His machine was good, but, rather than its surpassing
merits, it was his wonderful business ability that made the name
of Singer a household word.
By 1856 there were several manufacturers in the field,
threatening war on each other. All men were paying tribute to
Howe, for his patent was basic, and all could join in fighting
him, but there were several other devices almost equally
fundamental, and even if Howe's patents had been declared void it
is probable that his competitors would have fought quite as
fiercely among themselves. At the suggestion of George Gifford, a
New York attorney, the leading inventors and manufacturers agreed
to pool their inventions and to establish a fixed license fee for
the use of each. This "combination" was composed of Elias Howe,
Wheeler and Wilson, Grover and Baker, and I. M. Singer, and
dominated the field until after 1877, when the majority of the
basic patents expired. The members manufactured sewing machines
and sold them in America and Europe. Singer introduced the
installment plan of sale, to bring the machine within reach of
the poor, and the sewing machine agent, with a machine or two on
his wagon, drove through every small town and country district,
demonstrating and selling. Meanwhile the price of the machines
steadily fell, until it seemed that Singer's slogan, "A machine
in every home!" was in a fair way to be realized, had not another
development of the sewing machine intervened.
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