The use of sewing machines in all types of manufacturing that required stitching of any type continued to grow each year. While the principal purpose for which they were utilized continued to be the manufacture of clothing items, by the year 1900 they were also used for awnings, tents, and sails; cloth bags; bookbinding and related book manufacture; flags and banners; pocketbooks, trunks, and valises; saddlery and harnesses; mattresses; umbrellas; linen and rubber belting and hose; to the aggregate sum of nearly a billion dollars—$979,988,413.[82]
SEWING-MACHINE ATTACHMENTS
The growing popularity of the sewing machine offered still another boost to the economy—the development of many minor, related manufacturing industries. The repetitive need for machine needles, the development of various types of attachments to simplify the many sewing tasks, and the ever-increasing need for more and better sewing thread—the sewing machine consumed from two to five times as much thread as stitching by hand—created new manufacturing establishments and new jobs.
Figure 59.—Shank’s patent bobbin winder, 1870. (Smithsonian photo P-6398.)
Figure 60.—Sweet’s patent binder, 1853. (Smithsonian photo P-6396.)