Figure 116.—Quaker City sewing machine. During the first decade of sewing-machine manufacture many types of handsome wooden cases were developed to house the mechanisms. Although such cases increased the total cost, they were greatly admired and were purchased whenever family funds permitted. The machine was based on the patents of William P. Uhlinger: a mechanical patent for a double chainstitch machine on August 17, 1858 (antedated May 8), and a patent for the casing on December 28, 1858. The machine head was lowered into the casing as the lid was brought forward and closed—an idea much ahead of its time.
This Quaker City machine, serial number 18, was purchased by Benjamin F. Meadows of Lafayette, Alabama, for $150 just prior to the Civil War. Relatively few machines of this type were manufactured, and the Quaker City Sewing Machine Co. existed for only a few years. Its apparent hope for a southern market was short-lived, and it was unable to compete either with the companies licensed under the “Combination” or with those producing less expensive machines. (Smithsonian photo 46953-A.)
Figure 117.—From an advertising brochure, marked in ink, “The National Portrait Gallery, 1855,” in the Singer Company’s archives. The brochure states “Howard & Davis, 34 Water Street, Boston, Massachusetts Sole Manufacturers of Robinson’s Patent Sewing Machine with Rope[r]’s Improvements.” (Smithsonian photo 48091-F.)