The sewing machine was once thought to be an impossible invention. It was such a complicated contraption that it would take more than one inventor, with more than one good idea, to make it work. Each of these inventors, including the notorious Isaac Singer, wanted the credit (and the fortune that came with it) for themselves. And so began the sewing machine war: a mire of backstabbing, stealing and misogyny.
This episode was originally released to members of the Cautionary Club. Club members get access to ad-free listening, monthly bonus episodes, monthly behind-the-scenes video conversations with the production team, and our monthly newsletter. Please consider joining if you would like to support what we do on Cautionary Tales. Thank you!
[Apple] [Spotify] [Stitcher]
Further reading
A recent biography of Isaac Singer is Alex Askaroff’s “Isaac Singer: The First Capitalist“, but if you can find a copy the definitive book about Singer remains Ruth Brandon’s 1977 biography “Singer and the Sewing Machine“. A contemporary account focused on Elias Howe is James Parton’s 1867 article in Atlantic Monthly, History of the Sewing Machine. The sewing machine wars are covered in detail in Adam Mossoff’s paper The Rise and Fall of the First American Patent Thicket, published in the Arizona Law Review.
