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121 Singer, Isaac Merritt
[br]b. 27 October 1811 Pittstown, New York, USAd. 23 July 1875 Torquay, Devonshire, England[br]American inventor of a sewing machine, and pioneer of mass production.[br]The son of a millwright, Singer was employed as an unskilled labourer at the age of 12, but later gained wide experience as a travelling machinist. He also found employment as an actor. On 16 May 1839, while living at Lockport, Illinois, he obtained his first patent for a rock-drilling machine, but he soon squandered the money he made. Then in 1849, while at Pittsburgh, he secured a patent for a wood-and metal-carving machine that he had begun five years previously; however, a boiler explosion in the factory destroyed his machine and left him penniless.Near the end of 1850 Singer was engaged to redesign the Lerow \& Blodgett sewing machine at the Boston shop of Orson C.Phelps, where the machine was being repaired. He built an improved version in eleven days that was sufficiently different for him to patent on 12 August 1851. He formed a partnership with Phelps and G.B. Zieber and they began to market the invention. Singer soon purchased Phelps's interest, although Phelps continued to manufacture the machines. Then Edward Clark acquired a one-third interest and with Singer bought out Zieber. These two, with dark's flair for promotion and marketing, began to create a company which eventually would become the largest manufacturer of sewing machines exported worldwide, with subsidiary factories in England.However, first Singer had to defend his patent, which was challenged by an earlier Boston inventor, Elias Howe. Although after a long lawsuit Singer had to pay royalties, it was the Singer machine which eventually captured the market because it could do continuous stitching. In 1856 the Great Sewing Machine Combination, the first important pooling arrangement in American history, was formed to share the various patents so that machines could be built without infringements and manufacture could be expanded without fear of litigation. Singer contributed his monopoly on the needle-bar cam with his 1851 patent. He secured twenty additional patents, so that his original straight-needle vertical design for lock-stitching eventually included such refinements as a continuous wheel-feed, yielding presser-foot, and improved cam for moving the needle-bar. A new model, introduced in 1856, was the first to be intended solely for use in the home.Initially Phelps made all the machines for Singer. Then a works was established in New York where the parts were assembled by skilled workers through filing and fitting. Each machine was therefore a "one-off" but Singer machines were always advertised as the best on the market and sold at correspondingly high prices. Gradually, more specialized machine tools were acquired, but it was not until long after Singer had retired to Europe in 1863 that Clark made the change to mass production. Sales of machines numbered 810 in 1853 and 21,000 ten years later.[br]Bibliography12 August 1851, US patent no. 8,294 (sewing machine)Further ReadingBiographies and obituaries have appeared in Appleton's Cyclopedia of America, Vol. V; Dictionary of American Biography, Vol XVII; New York Times 25 July 1875; Scientific American (1875) 33; and National Cyclopaedia of American Biography.D.A.Hounshell, 1984, From the American System to Mass Production 1800–1932. TheDevelopment of Manufacturing Technology in the United States, Baltimore (provides a thorough account of the development of the Singer sewing machine, the competition it faced from other manufacturers and production methods).RLH -
122 Textiles
See also: INDEX BY SUBJECT AREA[br]Dore, Samuel GriswoldHeilmann, JosuéLevers, JohnLister, Samuel CunliffeMa JunSong Yingxing -
123 Thomas, William
SUBJECT AREA: Textiles[br]fl. 1850 London, England[br]English patentee of the lock-stitch sewing machine in Britain.[br]William Thomas, of Cheapside, London, was a manufacturer of shoes, umbrellas and corsets. He paid Elias Howe a sum of £250 to secure the British rights of Howe's 1846 patent for the lock-stitch sewing machine. Thomas persuaded Howe to go from the USA to England and apply his machine to the manufacture of shoes and corsets. Howe was to receive £3 per week, and in addition Thomas was to patent the machine in Britain and pay Howe £3 for every machine sold under the British patent. Patents for sewing machines were taken out in the name of W.Thomas in 1846 and 1848, and again in 1849. Howe did travel to Britain but quarrelled with Thomas after less than a year and returned to the USA. In 1853 Thomas started selling his own lock-stitch machine. There are patents in the name of W.F. Thomas for sewing machines, making button-holes bindings, etc., dating from 1853 through to 1864.[br]Bibliography1846, British patent no. 11,464 (sewing machine). 1848, British patent no. 12,221 (sewing machine). 1849, British patent no. 12,736 (sewing machine). 1853, British patent no. 1,026.1855, British patent no. 2,079.1856, British patent no. 740.1856, British patent no. 2,978.1860, British patent no. 1,631.1864, British patent no. 1,609.Further ReadingF.G.Harrison, 1892–3, Biographical Sketches of Pre-eminent Americans (includes an account of Howe's life).F.B.Jewell, 1975, Veteran Sewing Machines. A Collector's Guide, Newton Abbot (makes brief mention of Thomas).RLH -
124 346
1. LAT Bolitoglossa jacksoni Elias2. RUS черноспинная саламандра f3. ENG —4. DEU —5. FRA —Ареал обитания: Центральная Америка -
125 387
1. LAT Bradytriton D. Wake et Elias2. RUS курносые саламандры pl3. ENG —4. DEU —5. FRA —Ареал обитания: Центральная Америка -
126 388
1. LAT Bradytriton silus D. Wake et Elias2. RUS курносая саламандра f3. ENG —4. DEU —5. FRA —Ареал обитания: Центральная Америка -
127 399
1. LAT Dendrotriton D. Wake et Elias2. RUS бромелиевые саламандры pl3. ENG —4. DEU —5. FRA —Ареал обитания: Центральная Америка -
128 449
1. LAT Nototriton D. Wake et Elias2. RUS южные саламандры pl3. ENG —4. DEU —5. FRA —Ареал обитания: Центральная Америка
См. также в других словарях:
Elias — ist ein männlicher Vorname, der auch als Familienname vorkommt. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Herkunft und Bedeutung 2 Verbreitung 3 Namenstag 4 Bekannte Namensträger … Deutsch Wikipedia
Elías — Elias (Latinisierung von Ηλιας) ist als männlicher Vorname und, davon abgeleitet, als Familienname gebräuchlich. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Herkunft und Bedeutung 2 Varianten 3 Namenstag 4 Bekannte Namensträger 4.1 … Deutsch Wikipedia
Elías — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Para otros usos de este término, véase Elías (desambiguación). Elías … Wikipedia Español
ELIAS (N.) — ELIAS NORBERT (1897 1990) Commencée dans le contexte de la sociologie allemande de l’entre deux guerres (il a travaillé avec Alfred Weber et Karl Mannheim), l’œuvre d’Elias n’eut aucun impact avant les années 1970 et 1980. Après avoir quitté… … Encyclopédie Universelle
Eliáš — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Alois Eliáš (1890–1942), tschechischer General und Politiker, Ministerpräsident des Reichsprotektorats Böhmen und Mähren Patrik Eliáš (* 1976), tschechischer Eishockeyspieler … Deutsch Wikipedia
Elias — [ē lī′əs, ilī′es] n. [L < Gr Elias < Heb: see ELIJAH] var. of ELIJAH … English World dictionary
Elīas — (hebräischer Name, so v.w. Jehovah ist mein Gott); I. biblische Person: 1) E., Prophet in Israel, aus Thisbe in Galiläa, unter den Königen Ahab u. Ahasja, 919–896 v. Chr.; wegen seines Eifers für die Religion der Väter u. seines rückhaltslosen… … Pierer's Universal-Lexikon
Elias — (spr. ilāīas), Ney, engl. Reisender, geb. 10. Febr. 1844 in Kent, gest. 31. Mai 1897 in London, kam 1868 als Kaufmann nach Ostasien, nahm 1868 den Unterlauf des Huangho auf, zog 1872–73 durch die Wüste Gobi und die westliche Mongolei nach… … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
Elīas — (griechische Form des hebr. Elija, Elijahu), Prophet im Reich Israel unter Ahab (s. d.) und Ahasja, aus Thisbe in Galiläa, eiferte begeistert und begeisternd mit »Feuer und Schwert« für den Monotheismus, als der Dienst des Baals und der Astarte… … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
Elias — Elīas (hebr. Elija, »Jehova ist mein Gott«), Prophet im Reiche Israel, unter Ahab und Isebel (um 900 850), bekämpfte den Baalsdienst, fuhr nach 2 Kön. 2, 11 in einem Wetter gen Himmel … Kleines Konversations-Lexikon
Elias — Elias, der Prophet, von seinem Geburtsorte Thisbe der Thisbite genannt, trat seit 912 v. Chr. dem üppigen Hofleben des Achab und der Sidonierin Jesabel und ihrer Nachfolger, welche den Dienst Jehovas durch den des Baal u. der Unzuchtsgöttin… … Herders Conversations-Lexikon