million dollars, 644 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:54,279 Speaker 1: which there are several layers of that's crazy. One is 645 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:56,840 Speaker 1: the two million dollars. We're talking about, you know, two million, 646 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,400 Speaker 1: eighteen sixties dollars um and the fact that he was 647 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:03,360 Speaker 1: so invested in all this litigation when his patent was 648 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,360 Speaker 1: on the verge of expiring. I mean, part of this is, 649 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 1: of course he had to do it then, because otherwise 650 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:10,920 Speaker 1: he would have lost everything. And then part of it 651 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:12,839 Speaker 1: makes me kind of go I probably would have thrown 652 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:15,080 Speaker 1: up my hands much earlier when I was getting that 653 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:17,279 Speaker 1: close to the expiration of a patent, but you would 654 00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:19,359 Speaker 1: have missed out on two million dollars. I know, I'm 655 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:22,640 Speaker 1: a terrible business person. But in eighteen sixty seven when 656 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:25,520 Speaker 1: house patent was up, so after his eleven years of 657 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:28,800 Speaker 1: enjoying all of that money coming in, he did request 658 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:31,080 Speaker 1: another extension of the patent, but he was refused and 659 00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:35,040 Speaker 1: he actually died later that year. Singer, of course we know, 660 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:38,239 Speaker 1: because his name is still on sewing machines sold all 661 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:41,160 Speaker 1: the time. Wasn't astute businessman, and he really made a 662 00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:44,239 Speaker 1: name for himself in that industry. I feel like we 663 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:46,879 Speaker 1: should do another podcast on the Singer family because there 664 00:36:46,960 --> 00:36:50,399 Speaker 1: is a world of fascination in the things that happened there. 665 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,719 Speaker 1: But that's how it eventually settled. There was a lot 666 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:59,440 Speaker 1: of fighting and fighting and clawing, and then a settlement, 667 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:01,600 Speaker 1: and then a little more biting and fighting and clawing, 668 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 1: and then some person that steps forward and says, this 669 00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:07,799 Speaker 1: is really stupid. We could all be making money, so 670 00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:11,640 Speaker 1: let's go make money now. Yeah. I'm glad that they 671 00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:15,880 Speaker 1: finally came to that. Me too, because sewing machines are awesome. 672 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:18,160 Speaker 1: How would I have all my sewing machines otherwise, I know, 673 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:20,520 Speaker 1: how would I have learned how to make nightgowns and 674 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,880 Speaker 1: pajamas and things. I don't know why nightgowns and pajamas 675 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:25,560 Speaker 1: are the things that I thought of, but we know 676 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:27,439 Speaker 1: my mom My mom taught me how to make easy things. 677 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:29,120 Speaker 1: I didn't learn how to put a zipper in until 678 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:33,839 Speaker 1: I was much older and no longer living with my mom. Bufflegowns, 679 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:35,799 Speaker 1: we wouldn't be able to make bufflegowns to look like 680 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:37,880 Speaker 1: we lived at the time when these people were fighting. Yeah. Well, 681 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 1: and it wasn't until we were I was looking at 682 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:42,640 Speaker 1: your outline for the podcast that it really dawned on 683 00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:45,720 Speaker 1: me how similar umbrellas and corsets are to one another. 684 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:47,440 Speaker 1: I kind of had that moment as well, where I 685 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:49,640 Speaker 1: was like, oh, yeah, there's a casing and then a 686 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:52,200 Speaker 1: firm element that goes through it. Yeah, it does make totally. 687 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:54,600 Speaker 1: It's all kind of stretched tight together over a frame. 688 00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:57,120 Speaker 1: Like that's really they're the same thing, just in a 689 00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:06,920 Speaker 1: different orientation in the shapes. Hey, since uh, these episodes 690 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:10,280 Speaker 1: that we're sharing our past classics, we have some updated 691 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:14,000 Speaker 1: information that will supersede the contact stuff you've heard before. 692 00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:16,680 Speaker 1: If you want to email us, our email address is 693 00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:19,560 Speaker 1: History Podcast at house works dot com, and you can 694 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:22,400 Speaker 1: find us across the spectrum of social media as Missed 695 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: in History. You can also find us at missed in 696 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:27,760 Speaker 1: History dot com, and you can visit our parent company, 697 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:36,360 Speaker 1: how stuff Works, at how stuff works dot com. For 698 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:39,000 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how 699 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:48,360 Speaker 1: staff works dot com.