Originally Posted by
ThayerRags
My favorite trivia about the history of the sewing machine, was when an early sewing machine was designed and manufactured by Barthélemy Thimonnier of France in 1841 that merely mechanized the hand-sewing operation to mass-produce uniforms for the French Army, but rioting Tailors attacked his factory and destroyed the machines. The men (Tailors) thought that the machines would surely put them all out of business.
CD in Oklahoma
One of my favorites, also! Used that in my guild talk. Saddest was Thomas Saint's story. In 1790 he filed for a patent on a sewing machine. The patent office didn't know which category to file it under, so they filed it under bookbinding. The patent was misfiled for 100 years. He could never prove that others were using his patented ideas!