Save 20% on your first Native purchase! Click here bit.ly/nativeabbycox7 and use my code ABBYCOX7 #ad I had way too much fun filming this video 🤣🤣 @CurioByBSpokeDesigns was the channel I used for helping know how to clean my machine! He's the expert - not me! References are in the description if you're interested, and the machine I was working on is my new (to me) 1898 Singer 27 vibrating shuttle treadle machine. I got her in Ohio for a steal of a deal! Let me know if you all want a video about the different feet and accessories that came with it! Also - because I can't tell hear tone in comments - the toy sewing machine *never* worked - my neighbor gave it to me instead of throwing it in the trash, and I *obviously* cleaned up the plastic - why would I leave plastic chunks all over my yard? 😂
This couldn't have come in a better time. I'm only 2 minutes and 33 seconds in and I am laughing. Hilarious. This is hilarious. Walk on French, all.. Rock on..
I'm 58 and been hand sewing all my life, and only last year tried a machine. I borrowed a simple brother machine from a friend because I wasn't sure I would like it. My grandmother, who lived with us,hand sewed a lot of clothes for herself and my mother and me. This went on until about 1972 when she bought a machine. She liked it and it helped her make a lot more pieces, but she was also slightly wary of it and I was never allowed near it because she thought I would sew my fingers lol. She taught me to hand sew pretty young and I still prefer that method, but if I have a lot of long, boring, simple seams, I will use the machine. Also, last week I somehow managed to sort of sew one finger. My grandmother was obviously right.
I remember my mom sewing into her finger with the machine once. But she didn’t quit, and she taught me to sew on that old Singer, which I still have. And I’ve never sewn my finger, but I’ve stuck myself plenty of times sewing by hand.
My great grandma, was 95 in 2003 for reference, was a quilter who thought using a sewing machine was blasphemous 😅. She got paid to travel across the country teaching her hand sewing techniques. Her quilts were displayed at Minetrista in Muncie, IN after she passed. I want to visit the quilt museum in Marion, IN and see if she is mentioned there. Her family was chosen to be drawn and painted by Norman Rockwell back in the 40s/50s when my grandma was a little girl. My great grandfather was in a huge painting colloquially called 'The County Agent'.
So funny, this video came out during one of the biggest protest I have ever been in, in my home town (In France, obviously), where the Police went all out on the tear gas and the flash ball guns. Thank you Abby for supporting our national habit. We will keep on protesting :) Great video, as always ❤
Also our revolutionary ways is what gave us that great modèle social. People like to paint us as angry lazy people, but we do have social security. The British for example, like to turn up their noses at our supposed lack of work ethic, but a lot of them flock to Britanny and Normandy to get their teeth fixed.
@@lililangtry1881 I think a lot of leftist british peeps view you more highly than you think, the comments under a lot of the uk political content I see on social media is full of comments with people saying things like "when will we finally take a leaf out of Frances book" and "this wouldn't bloody happen if people got off their bloody arses and did something like the french". Admittedly that's sadly not many of us and protests/strikes are increasingly demonised in this country, it's really depressing. Even when there is a good turnout it's either barely reported or its majorly biased reporting and the Tories ignore the actual issue raised to instead push their agenda of more restriction on protests/strikes by going on about how disruptive they are. Anyway, good luck with your efforts to stop the retirement age being changed, I'm hoping it might inspire more people over here to be a bit more radical.
Honestly, I found the intro rather distateful and inappropriate (I'm thinking about hte people who sadly got hurt in the process, there is nothing funny about that), but I couldn't watch the video past 1 minute, so maybe I fail to understand the humor in this particular video 🤨.
I'm visiting France now and the train strikes have made us get creative with our transportation. We usually rely on the French train system. I support the workers though and wish I was French rather than from the US. Vive la France!
As a owner (hoarder) of 10+ antique Singers, all ranging from 1871 to 1957, thank you this! I’m currently working on my wedding dress using my trusty 66-1 Red Eye from 1913. These machines are eternal!
When I quit drinking, I needed a new hobby and somehow landed on vintage sewing machines. I started with a Husqvarna Viking 21E; and now I have like 60 of the stupid things. Mostly Japanese and European all-mechanical domestics. Oddly? I don't have a 66, and my 15 is a 15-125 'facelift' model in mint green with a potted motor.
My husband stopped on the side of the road to grab some pegboard that was on the curb being thrown away, and he sent a video of all the junk on the sidewalk and I saw a hinged cabinet… … And so I did a screen cap and he grabbed the cabinet and opened it and it was an electric 1946 Singer 15 model!!! The old man who lived in the house came out and basically told my husband that he was super happy someone was gonna be able to use the sewing machine. And that it was a “good beginner machine” Which… maybe in the 40s it was a good learning machine, but it’s significantly more temperamental now, lol
My 94 year old grandmother had an antique Singer she inherited from her mother in law. It got “lost” after Grandma died and no one has confessed to taking it. I’m still mad!!
You may not be able to get her specific Singer back, but if you have any photos of it (even if it's kinda blurry and in the background) there are people out there who can probably identify it. Old Singer sewing machines never break down, which means they're not rare enough to be expensive. You can get a 110-year-old treadle in working condition for a lower price than a Singer Featherweight.
The difference between fathering the child and raising the child. Howe may have been the father of the invention but Singer raised the interlock sewing machine and informed its growth & future decisions.
@@miipmiipmiip did he? Singer made key improvements & marketed the crap out of it while Howe was busy being supremely litigious rather than actually building a business. Howe is the father who sued for visitation and then dumped the kid on a relative during visitation. Meanwhile, Singer is the step parent who coached little league.
@@Chaotic_Pixie You're forgetting the decades of struggle after inventing the child, trying to sell it honestly to businessmen who claimed to his face that it was too expensive to manufacture, but immediately - immediately- began reverse engineering it from his presentations and/or copies of the patent itself. Remember, when he came back after losing everything and having to pawn the patent to survive, his machines were everywhere - it wasn't only Singer. Creative genius rarely comes with the worship of money that is at the soul of an entrepreneur - that's why entrepreneurs always have to steal it.
An absolutely hilarious - yet accurate history of the sewing machine. Isaac Singer's adventures are a whole other video! Oh and I love that wallpaper (I work at a decorators centre so will be scouring our mountain of pattern books as soon as I get a chance!) Thank you for the mention. I'm so glad you like my restoration videos (even though they aren't as amusing as yours - Reserved Englishman) x
@@AbbyCox>>> A am about halfway through this video. Is the footage of the foot treadle sewing machine being cleaned your video? I ask because I have a foot treadle sewing machine that belonged to my maternal grandmother.
The reenactments are just ✨Chef's kiss✨ There's nothing I love more than people fully acknowledging how silly people in history are and have always been.
Being a digital artist and hearing you compare the sewing machine with AI made my heart drop. Like I had never thought of it this way. But it made the "threat" very relatable all of a sudden. Oh and as a french person the whole bit at the beginning made me laugh so much. It even reminded me of things that have happened in my discord friend group when my friends would sometimes tell me "Pingu, your french is showing again." when I got too rebellious 🤐
I was not prepared for how much Abby's character acting would suck me into the history of sewing but boy howdy was that as enjoyable as it was informative.❤❤❤
I was about to say! I learned about that from reading a novel actually; Belle and the Beau, set in the US just before the Civil War. Belle is a former slave who escapes to Michigan and after she's settled in and starts to do sewing for enjoyment, rather than because she had to as a slave, orders one of the Singer machines towards the end of the book. At the end of the novel, there's even some sources about the Singer machine and other topics too. Pretty neat!
Your portrail of the french is absolute chef's kiss gold! I live in France and can attest that yes as soon as the gouverment make any suggestion of a contentious reform (especially about retirement like at the moment) all hell breaks loose. No one protests like the french!
I have a Singer Featherweight from my 13th birthday (1972) an older machine at the time. It still works perfectly with new belts and has been serviced and is a delight. It is probably at least 20 years older than I am and is a great travel machine for going to cons and vacation and finishing last minute projects. I simply love it and have kept it all these years. I love my machines (own 7 different machines) and use them all of the time. I NEVER knew there was so much controversy over the invention of the original machine. Your video as always over the top, and a hoot to boot. I love that the price of basic machines has leveled out and the more elaborate machines are cost attainable in this day of resurgence for the creator. I do however do as much handsewn parts to my projects as possible especially the historic one. Thank you for sharing this information in such a whimsical way...oh and Viva' La France'.....
"Really important THREAD throughout the story of the sewing machine"- ouch! Between that pun and Les Miz and the striped shirt and seeing someone else who has read some French history and/or news, this is my favorite video in ages, and I'm only 5 minutes in.
Plus, Abby Cox will direct the film, provide the costumes and act all of the parts. All she needs is Steven Spielberg to be the producer (i.e., the Money).
One of the first musicals I was ever in, during my middle school years, had a song about “the great new safety pin!” The script must have actually said Hunt’s name because when you said he was “more famous for inventing…” my mind automatically supplied “the safety pin”! I was shocked to be correct. :) EDIT: Turns out the musical was “Rough N Ready” by Benjamin and Leyden, published in the early 60’s. Haven’t been able to find a libretto or anything about it beyond a list of musical numbers. I played Rosie Pickins in that production in 1974 or so, in a suburb of Rochester NY. I figured this out looking at a Yearbook from Paramus NJ in 1971. This was NOT my school, and several years before our production. But weirdly enough, I lived near Paramus just a few years later, for one year in 1976-77. After that, I moved to California, where I’ve been ever since. California being the location of the musical. The internet is a strange place, and everyone and everything in the world is connected, if you keep looking long enough …. 😮
@sarahallegra6239 - I hope not. She has been in therapy and seems to have conquered her depression and tendecy to self-medication. Honor her struggle and triumph.
@@MossyMozart “Drunk Abby” = “in the style of the show Drunk History,” which is what she did in this video. I don’t think Abby or anyone else familiar with the show took it as a suggestion to actually drink, especially since she wasn’t drinking in this video :)
😂 I talk about this with my grade 7 students when I introduce the sewing machine. It blows their minds that Singer was basically the publicist for the sewing machine.
When I first started my history course in university we studied the French Revolution, nearly everyone in my class thought oh great we had a little background knowledge due to Les Mis or at least an idea of the time - nope it was a lesson to learn that that was actually the second revolution and we were looking at the first one 😂
French citizen here, just wanted to say we are indeed pretty revolutionary people. Always angry, always marching, striking for something, the cliché is mostly true. Then again we have decent social security, paid leave, parental leave, minimum wage, unemployment benefits, the list goes on. We are currently trying to save our retirement plans. It seems to me more countries should be a little more revolutionary themselves🤷🏼♀️
I actually wrote a college paper on the history of Singer sewing machine's marketing so I'm weirdly obsessed with this topic. Loved learning even more, great video!
I just bought a 1947 Singer with her original cabinet (my first sewing machine), and she is a WORKHORSE. I'm so happy there's such a large community of vintage machine sewers! More history lessons please.
I inherited a machine a year newer than yours, and it had like 10 different feet with it! There is one for almost anything I can think of (the one that makes ruffles is a monstrosity)
I recently semi-impulse purchased a 1904 singer treadle machine. The decals were so dirty, the ones on the back were literally invisible and now they have the chance to shine again. I’m looking forward to restoring the desk and drawers this summer so I can really start using her 🎉 These machines are juggernauts and just so bad ass for surviving so long and still sewing perfectly with a bit of cleaning and futzing
As the owner and restorer of 100+ (both lockstitch and chainstitch) antique and vintage machines, I will always stand by these machines as being to any of the modern, plastic, computerized machines. They were built to last generations. Thank you Abby for this mini history lesson.
Love the historical re-enactments! This is another of the many cases where the inventor isn’t the one getting the credit for the invention, rather it goes to the one who’s better at manufacturing, marketing and selling the invention. Even in cases like Apple where there was a true partnership, the inventor didn’t get the credit he deserved. Yes, let’s see more about your treadle machine! Purely mechanical machines are ingenious and we should appreciate them in our computerized age.
This! This is exactly why history is so hard to follow in a single tread! It's is so nuanced. Thanks Abby for sharing (and dramatizing) the history of the sewing machine 🧵🪡
I'm obsessed with that furnace ad between the Howe ad and the Singer Ad in the Tribune. I just imagine some poor wide-eyed furnace manufacturer ducking and covering trying not to be caught in the Howe/Singer paintball war.
One thing that I loved when doing research on art history (19th) was uncovering the personal stories of who hated who and who trash talked who, and other little things like this. Newspapers are a great source for historians!
Love watching the restoration of that beautiful Singer in the background. I have a 1923 Singer 15-88 treadle machine. No fancy decals on that era, but she works like a champ. And the best part is that it takes modern bobbins, needles, and feet. I added a quick release foot to it and now I can use the zipperfoot from my Babylock on it. I can use a 1/4 inch / 1/8 inch foot if I'm quilting or sewing doll clothes. Buttons and zigzag are even there with a little care using the most amazing geared "feet" I inherited from my grandmother for her long gone 15-91 electric machine (same exact head but with a potted motor hanging from the back.) And I love that I can get rubber belts to replace the old leather ones which had a tendency to stretch and slip. New ones are a tube. Trim it and insert the connector into both ends. Adjustments are a 5 min process and only require scissors. The old leather belt needed a pin vice to drill the hole in the belt, a wicked staple, and a pair of needle nosed pliers to crimp it. Lots of holes in my fingers for that.
That Office Space copier scene reenactment with the little sewing machine was perfection. This video was as hilarious as it was informative and the sewing machine restoration was soothing
I’m just restoring an 1881 Singer fiddle base. She was rusting in a junk shop but now she’s working again. This is my fourth vintage Singer machine. I’m kinda addicted to rescuing them & bringing them back to life. 🧵❤️
Victorian era sewing machines are my favourite. I have a 13k new family (singer fiddle base) treadle and she is beautiful. Sadly it's difficult finding replacement sewing needles 😢
@@ClockworkFaery Lol, I think we have the same addiction! I have a fiddlebase wertheim also and the great thing about it modern round shank needles fit it and it looks similar to the fiddlebase singers. Best of luck with with your 12k! I am sure you if you got it working it won't be long until you have it restored 🤞👍
I love this video so much! 😂 It reminds me of exactly how I would “explain” history in a loose summary to my friends when I was in university, and of how I would look at old newspaper articles in archives when I was doing my research for some of my history classes and getting excited by the little drama tidbits in the papers! Thanks for bringing back the nostalgia, Abby :)
I own a Singer sewing machine from around 1918 to the 1940s (the documents were destroyed during WW2, so I don't know for sure) and it is in extraordinarily good condition, looks and runs just as it was new with the original instructions, sewing needles, oil and sewing foots. Got it for free from the ex boyfriend of my mum and I love this thing to death. If my apartment building would burn down I would literally try to get this thing down from the second floor, that's how amazing it is. I also have a modern singer machine, but the antique one is just... Love.
Another great one, Abby. The Mass. connection may be due to the extensive clothing industry in New England (lots of small rivers, watermills run machines, cheap child labor at the time,. etc.,...).
Underwood Typewriters and Royal Typewriters were both manufactured in Hartford, CT. Pretty close by. Though the Remington seems to be an upstate New York and Milwaukee, Wisconsin venture.
Those mills in New England and most industries in America and England were only possible because of my family and thousands of other American families who were American chattel slaves. Cotton was king. Read the book "The Half Has Never Been Told" by Edward E. Baptist to learn more.
I live next door in RI, and there was a thriving textile industry here too. We have the first cloth manufacturering mill in the US (Slater Mill) and there were many other weaving mills and clothing factories. My mother and my aunts all learned to sew from working in these places. I learned from my mother. I'm not surprised that the men involved with inventing the sewing machine were in MA.
None of these places exist anymore. The Slater Mill is a museum. All the industries went to China. Yes, the contributions of the wrongly enslaved people in the south do need to be acknowledged. The northern industries did rely on poor immigrants and children in their factories. They worked very hard and were paid very little.
Antique sewing machines is a rabbit hole. I bought my first last year (a treadle Husqvarna CB) and my second just last week (a hand-cranked Husqvarna Freja). Although we do have a fair share of Singer machines here too I really enjoy having machines manufactured in my home country. Thank you for this entertaining and educational video!
1st off the very beginning shot referencing Office Space was friggin hilarious! Also, Abby, I heard you on an interview over the radio NPR recently! It was so great to hear your insights. ❤
I can vouch for Native. I'm on medical leave due to cancer, and with all the things needed to beat this, I like natural stuff and LOVE their products. LOVE your videos, too. I own my mother's Singer Featherweight (circa mid to late 40s) and want to learn how to use it.
Found this video a literal day after I dated my grandmother's old Singer and what a fortuitous find! What an excellent and fun way to learn about the history of the invention of the sewing machine. Fantastic video! Note: my grandmother's machine was manufactured in 1910! Quite a bit older than I was expecting, but I did remember later that she once mentioned that she herself had inherited it from someone (she was born in 1933, so she must have).
Abby, what an amazing video! I always tell a bit about sewing machine history in my sewing classes (btw, Singer also invented payment plans, this was another amazing marketing and sales strategy of his), but your video is packed with information, gossip and super fun impressions! 😂 I Will recommend it to my english speaker students! I love the way you express yourself creatively, such an inspiration, thank you for being just the way you are (and sorry about my english, kisses from Brazil😘)
I love the Drunk History and the footage of your Singer maintenance. It reminds me of when I disassembled and cleaned mine. I do believe you were more thorough than I was. 😊 Thanks for another amazing video
I really do love how much I learn from you. The fun, the knowledge, and the sass. I can’t tell you how much you lift up my spirits. My dad passed in December and it’s been tough some days. On the super rough days I just watch your videos!
I have a singer 201 from the 40s and it's still in it's original wood cabinet with the little stool and it still works flawlessly 🥰 I love how durable this machine is, and how i can still buy parts for it even all these years later. This was a very informative and hilarious video. Well done
How is it that I'm watching this on the EXACT day of my saturn return? I wondered what that was so I looked it up from an article from 2019... and it's literally today. I'm spooked now, thanks abby
I have possession of my great-great-grandmother's Singer sewing machine. Up until the cable to the treadle broke 15 years ago, it worked just fine. I need to work on restoring it. Thanks for this fun and interesting video!
Greetings from East Kentucky! This was a great and fun video! The sewing machine war is such an odd bit of history. My dad's retirement hobby has been restoring antique sewing machines and making quilt tops on them. My sisters and I tease that he runs a home for wayward sewing machines, lol! He owns about 30 including a few Howe machines. Dad has said that someone in Howe's family was a weaver and watching them weave is where Howe got the idea for the shuttle, but I'm not sure how true that actually is.
I can't believe you talked about the grills, haha. The CGT which is a union, has cooked merguez and sausages at the end of protests for years. It seemed some people couldn't wait until the end of the walk lol
My dad once told me the story of one of our ancestors who, when the sewing machine was just starting to become popular, was contacted by his southern cousin who suggested that they should go in business together to start a factory to make sewing machines. The northern cousin agreed, and took a train down south. The southern cousin met him at the station, robbed him, and left him on the platform!
As a sewist for 51 years, I found this video to be very informative. I love when I see something new. I own a Singer 99k. The old singers are made of iron, and don’t break like the ones today. You have maintain them of course.
Shout out from Spencer, Massachusetts here the birthplace of Elias Howe! My sister told me before we moved here which only made me love our home even more! Would love to have you do the history of the industrial chain stitch embroidery sewing machine. Similar history of early machines getting destroyed by the tambour seamstresses! I wanted one of these machines since I was in grad school cataloging pieces and saw the beautiful embroidery done by these machines. Finally got one and I'm totally "hooked" 😂
Loved the history. I have a "New Home" sewing machine that my grandmother bought back in 1901 when she got married. She sewed on it until her death. (She lived to be 91 years old.) It is in storage now, but watching you restore your old machine gives me hope. Thank you for the video and interesting history on sewing machines.
Thank you so much for this incredible piece of work! It must've taken a TON OF WORK to research, film, and edit it, all while making it so clever and fun to watch. Extremely well done!!
This was a super fun and interesting video to watch. I was also really interested in the things you were doing to clean and maintain your Singer sewing machine. I have a Singer 27 from the early 1900s that I got in almost pristine condition. I gently cleaned it with sewing machine oil and a soft cloth and I oiled it and it runs perfectly, but I'd love to learn more about antique machine maintenance.
Loved this video 😂❤ I learned the real history today. If some one asked me who invented the sewing machine before watching this video I would have said "Singer". Now I know better. I still love the antique Singer Sewing machine I first learned on. It could only do forward and backward stitching. The rest I did manually . How ever it was converted to electric. I no longer have my antique sewing machine. Pout
Fantastic video! I loved this newer format you have gone with! The reconstructions are hilarious and made the story ever more dramatic! Men being petty as always!
i usually watch your videos on tv (with my husband who also loves your videos) and so i don't usually comment, but i had to go on to tell you how much i LOVED this video. you are hilarious and informative! i particularly loved watching your efforts to restore a machine at the same time. awesome video.
I laughed so hard at the first story! I am French btw. And then you made a wonderful point balancing the story with social and economic background. This was such an interesting and well done video - thank you very much for this! I own two vintage Singer 201k, a French labeled antique sewing machine from the beginning of 1900´s (but apparently made in Germany) and I love them. I have heard of Howe before but yes, Singer definitely won the final battle. 🤷🏻♀️😅
I love old sewing machines. I've collected several and done light restorations on three treadles so far (video of one is on my channel). They were marvels of engineering, and the patent rush of the mid-1800s led to so many interesting variations. I just purchased (kind of by accident) an 1858 toy chainstitch machine by a company that only existed for 2 years yet had at least three patents for 'improvements' to the sewing machine.
It’s interesting reading the comments. A number of people have a single antique sewing machine, but it seems just as many if not more are collectors with multiple machines of various vintages and manufacturers. It’s definitely a passion!
The Office Space a la Peaky Blinders moment and Ylvis Brothers (I live in Norway) sent me. There's so much we'll never know how something, even with some foresight and inclination, is going to affect the patterns of society until enough time has passed. The sewing machine is definitely a double edged sword in society.
Anyone wanting a breakdown of some of more technical aspects of the sewing machines history I recommend an episode of The Secret Life Of Machines from the early 90s, the original creator (the same man behind the strange arcade Abby and others visited last year in London) has uploaded it to UA-cam. It contains a giant needle used to demonstrate lock stitch, as well as a look at a collection of antique machines including one shaped like a lion.
Wow, this was fascinating and hilariously presented 😄 I love my Singer machine, my grandma bought it for me in the 80s to learn how to sew and I still use it today, works great. When my mother-in-law (who lives on the other side of the planet in what many would consider a 3rd world country) came to visit us, she was so excited to see my machine and hugged me and told me she has exactly the same one.
Between my sister and I we have the first sewing machine my mom learned to sew on, my first machine and my sister's. We also have a modern treadle machine my Dad bought my mom. Then we have a serger and my second machine and another machine of my mom's that my sister uses. Of all these sewing machines all but two are Singer. I totally enjoyed learning about the history of the sewing machine. I love your "history lessons"! Please keep making videos like this. Some people may not care for them but I love them
Anyone here remember The Inventors Song? "Howe knew how to make the sewing machine |The Wrights learned the right way to fly| So when you're spelling the word "America" don't forget to dot the 'i' for the inventors| Don't forget to dot the 'i'"
This is awesome! If only all history lessons were this entertaining. 😂The parody with the French tailor beating the $&!@ out the toy sewing machine. And the top hat plus editing between Howe and Singer was chefs kiss. Also, your hair in your narration shots is so pretty!!! 😍 (On a side note; I recently chucked my cheap ass sewing machine out of sheer frustration and decided to sew myself a brand new wardrobe almost entirely by hand. There are a few pieces I am sourcing from verifiable slow fashion but, the majority I am making myself, without a sewing machine.)
I only ever knew that Elias Howe invented the sewing machine because I loved the movie Help! as a child and as a joke at the end they dedicate the movie to Elias Howe while panning out on a Singer machine while the Beatles fight on the beach.
I'm crying over the beginning of the video XD As a French, I can only wholeheartedly agree with the way you presented it! (And the video was awesome, but as all your other videos, so that's a given ^^)
Okay, please more of the one woman historical reenactments of drama! That was brilliant and hilarious and wonderfully informative! (Also, thanks for including the sneaky "tolling of the belles" pun)
My cousin recently passed along a family heirloom to me - a “Domestic” brand treadle sewing machine. I’ve been trying to learn more about it so have recently been venturing down the rabbit hole of antique machines and this video is timed perfectly! Love the storytelling and thanks for the humor!!! My new/old machine is a fiddle base coffin top cabinet that my Great “old maid” Aunts used. Aunt Minnie and Aunt Birdie made countless dresses, dungarees and quilts on this machine - it is a workhorse. I actually have a couple of the quilts they made - they are hand pieced but the binding is treadle stitched, likely on this very machine. The lock on the coffin top is etched “PAT’D MAR 16 69 FEB 4 79.” I was sharing the story with someone and you should have seen their eyes open wide when I reminded them that would be 1869 to 1879 LOL. Based on the cabinet design it seems to be a Domestic No. 4. The wood cabinet has been refinished but the metal bits including the machine head needs some serious TLC. As you’d expect I need a new belt but also have to take some elbow grease to the bobbin winder, etc. The front part of the face plate is missing. Thankfully have the shuttle and one bobbin (only one). Pretty sure this baby has not seen a good cleaning / oil since the 1960s when my Aunts passed away. Super thankful it was passed around to family and that I finally have the opportunity to bring her back to life.
Save 20% on your first Native purchase! Click here bit.ly/nativeabbycox7 and use my code ABBYCOX7 #ad
I had way too much fun filming this video 🤣🤣 @CurioByBSpokeDesigns was the channel I used for helping know how to clean my machine! He's the expert - not me! References are in the description if you're interested, and the machine I was working on is my new (to me) 1898 Singer 27 vibrating shuttle treadle machine. I got her in Ohio for a steal of a deal! Let me know if you all want a video about the different feet and accessories that came with it! Also - because I can't tell hear tone in comments - the toy sewing machine *never* worked - my neighbor gave it to me instead of throwing it in the trash, and I *obviously* cleaned up the plastic - why would I leave plastic chunks all over my yard? 😂
"damn it feels good to be a gangsta" : )
Yes please! I would love a video about the accessories.
Your freaking funny as hell an cute as f*** lol
Heck yeah
This couldn't have come in a better time. I'm only 2 minutes and 33 seconds in and I am laughing. Hilarious. This is hilarious. Walk on French, all.. Rock on..
This is like watching a one woman drunk history and I‘m here for it. Well played.
That’s what I was thinking too, and it’s brilliant! Great job Abby!
I was also thinking about Drunk History 😂🤣
Love that show and loved this too.
Make this a series! One Woman Drunk History, I'd watch the heck out of it!
My thoughts exactly! I love it!!
Made my night 😊
I'm 58 and been hand sewing all my life, and only last year tried a machine. I borrowed a simple brother machine from a friend because I wasn't sure I would like it. My grandmother, who lived with us,hand sewed a lot of clothes for herself and my mother and me. This went on until about 1972 when she bought a machine. She liked it and it helped her make a lot more pieces, but she was also slightly wary of it and I was never allowed near it because she thought I would sew my fingers lol. She taught me to hand sew pretty young and I still prefer that method, but if I have a lot of long, boring, simple seams, I will use the machine.
Also, last week I somehow managed to sort of sew one finger. My grandmother was obviously right.
That's basically what terrifies me, lol! And I can barely sew at all!!!
I remember my mom sewing into her finger with the machine once. But she didn’t quit, and she taught me to sew on that old Singer, which I still have. And I’ve never sewn my finger, but I’ve stuck myself plenty of times sewing by hand.
I’d like to try hand sewing a garment or maybe a bag sometime.
I was forbidden from using my aunt’s sewing machine for the same reason lol
@@carolynworthington8996 it's good fun!
My great grandma, was 95 in 2003 for reference, was a quilter who thought using a sewing machine was blasphemous 😅. She got paid to travel across the country teaching her hand sewing techniques. Her quilts were displayed at Minetrista in Muncie, IN after she passed. I want to visit the quilt museum in Marion, IN and see if she is mentioned there.
Her family was chosen to be drawn and painted by Norman Rockwell back in the 40s/50s when my grandma was a little girl. My great grandfather was in a huge painting colloquially called 'The County Agent'.
So funny, this video came out during one of the biggest protest I have ever been in, in my home town (In France, obviously), where the Police went all out on the tear gas and the flash ball guns. Thank you Abby for supporting our national habit. We will keep on protesting :) Great video, as always ❤
Also our revolutionary ways is what gave us that great modèle social. People like to paint us as angry lazy people, but we do have social security. The British for example, like to turn up their noses at our supposed lack of work ethic, but a lot of them flock to Britanny and Normandy to get their teeth fixed.
@@lililangtry1881 I think a lot of leftist british peeps view you more highly than you think, the comments under a lot of the uk political content I see on social media is full of comments with people saying things like "when will we finally take a leaf out of Frances book" and "this wouldn't bloody happen if people got off their bloody arses and did something like the french". Admittedly that's sadly not many of us and protests/strikes are increasingly demonised in this country, it's really depressing. Even when there is a good turnout it's either barely reported or its majorly biased reporting and the Tories ignore the actual issue raised to instead push their agenda of more restriction on protests/strikes by going on about how disruptive they are.
Anyway, good luck with your efforts to stop the retirement age being changed, I'm hoping it might inspire more people over here to be a bit more radical.
Honestly, I found the intro rather distateful and inappropriate (I'm thinking about hte people who sadly got hurt in the process, there is nothing funny about that), but I couldn't watch the video past 1 minute, so maybe I fail to understand the humor in this particular video 🤨.
I'm visiting France now and the train strikes have made us get creative with our transportation. We usually rely on the French train system. I support the workers though and wish I was French rather than from the US. Vive la France!
@@lililangtry1881Honestly, as a Brit, I wish we were more like you!
As a owner (hoarder) of 10+ antique Singers, all ranging from 1871 to 1957, thank you this! I’m currently working on my wedding dress using my trusty 66-1 Red Eye from 1913. These machines are eternal!
When I quit drinking, I needed a new hobby and somehow landed on vintage sewing machines. I started with a Husqvarna Viking 21E; and now I have like 60 of the stupid things. Mostly Japanese and European all-mechanical domestics. Oddly? I don't have a 66, and my 15 is a 15-125 'facelift' model in mint green with a potted motor.
I learned to sew on a circa 1940 Ruby treadle machine and loved it. I still have it, though it needs a service. I hope to sew on it again one day.
Congrats!
My husband stopped on the side of the road to grab some pegboard that was on the curb being thrown away, and he sent a video of all the junk on the sidewalk and I saw a hinged cabinet…
…
And so I did a screen cap and he grabbed the cabinet and opened it and it was an electric 1946 Singer 15 model!!!
The old man who lived in the house came out and basically told my husband that he was super happy someone was gonna be able to use the sewing machine. And that it was a “good beginner machine”
Which… maybe in the 40s it was a good learning machine, but it’s significantly more temperamental now, lol
I couldn't agree more!
The costumes! 🎩
The drama! 🎭
The storytelling! 📖
This was incredible!🙌
My 94 year old grandmother had an antique Singer she inherited from her mother in law. It got “lost” after Grandma died and no one has confessed to taking it. I’m still mad!!
You may not be able to get her specific Singer back, but if you have any photos of it (even if it's kinda blurry and in the background) there are people out there who can probably identify it. Old Singer sewing machines never break down, which means they're not rare enough to be expensive. You can get a 110-year-old treadle in working condition for a lower price than a Singer Featherweight.
The difference between fathering the child and raising the child. Howe may have been the father of the invention but Singer raised the interlock sewing machine and informed its growth & future decisions.
Well put 🙂
In this analogy, Singer kidnapped the child and raised it well but kidnap he did.
@@miipmiipmiip did he? Singer made key improvements & marketed the crap out of it while Howe was busy being supremely litigious rather than actually building a business. Howe is the father who sued for visitation and then dumped the kid on a relative during visitation. Meanwhile, Singer is the step parent who coached little league.
@@Chaotic_Pixie You're forgetting the decades of struggle after inventing the child, trying to sell it honestly to businessmen who claimed to his face that it was too expensive to manufacture, but immediately - immediately- began reverse engineering it from his presentations and/or copies of the patent itself. Remember, when he came back after losing everything and having to pawn the patent to survive, his machines were everywhere - it wasn't only Singer. Creative genius rarely comes with the worship of money that is at the soul of an entrepreneur - that's why entrepreneurs always have to steal it.
An absolutely hilarious - yet accurate history of the sewing machine. Isaac Singer's adventures are a whole other video! Oh and I love that wallpaper (I work at a decorators centre so will be scouring our mountain of pattern books as soon as I get a chance!)
Thank you for the mention. I'm so glad you like my restoration videos (even though they aren't as amusing as yours - Reserved Englishman) x
Thank you for you’re great restoration videos!!
@@AbbyCox>>> A am about halfway through this video. Is the footage of the foot treadle sewing machine being cleaned your video?
I ask because I have a foot treadle sewing machine that belonged to my maternal grandmother.
The reenactments are just ✨Chef's kiss✨ There's nothing I love more than people fully acknowledging how silly people in history are and have always been.
Being a digital artist and hearing you compare the sewing machine with AI made my heart drop. Like I had never thought of it this way. But it made the "threat" very relatable all of a sudden.
Oh and as a french person the whole bit at the beginning made me laugh so much. It even reminded me of things that have happened in my discord friend group when my friends would sometimes tell me "Pingu, your french is showing again." when I got too rebellious 🤐
I was not prepared for how much Abby's character acting would suck me into the history of sewing but boy howdy was that as enjoyable as it was informative.❤❤❤
Great video. Singer also came up with a payment plan so even more people could afford his machine. He was definitely brilliant
I was about to say! I learned about that from reading a novel actually; Belle and the Beau, set in the US just before the Civil War. Belle is a former slave who escapes to Michigan and after she's settled in and starts to do sewing for enjoyment, rather than because she had to as a slave, orders one of the Singer machines towards the end of the book. At the end of the novel, there's even some sources about the Singer machine and other topics too. Pretty neat!
As a french person I agree with this depiction of our people. Oui oui merguez for everyone ♥️(Love the vid)
Your portrail of the french is absolute chef's kiss gold! I live in France and can attest that yes as soon as the gouverment make any suggestion of a contentious reform (especially about retirement like at the moment) all hell breaks loose. No one protests like the french!
I have a Singer Featherweight from my 13th birthday (1972) an older machine at the time. It still works perfectly with new belts and has been serviced and is a delight. It is probably at least 20 years older than I am and is a great travel machine for going to cons and vacation and finishing last minute projects. I simply love it and have kept it all these years. I love my machines (own 7 different machines) and use them all of the time. I NEVER knew there was so much controversy over the invention of the original machine. Your video as always over the top, and a hoot to boot. I love that the price of basic machines has leveled out and the more elaborate machines are cost attainable in this day of resurgence for the creator. I do however do as much handsewn parts to my projects as possible especially the historic one. Thank you for sharing this information in such a whimsical way...oh and Viva' La France'.....
"Really important THREAD throughout the story of the sewing machine"- ouch! Between that pun and Les Miz and the striped shirt and seeing someone else who has read some French history and/or news, this is my favorite video in ages, and I'm only 5 minutes in.
When the Hollywood movie version of this story gets made, Abby shall be the technical supervisor AND the acting coach!
Plus, Abby Cox will direct the film, provide the costumes and act all of the parts. All she needs is Steven Spielberg to be the producer (i.e., the Money).
One of the first musicals I was ever in, during my middle school years, had a song about “the great new safety pin!” The script must have actually said Hunt’s name because when you said he was “more famous for inventing…” my mind automatically supplied “the safety pin”! I was shocked to be correct. :)
EDIT: Turns out the musical was “Rough N Ready” by Benjamin and Leyden, published in the early 60’s. Haven’t been able to find a libretto or anything about it beyond a list of musical numbers. I played Rosie Pickins in that production in 1974 or so, in a suburb of Rochester NY. I figured this out looking at a Yearbook from Paramus NJ in 1971. This was NOT my school, and several years before our production. But weirdly enough, I lived near Paramus just a few years later, for one year in 1976-77. After that, I moved to California, where I’ve been ever since. California being the location of the musical.
The internet is a strange place, and everyone and everything in the world is connected, if you keep looking long enough …. 😮
Please more Drunk Abby History Lessons! Pick any topic you’d like, we’ll all love it and learn something!
Totally agree! I could watch her do any topic like this. She rocked this one for sure!
@sarahallegra6239 - I hope not. She has been in therapy and seems to have conquered her depression and tendecy to self-medication. Honor her struggle and triumph.
@@MossyMozart “Drunk Abby” = “in the style of the show Drunk History,” which is what she did in this video. I don’t think Abby or anyone else familiar with the show took it as a suggestion to actually drink, especially since she wasn’t drinking in this video :)
😂 I talk about this with my grade 7 students when I introduce the sewing machine. It blows their minds that Singer was basically the publicist for the sewing machine.
I was gonna say “I want a movie about this” but honestly no one in Hollywood could make a piece of media as good let alone better than your video
We need to get a pareon together... lets fund Abbie and BB to make the film.
When I first started my history course in university we studied the French Revolution, nearly everyone in my class thought oh great we had a little background knowledge due to Les Mis or at least an idea of the time - nope it was a lesson to learn that that was actually the second revolution and we were looking at the first one 😂
Les Mis is not even the 2nd, more like the 4th (1789, 92, 1830, 32)... ;) One can argue it was even more.
@@am17frans always learning!
Tbf I'm French and probably learned about the Commune at school but didn't realise for a long time that's when Les Mis was set 😅
Didn't they have a revolution at some point in the 100 year war and stopped for a bit to revolt before continuing to fight the English?
French citizen here, just wanted to say we are indeed pretty revolutionary people. Always angry, always marching, striking for something, the cliché is mostly true.
Then again we have decent social security, paid leave, parental leave, minimum wage, unemployment benefits, the list goes on. We are currently trying to save our retirement plans. It seems to me more countries should be a little more revolutionary themselves🤷🏼♀️
I actually wrote a college paper on the history of Singer sewing machine's marketing so I'm weirdly obsessed with this topic. Loved learning even more, great video!
I just bought a 1947 Singer with her original cabinet (my first sewing machine), and she is a WORKHORSE. I'm so happy there's such a large community of vintage machine sewers! More history lessons please.
I inherited a machine a year newer than yours, and it had like 10 different feet with it! There is one for almost anything I can think of (the one that makes ruffles is a monstrosity)
I recently semi-impulse purchased a 1904 singer treadle machine. The decals were so dirty, the ones on the back were literally invisible and now they have the chance to shine again. I’m looking forward to restoring the desk and drawers this summer so I can really start using her 🎉 These machines are juggernauts and just so bad ass for surviving so long and still sewing perfectly with a bit of cleaning and futzing
As the owner and restorer of 100+ (both lockstitch and chainstitch) antique and vintage machines, I will always stand by these machines as being to any of the modern, plastic, computerized machines. They were built to last generations.
Thank you Abby for this mini history lesson.
Love the historical re-enactments! This is another of the many cases where the inventor isn’t the one getting the credit for the invention, rather it goes to the one who’s better at manufacturing, marketing and selling the invention. Even in cases like Apple where there was a true partnership, the inventor didn’t get the credit he deserved.
Yes, let’s see more about your treadle machine! Purely mechanical machines are ingenious and we should appreciate them in our computerized age.
As a French person who literally went to a protest yesterday, the beginning of this video amuses me oh so much. 😂
This! This is exactly why history is so hard to follow in a single tread! It's is so nuanced.
Thanks Abby for sharing (and dramatizing) the history of the sewing machine 🧵🪡
I'm obsessed with that furnace ad between the Howe ad and the Singer Ad in the Tribune. I just imagine some poor wide-eyed furnace manufacturer ducking and covering trying not to be caught in the Howe/Singer paintball war.
One thing that I loved when doing research on art history (19th) was uncovering the personal stories of who hated who and who trash talked who, and other little things like this. Newspapers are a great source for historians!
Love watching the restoration of that beautiful Singer in the background. I have a 1923 Singer 15-88 treadle machine. No fancy decals on that era, but she works like a champ. And the best part is that it takes modern bobbins, needles, and feet. I added a quick release foot to it and now I can use the zipperfoot from my Babylock on it. I can use a 1/4 inch / 1/8 inch foot if I'm quilting or sewing doll clothes. Buttons and zigzag are even there with a little care using the most amazing geared "feet" I inherited from my grandmother for her long gone 15-91 electric machine (same exact head but with a potted motor hanging from the back.) And I love that I can get rubber belts to replace the old leather ones which had a tendency to stretch and slip. New ones are a tube. Trim it and insert the connector into both ends. Adjustments are a 5 min process and only require scissors. The old leather belt needed a pin vice to drill the hole in the belt, a wicked staple, and a pair of needle nosed pliers to crimp it. Lots of holes in my fingers for that.
that's so wonderful that you can use the modern parts with a 1923 treadle machine!! thanks for sharing 😊
That Office Space copier scene reenactment with the little sewing machine was perfection. This video was as hilarious as it was informative and the sewing machine restoration was soothing
I clocked your Office Space destruction of the printer reference, even including the awkward axe kicks!!! I love it!!! Well done!!!
I’m just restoring an 1881 Singer fiddle base. She was rusting in a junk shop but now she’s working again. This is my fourth vintage Singer machine. I’m kinda addicted to rescuing them & bringing them back to life. 🧵❤️
Victorian era sewing machines are my favourite. I have a 13k new family (singer fiddle base) treadle and she is beautiful. Sadly it's difficult finding replacement sewing needles 😢
@@mandya9x934 I love how people are still caring for these machines. I need a replacement Feed dog, Bobbin winder & Needles for my 12! Wish me luck! 😄
@@ClockworkFaery Lol, I think we have the same addiction! I have a fiddlebase wertheim also and the great thing about it modern round shank needles fit it and it looks similar to the fiddlebase singers. Best of luck with with your 12k! I am sure you if you got it working it won't be long until you have it restored 🤞👍
I love this video so much! 😂 It reminds me of exactly how I would “explain” history in a loose summary to my friends when I was in university, and of how I would look at old newspaper articles in archives when I was doing my research for some of my history classes and getting excited by the little drama tidbits in the papers! Thanks for bringing back the nostalgia, Abby :)
I own a Singer sewing machine from around 1918 to the 1940s (the documents were destroyed during WW2, so I don't know for sure) and it is in extraordinarily good condition, looks and runs just as it was new with the original instructions, sewing needles, oil and sewing foots. Got it for free from the ex boyfriend of my mum and I love this thing to death. If my apartment building would burn down I would literally try to get this thing down from the second floor, that's how amazing it is. I also have a modern singer machine, but the antique one is just... Love.
Another great one, Abby. The Mass. connection may be due to the extensive clothing industry in New England (lots of small rivers, watermills run machines, cheap child labor at the time,. etc.,...).
I totally agree!
Underwood Typewriters and Royal Typewriters were both manufactured in Hartford, CT. Pretty close by. Though the Remington seems to be an upstate New York and Milwaukee, Wisconsin venture.
Those mills in New England and most industries in America and England were only possible because of my family and thousands of other American families who were American chattel slaves. Cotton was king. Read the book "The Half Has Never Been Told" by Edward E. Baptist to learn more.
I live next door in RI, and there was a thriving textile industry here too. We have the first cloth manufacturering mill in the US (Slater Mill) and there were many other weaving mills and clothing factories. My mother and my aunts all learned to sew from working in these places. I learned from my mother. I'm not surprised that the men involved with inventing the sewing machine were in MA.
None of these places exist anymore. The Slater Mill is a museum. All the industries went to China. Yes, the contributions of the wrongly enslaved people in the south do need to be acknowledged. The northern industries did rely on poor immigrants and children in their factories. They worked very hard and were paid very little.
Antique sewing machines is a rabbit hole. I bought my first last year (a treadle Husqvarna CB) and my second just last week (a hand-cranked Husqvarna Freja). Although we do have a fair share of Singer machines here too I really enjoy having machines manufactured in my home country. Thank you for this entertaining and educational video!
1st off the very beginning shot referencing Office Space was friggin hilarious! Also, Abby, I heard you on an interview over the radio NPR recently! It was so great to hear your insights. ❤
I can vouch for Native. I'm on medical leave due to cancer, and with all the things needed to beat this, I like natural stuff and LOVE their products. LOVE your videos, too. I own my mother's Singer Featherweight (circa mid to late 40s) and want to learn how to use it.
The chaos of this video is speaking to me. All history should be taught this way!
Found this video a literal day after I dated my grandmother's old Singer and what a fortuitous find! What an excellent and fun way to learn about the history of the invention of the sewing machine. Fantastic video!
Note: my grandmother's machine was manufactured in 1910! Quite a bit older than I was expecting, but I did remember later that she once mentioned that she herself had inherited it from someone (she was born in 1933, so she must have).
Abby, what an amazing video! I always tell a bit about sewing machine history in my sewing classes (btw, Singer also invented payment plans, this was another amazing marketing and sales strategy of his), but your video is packed with information, gossip and super fun impressions! 😂 I Will recommend it to my english speaker students! I love the way you express yourself creatively, such an inspiration, thank you for being just the way you are (and sorry about my english, kisses from Brazil😘)
You English is excellent!
@@m.maclellan7147 thank you, dear! 😊
I have 4 Singers, they are awesome little work horses and I am so glad that I can still get parts for them!
To be honest, that toy sewing machine had it coming. Garbage. I love your storytelling, btw. Giving Drunk History.
Thought the same thing! I think I tried to learn years ago on that exact model and it was infinitely harder than my mom's old babylock.
I had one of those and quickly begged to go use my mom's machines like a "big girl"
Having attempted to use the Toy machine successfully... that Dramatical re-enactment was so Cathartic! Was it so to you as well, Abby?
I love the Drunk History and the footage of your Singer maintenance. It reminds me of when I disassembled and cleaned mine. I do believe you were more thorough than I was. 😊
Thanks for another amazing video
I really do love how much I learn from you. The fun, the knowledge, and the sass. I can’t tell you how much you lift up my spirits. My dad passed in December and it’s been tough some days. On the super rough days I just watch your videos!
I have a singer 201 from the 40s and it's still in it's original wood cabinet with the little stool and it still works flawlessly 🥰 I love how durable this machine is, and how i can still buy parts for it even all these years later. This was a very informative and hilarious video. Well done
How is it that I'm watching this on the EXACT day of my saturn return? I wondered what that was so I looked it up from an article from 2019... and it's literally today. I'm spooked now, thanks abby
I have possession of my great-great-grandmother's Singer sewing machine. Up until the cable to the treadle broke 15 years ago, it worked just fine. I need to work on restoring it.
Thanks for this fun and interesting video!
Abby! More historistical stories in this format please. Very entertaining
How have I never seen this channel before?! 😂 Super funny, great video!
Greetings from East Kentucky! This was a great and fun video! The sewing machine war is such an odd bit of history. My dad's retirement hobby has been restoring antique sewing machines and making quilt tops on them. My sisters and I tease that he runs a home for wayward sewing machines, lol! He owns about 30 including a few Howe machines. Dad has said that someone in Howe's family was a weaver and watching them weave is where Howe got the idea for the shuttle, but I'm not sure how true that actually is.
I've always thought that story at least felt true. It's not a big jump from a loom shuttle to a lockstitch shuttle.
I loved this historical piece, but also loved you clean and restore the treadle machine at the same time. So satisfying!
I can't believe you talked about the grills, haha. The CGT which is a union, has cooked merguez and sausages at the end of protests for years. It seemed some people couldn't wait until the end of the walk lol
My dad once told me the story of one of our ancestors who, when the sewing machine was just starting to become popular, was contacted by his southern cousin who suggested that they should go in business together to start a factory to make sewing machines. The northern cousin agreed, and took a train down south. The southern cousin met him at the station, robbed him, and left him on the platform!
Okay that’s some family drama 😭 I can’t imagine doing that to any of my cousins!!
Kudos to Abby not sounding moralistic and preachy when tackling social justice issues. I MEAN it, I'm not being sarcastic.
Agreed!
As a sewist for 51 years, I found this video to be very informative. I love when I see something new. I own a Singer 99k. The old singers are made of iron, and don’t break like the ones today. You have maintain them of course.
Shout out from Spencer, Massachusetts here the birthplace of Elias Howe! My sister told me before we moved here which only made me love our home even more!
Would love to have you do the history of the industrial chain stitch embroidery sewing machine. Similar history of early machines getting destroyed by the tambour seamstresses! I wanted one of these machines since I was in grad school cataloging pieces and saw the beautiful embroidery done by these machines. Finally got one and I'm totally "hooked" 😂
Loved the history. I have a "New Home" sewing machine that my grandmother bought back in 1901 when she got married. She sewed on it until her death. (She lived to be 91 years old.) It is in storage now, but watching you restore your old machine gives me hope. Thank you for the video and interesting history on sewing machines.
This is exactly the controlled chaos I needed. Someone needs to turn this story into a musical.
Thank you so much for this incredible piece of work! It must've taken a TON OF WORK to research, film, and edit it, all while making it so clever and fun to watch. Extremely well done!!
It must've been an absolute hoot to play with all those moustaches 🤣 Howe had great OFMD Calico Jack vibes
"He's lawyered up and is just suing the 💩 out of everybody.!!!!"😂😂😂
Abby!!! I have a sphinx, too! Your machine is gorgeous!! I just squee'd when I recognized your decals. Mine was manufactured in 1906.
This was fantastic, and I loved all of the fun you had it.
This was a super fun and interesting video to watch. I was also really interested in the things you were doing to clean and maintain your Singer sewing machine. I have a Singer 27 from the early 1900s that I got in almost pristine condition. I gently cleaned it with sewing machine oil and a soft cloth and I oiled it and it runs perfectly, but I'd love to learn more about antique machine maintenance.
Loved this video 😂❤ I learned the real history today. If some one asked me who invented the sewing machine before watching this video I would have said "Singer".
Now I know better. I still love the antique Singer Sewing machine I first learned on. It could only do forward and backward stitching. The rest I did manually . How ever it was converted to electric.
I no longer have my antique sewing machine. Pout
Fantastic video! I loved this newer format you have gone with! The reconstructions are hilarious and made the story ever more dramatic! Men being petty as always!
i usually watch your videos on tv (with my husband who also loves your videos) and so i don't usually comment, but i had to go on to tell you how much i LOVED this video. you are hilarious and informative! i particularly loved watching your efforts to restore a machine at the same time. awesome video.
I laughed so hard at the first story! I am French btw. And then you made a wonderful point balancing the story with social and economic background. This was such an interesting and well done video - thank you very much for this!
I own two vintage Singer 201k, a French labeled antique sewing machine from the beginning of 1900´s (but apparently made in Germany) and I love them. I have heard of Howe before but yes, Singer definitely won the final battle. 🤷🏻♀️😅
I love old sewing machines. I've collected several and done light restorations on three treadles so far (video of one is on my channel). They were marvels of engineering, and the patent rush of the mid-1800s led to so many interesting variations. I just purchased (kind of by accident) an 1858 toy chainstitch machine by a company that only existed for 2 years yet had at least three patents for 'improvements' to the sewing machine.
*reinvented the safety pin
Romans had brooches that are almost exactly like safety pins.
It’s interesting reading the comments. A number of people have a single antique sewing machine, but it seems just as many if not more are collectors with multiple machines of various vintages and manufacturers. It’s definitely a passion!
Abby, you’re a blast! Never has sewing machine history been presented so magnificently!
i love how you had a small comedic intro but you get right into it. you’re a really great speaker!!!
The Office Space a la Peaky Blinders moment and Ylvis Brothers (I live in Norway) sent me. There's so much we'll never know how something, even with some foresight and inclination, is going to affect the patterns of society until enough time has passed. The sewing machine is definitely a double edged sword in society.
Love the Office Space reference- my favorite scene! What great storytelling! Thanks Abby
Anyone wanting a breakdown of some of more technical aspects of the sewing machines history I recommend an episode of The Secret Life Of Machines from the early 90s, the original creator (the same man behind the strange arcade Abby and others visited last year in London) has uploaded it to UA-cam. It contains a giant needle used to demonstrate lock stitch, as well as a look at a collection of antique machines including one shaped like a lion.
WOW that story was wild from start to finish! Thank you so much for making it, it looked like it was a lot of fun :D
Always happy for geeky history! This was cool.
Wow, this was fascinating and hilariously presented 😄
I love my Singer machine, my grandma bought it for me in the 80s to learn how to sew and I still use it today, works great. When my mother-in-law (who lives on the other side of the planet in what many would consider a 3rd world country) came to visit us, she was so excited to see my machine and hugged me and told me she has exactly the same one.
We do small revolutions to remind the president that if he behave like a king he end up like one 😅
I’m just over here watching it happen wishing the us had the same vibes 🥹
@AbbyCox after we take down macron we come to the rescue ( and bring cheese )
Between my sister and I we have the first sewing machine my mom learned to sew on, my first machine and my sister's. We also have a modern treadle machine my Dad bought my mom. Then we have a serger and my second machine and another machine of my mom's that my sister uses. Of all these sewing machines all but two are Singer. I totally enjoyed learning about the history of the sewing machine. I love your "history lessons"! Please keep making videos like this. Some people may not care for them but I love them
Were your neighbors a bit concerned. Like who hurt you with a sewing machine 😂
Nah my close neighbors know what I do and the broken toy sewing machine was from one of them lol
You make me laugh and I learn things 😅greatly enjoyed this one. I have a 1910 Singer,still all original, I love it
Anyone here remember The Inventors Song? "Howe knew how to make the sewing machine |The Wrights learned the right way to fly| So when you're spelling the word "America" don't forget to dot the 'i' for the inventors| Don't forget to dot the 'i'"
This video * chefs kiss * from your office space opening I knew we were in for a fun ride. You made patent law entertaining and interesting!
This is awesome! If only all history lessons were this entertaining. 😂The parody with the French tailor beating the $&!@ out the toy sewing machine. And the top hat plus editing between Howe and Singer was chefs kiss. Also, your hair in your narration shots is so pretty!!! 😍 (On a side note; I recently chucked my cheap ass sewing machine out of sheer frustration and decided to sew myself a brand new wardrobe almost entirely by hand. There are a few pieces I am sourcing from verifiable slow fashion but, the majority I am making myself, without a sewing machine.)
Also, I just shared this video with a lot of friends and family. 😊
I only ever knew that Elias Howe invented the sewing machine because I loved the movie Help! as a child and as a joke at the end they dedicate the movie to Elias Howe while panning out on a Singer machine while the Beatles fight on the beach.
This is also how I know it was Howe.
And this is why I love You Tube. And I love teachers like you. Thank you for this video, Abby!!!
This is potentially my favorite video you've ever made. Loved it!
I don't have to be jealous of Abby anymore. Because I'm adopting my own DOG!
Congratulations!
Congratulations!
I'm crying over the beginning of the video XD As a French, I can only wholeheartedly agree with the way you presented it!
(And the video was awesome, but as all your other videos, so that's a given ^^)
Okay, please more of the one woman historical reenactments of drama! That was brilliant and hilarious and wonderfully informative!
(Also, thanks for including the sneaky "tolling of the belles" pun)
My cousin recently passed along a family heirloom to me - a “Domestic” brand treadle sewing machine. I’ve been trying to learn more about it so have recently been venturing down the rabbit hole of antique machines and this video is timed perfectly!
Love the storytelling and thanks for the humor!!!
My new/old machine is a fiddle base coffin top cabinet that my Great “old maid” Aunts used. Aunt Minnie and Aunt Birdie made countless dresses, dungarees and quilts on this machine - it is a workhorse. I actually have a couple of the quilts they made - they are hand pieced but the binding is treadle stitched, likely on this very machine. The lock on the coffin top is etched “PAT’D MAR 16 69 FEB 4 79.” I was sharing the story with someone and you should have seen their eyes open wide when I reminded them that would be 1869 to 1879 LOL. Based on the cabinet design it seems to be a Domestic No. 4. The wood cabinet has been refinished but the metal bits including the machine head needs some serious TLC. As you’d expect I need a new belt but also have to take some elbow grease to the bobbin winder, etc. The front part of the face plate is missing. Thankfully have the shuttle and one bobbin (only one). Pretty sure this baby has not seen a good cleaning / oil since the 1960s when my Aunts passed away. Super thankful it was passed around to family and that I finally have the opportunity to bring her back to life.
Thanks for presenting to us this fascinating slice of history!