Beautiful relics.
This store on Geary Street in San Francisco affects a ‘bespoke English tradition of tailoring’ image; in reality, the stuff inside is trashy clothing for teenagers. But who could fail to be drawn in by this exhibit of classic Singer sewing machines?
G1, kit lens @ 20mm, 1/320, f/2.8 ISO320.
It’s hard to imagine the size of the fortune made by Isaac Singer (1811-1875) with his great invention, which saw standardized parts used to make manufacturing as efficient as possible. Add the availability of installment payment plans and the business went ballistic. In the book “The Wealthy 100“, which computes American fortunes as a fraction of Gross National Product, thus rendering comparison between then and now meaningful, Singer ranks as the 52 wealthiest American ever; his partner, Edward Clark, who came up with the installment sale idea is at #33. Even then the world treated banksters favorably. $5 down and payments for ever on the remaining $95. By comparison, Bill Gates is at #31. Unlike Gates, Singer gave the world something that worked and worked well.
The store clerk told me they have 600 (six hundred!) machines all told and, looking around, I have no reason to doubt that. They were nice enough to let me take a snap from inside which shows the machines, each individually illuminated, at their best. These are objects of great mechanical beauty, as usable today as the day they were created.
The store is named All Saints and is at 140 Geary Street, San Francisco.
I was lucky enough to receive, in 1971, the old Singer my Grandmother used all her life. I can even remember my father electrifying it for her when I was very young. I actually made my daughter’s baby clothes on the ancient machine – which remains a special memory for me. Especially since my Grandmother was long dead and would never see her Great-Grandchild. Thanks for the image and for rekindling a warm memory.