Although Singer was neither the first nor the only company to manufacture sewing machines, during its first century the Singer sewing machine was thought by many to be the most widely used manufactured product in the world. So dominant was the company within its market that the Singer name was virtually synonymous with the product it manufactured. Singer pioneered many business techniques including installment buying, trade ins, and total control of the manufacturing process from raw product to distribution and sale to the customer. It was also one of the first American corporations to operate in an international market.
In 1850 Isaac Merritt Singer of Boston, Massachusetts, turned his mechanical talents from a wood-carving device to improving an early sewing machine. Singer's invention solved the problem of the earlier machine by adjusting the bobbin thread pressure so that the machine sewed continuously. On August 12, 1851 Singer received a patent for his first lock-stitch machine, and Singer and his first two partners (George B. Zieber and Orson C. Phelps) set up operations as I.M. Singer & Company at 19 Harvard Place in Boston. Early in 1851 the office of the partnership was transferred to New York.
Several other manufacturers of sewing machines were doing business at the time, and eventually all of them became involved in complicated litigation over patent infringement. Singer's attorney Edward Clark took a leading role in resolving this “Sewing Machine War” by organizing the nation's first patent pool which continued to license sewing machine manufacturers until the final patent expired in 1877. For his role in settling the litigation Clark accepted a third interest in the company, and shortly thereafter Singer and Clark bought Zieber's share for $6000. Thereafter Singer headed the manufacturing and development of new machines, while Clark assumed charge of the company's legal, financial, and sales affairs.
In 1856 the original, heavy Singer machine was superseded by an improved model known as “the turtle-back” that was more suitable for home use. To develop a market for what was a comparatively expensive machine in that same year Clark initiated a hire-purchase plan, the forerunner of modern installment selling. He also stimulated sales by introducing trade-in allowances and by establishing a sales organization of regional sales managers, travelers, canvassers, and collectors, all in the direct employ of the Singer company. In 1863 the company was incorporated under New York laws as the Singer Manufacturing Company. Shortly thereafter Isaac Singer retired from the business and went abroad to live.
Because of personal difficulties between Clark and Singer, Inslee A. Hopper, who had begun his employment with the company as a clerk in 1851, was selected as Singer's first president. He retained that position until 1876 when Clark became president.
Very early in its history Singer turned its attention to overseas markets, and as early as 1861 Singer was selling more machines abroad than in the United,States. The Civil War increased that trend, and in 1867 the company built it first overseas factory in Glasgow, Scotland. This was followed by the establishment of factories in Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia. In 1867 the company established a cabinet factory in South Bend, Indiana. The move toward integrated manufacturing was furthered later in the century when Singer acquired its own forests in Canada and South Carolina and its own manufacturer of electric motors.
During the 1860s business increased so greatly that the Mott Street factory in New York City was unable to meet the demand, and in 1873 a new factory was built at Elizabethport, New Jersey. At the same time the New York corporation was dissolved and a new corporation formed under New Jersey laws.
In 1882 Clark was followed as president by George Ross McKenzie who had first entered the company's employ as a cabinetmaker's apprentice in 1851. McKenzie's greatest talent was in the field of organization, and during his tenure a large factory in Kilbowie, Scotland was completed to replace the Glasgow factory. In 1889 McKenzie was followed as president by Frederick G. Bourne. During his tenure the company witnessed its greatest foreign expansion, with operations placed in the hands of many foreign subsidiary companies. At the same time sales reached 1,000,000 machines per year, a figure which represented approximately 75 percent of all the world's sewing machines.
In 1904 The Singer Sewing Machine Company was formed to take over most of the sales operations formerly conducted by the Singer Manufacturing Company. In 1906 the company completed construction of the 47-story Singer Building, New York City's first skyscraper.
English-born Sir Douglas Alexander followed Bourne as president in 1905, heading the company for 44 years until his death in 1949.
After World War I Alexander was able to revive Singer's market, although sales never again reached their pre-war peak (3,000,000 machines per year). At the time of Alexander's retirement Singer had 61,444 employees including 30,000 in manufacturing.
Following the period documented in records held by the State Historical Society, the Singer Manufacturing Company became a major diversified corporation, first under Milton C. Lightner and later under Donald P. Kircher. This resulted in numerous corporate acquisitions in areas as diverse as business machines, home entertainment, laboratory testing equipment, and military radar systems. At the same time, however, the sewing machine business suffered from market maturity, decline in home sewing due to changes in the role of women, and competition from inexpensive foreign machines. In the later 1970s Singer began to dismantle its empire. This culminated in the closing of the Clydebank and New Jersey factories in 1980 and 1982. In 1988 Singer was taken over by Paul Bilzerian. In 1989, Bilzerian, then under investigation for securities violations, agreed to have Singer taken over by International Semi-Tech Microelectronics of Canada.
