-
Description
Image of an African-American family in a horse-drawn cart passing a roadside sign advertising ‘Domestic’ sewing machines
At bottom: “W.J. MORGAN & CO. LITH., CLEVELAND, O. COPYRIGHT 1882”
On back:
8.5 x 12 cm // 3 ⅜” x 4 ½”
Corner crease UR. Browning on back.
The very first Domestic machine was produced by William A. Mack in conjunction with one N. S. C. Perkins who built a small factory at Norwalk, Ohio, and where a small number of machines were produced until 1869 when the term Domestic was added to the company's title.
At this time Stephen A Davis was taken on the company's payroll and he was set to re-design the machine and move the company's headquarters to New York, which was already the hub of American trade.Like many other sewing-machine men of the period, Davis came from gun work and brought many of the principles of interchangeable parts into the Domestic factory.
Right from the start the Domestic took a first grip on the market, producing 10,000 machines in 1871, and quadrupled that number a year later. The company secured a niche as producers of good-quality, light-running models and, although never seriously rivaling Singer, stayed independent in business until 1924.
http://chadbourneantiqueq.shop/domestic/
