International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society

The purpose of the International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society is to foster the collecting of, and research into, sewing machines.

HomeHowe Sewing Machine Company

• Bobbin & Shuttle
• Detailed reference photograph of an original Howe sewing machine bobbin and shuttle assembly, the critical components responsible for forming the machine's distinctive lock-stitch.
• Case against Howe
• Graham Forsdyke challenges the traditional narrative of Elias Howe as the sewing machine inventor, presenting evidence that John Fisher's earlier patent may have contained the crucial innovations Howe later claimed as his own.
• Fraudulent fortune: Howe is accused again
• Captain Rouffner's 1885 revelation suggests a conspiracy among early sewing machine manufacturers who discovered Howe's patent infringement but agreed to maintain the fraud to protect their inflated machine prices.
• Howe's Version of History
• This revealing historical document presents Elias Howe's autobiographical account of inventing the sewing machine, authored by his UK manager Nahum Salamon and published in 1861 to promote "Genuine Howe Machines."
• Who Invented the Sewing Machine?
• One Man's View
• This fascinating 1861 Leisure Hour magazine account offers contemporary insights into early sewing machines, describing their operation and prophetically predicting how mechanical sewing would transform domestic life and manufacturing.
• The Howe Sewing Machine
• Martin Gregory examines the technical features and business history of the Howe sewing machine, distinguishing between the machines produced by Amasa Howe's company and those of Elias Howe's later enterprise.
• Howe Sewing Machine Company's "Express"
• The rare Howe Express hand machine features a unique rotary hook design based on James Starley's 1868 patent, revealing the business relationship between the Howe Sewing Machine Company and the Coventry Machinists Company.
• Using Your Attachments: The Underbraider
• New B Sewing Machine Manual
• Howe New Family Sewing Machine Manual
• The Howe Sewing Machine Instructor. New Family Sewing Machine. The Howe Machine Company, 699 Broadway, New York
• Instruction Book for the Howe Step Feed Sewing Machine
• Tables for the Improved Family Sewing Machines