Name/Title
Singer sewing machine c. 1871Entry/Object ID
0000.011.1Description
Portable, hand crank Singer sewing machine on wooden base. Serial #728998 c. 1871Context
The date provided is noted by the register number and may not reflect the use period of this machine, which could have been after this registration date.
This beautiful hand-crank sewing machine is among the earliest registered Singer machines. Though the company had been producing machines from the mid-19th century onwards, registration dates seem to begin in around 1871. These machines sew very quietly as opposed to modern machine and revolutionized the textile industry. A faster option than hand sewing (though this was still used in abundance) the sewing machine allowed for commercial clothing production to join in the industrialization of professions and eventually led to the massive fast fashion industry we have today.
Historical Context:
1871 is an important date in West Coast history, as it is the year British Columbia entered Canada, and not for nothing. BC had demanded not only that Ottawa should take on the at-the-time-colony's debt but also that there be a carriage road to connect the wealthy East to the far West where BC resided, thus making way for the infamous CPR to enter the story of Canada, all of which Ottawa agreed to. A year later would mark the start of the CPR-based 'Pacific Scandal' (1872-1873) which was only worsened by the very real fear of the American annexation of British Columbia--another driving force for its entrance into Canadian Confederation. It is also one year after the Manitoba Act, which followed in the wake of the Red River Resistance (1869-1870) and created the postage-stamp province of Manitoba under the protection of Louis Riel. Canada itself was only four years old as a country and was still very much influenced by it's colonial mother England, for better or for worse.
