How Did The Singer Sewing Machines Affect Australian Women In The 1950s

Although many, during the 1950s, were still recovering from the aftermath of the Second World War, the new decade saw many changes to the Australian way of life. The conflicts of World War Two not only changed the average family composition, but also altered gender roles and employment opportunities for women. In a similar way, the Singer Sewing Machine also had a major influence on many lives of women; it not only allowed women to complete household chores more efficiently, but also allowed for females to learn a useful skill that was marketable in the work industry. In saying this, women’s fashion of the 1950s had transitioned into a more free and informal style, in contrast to the traditional and restricted trend of the previous decade.

At the time, many inventors had patented different parts of the machine, which initiated the competitive Sewing Machine War. The president of Grover and Baker Sewing Machine Company, Orlando Brunson Potter suggested the unprecedented idea that rivals: Howe, Singer, Grover and Baker as well as manufacturers Wilson and Wheeler, should merge businesses, into the Singer Corporation, and combine their ideas into what has become the Singer Automatic. It consists of Howe’s lockstitch, Wheeler and Wilsons’ idea of the four-motion feed and Singer’s combination of a vertical needle with a horizontal sewing surface. Singer initially showcased the machine at social gatherings, and it was here, that he convinced women that it was a tool that they too could learn how to use. The company expanded internationally, and began to open factories around the world, as a way of minimalizing transportation costs and import duties. The product was packed in its packing crate and was accompanied with a wooden treadle, which allowed for a seamstress to operate the machine with her feet, whilst guiding the piece of fabric with both hands. Women were the predominant users of the machine, they not only used it for domestic purposes, but also in textile mills, where there, the machine gained social acceptance as it was used to mass produce not only clothing, but upholstery for furniture, automobile seats, curtains and towels. Although there was a change in women’s fashion and employment opportunities in the textiles industry because of the Singer Sewing Machine, many women were still deprived of basic rights and as such, were subjected to negative