Charlee

I like to browse Google Books...and every once in awhile when I'm looking for something more serious, I find an article or story that's just plain fun to read!

If you follow this link, it should take you to an e-copy of "The Ladies Repository" magazine from 1869, and if you scroll down to "page 48", there is a story entitled. "My Friend's Sewing Machine Experience".

Fun stuff, and what's interesting, is that little has changed in the "bones" of the story between then and now!

The Ladies Repository

Muv

Great article, Charlee. Must dash off and ruffle my drawers.

Nanamoms

I LOVE the way the article reads...such pride in language...not so much today! I sometimes wonder if we don't allow our machines to overwhelm us with all their doodads and stitchings. LOL

Charlee

@ Muv! The remark about "looking like Quaker children" amused me too! (Like there's something wrong with modesty???)

I found a couple of other pieces that amused me... one was an article that referred to treadle sewing machines as an intrument of the devil, saying that the action of treadling excited women in an indecent manner. (An 1858 Methodist publication) The other referred to a comparison between riding a bicycle and treadling as being much the same kind of exersize, and laid that to rest saying that it was not the same at all, because treadling used only the muscle from the knee down, whereas the bicycle used the whole leg. The article, in a gynecology article, indicated sewing is bad for one's health:

"The sewing machine is used in a room with a bad atmosphere while wearing unhygenic clothing; the eyes are following a seam only twelve inches distant, producing eye strain and other nervous symptoms, simply from the extreme monotony and drudgery of the work. The sewing machine causes statis of the blood in the lower limbs and pelvic organs because of the bent posture. Bicycling demands deep inspiration; operating the sewing machine does not."

Oh my...what an unhealthy hobby we've chosen!!

kitsykeel

Well, Charlee, regarding the Methodist minister: It may be bad for our posture, blood flow, and pelvic organs, but it does so much good for our mental health. I guess the article was written by a male gyn who would have thought a take-up lever was that thing that raises and lowers a hospital bed, or one who had never sewn a bit in his life. Therefore, he could never appreciate the hours enjoyed by those who quilt or sews any beautiful object. Our bodies may go the way of gravity and decay, but the mental satisfaction and pleasure help to make us the happy, mentally healthy individuals we are.

Ccorazone

Rightly said. Hurray for you.

Charlee

I should have worded that differently. The Methodist publication said that treadle sewing machines were evil. An article in a trade publication for doctors, specifically for gynecologists, said the rest of it... BOTH publications were from the mid 1800's.

Lyncat

Thanks for sharing these. Great insomnia reading as I'm watching the sky start it's pre sunrise action.

SunlitenSmiles

in the 1930's when my mother was expecting my big sister the sewing machine salesman wouldnot let my parents buy a treadle machine because "treadling causes misscarriage".

so the story goes my mom had to "learn all over, how to sew" as she had always used a treadle.

BuzzinBumble

"Many a mickle makes a muckle." Loved the story Charlee!