Singer Corporation

File:Singer Sewing Machine 1851.jpg]]

Singer's original design was the first practical sewing machine for general domestic use. It incorporated the basic eye-pointed needle and lock stitch, developed by Elias Howe, who won a patent-infringement suit against Singer in 1854.

File:Singer Sewing Machine Patent Model, No. 8,294, 1851.jpg for his sewing machine]]

Singer obtained {{US patent|8294|patent no. 8294}} in August 1851 for an improved sewing machine that included a circular feed wheel, thread controller, and power transmitted by gear wheels and shafting.{{cite web|url=http://www.machine-history.com/THE%20SEWING%20MACHINE|title=Sewing machine history|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328220834/http://www.machine-history.com/THE%20SEWING%20MACHINE|archive-date=2010-03-28}}

Singer consolidated enough patents in the field to enable him to engage in mass production, and by 1860 his company was the largest manufacturer of sewing machines in the world.

In 1885 Singer built a new works at Kilbowie (designed by Robert EwanDictionary of Scottish Architects: Robert Ewan) which produced its first "vibrating shuttle" sewing machine, an improvement over contemporary transverse shuttle designs (see bobbin drivers). The Singer company began to market its machines internationally in 1855 and won first prize at the Paris World's Fair that year. The company demonstrated the first workable electric sewing machine in 1910. Singer was also a marketing innovator and a pioneer in promoting the use of installment payment plans.

File:Singer-logo old.png

By 1876, Singer was claiming cumulative sales of two million sewing machines and had put the two millionth machine on display in Philadelphia.{{cite book|title=Fort Moultrie Centennial, Part II|date=1876|publisher=Walker, Evans & Cogswell|location=Charleston|page=29|url=http://digital.tcl.sc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/sclpam/id/711 |access-date=September 22, 2014}}

File:People leaving Singer Sewing Machine Factory, Clydebank.jpg

In 1867, the Singer Company decided that the demand for their sewing machines in the United Kingdom was sufficiently high to open a local factory in Glasgow on John Street. The Vice President of Singer, George Ross McKenzie selected Glasgow because of its iron making industries, cheap labour, and shipping capabilities.{{cite book |last1=Hounshell |first1=David |title=From the American System to Mass Production, 1800–1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States |date=1984 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore and London |isbn=978-0801831584 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/fromamericansyst0000houn/page/93 93]–94 |url=https://archive.org/details/fromamericansyst0000houn |url-access=registration |language=en}} Demand for sewing machines outstripped production at the new plant and by 1873, a new larger factory was completed on James Street, Bridgeton. By that point, Singer employed over 2,000 people in Scotland, but they still could not produce enough machines.

In 1882, McKenzie, by then President-elect of the Singer Manufacturing Company, undertook the ground breaking ceremony on {{convert|46|acre}} of farmland at Kilbowie, Clydebank. Originally, two main buildings were constructed, each {{convert|800|ft|adj=on}} long, {{convert|50|ft|adj=on}} wide and three storeys high. These were connected by three wings. Built above the middle wing was a {{convert|200|ft|adj=on}} tall clock tower with the "Singer" name clearly displayed for all to see for miles around. A total of {{convert|2.75|mi}} of railway lines were laid throughout the factory to connect the different departments such as the boiler room, foundry, shipping and the lines to main railway stations. Sir Robert McAlpine was the building contractor and the factory was designed to be fire proof with water sprinklers, making it the most modern factory in Europe at that time.{{cite web|url=http://www.sir-robert-mcalpine.com/files/page/200/SRMBrochure2010_web1.pdf|title=A portrait of achievement|publisher=Sir Robert McAlpine|access-date=April 24, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508151434/http://www.sir-robert-mcalpine.com/files/page/200/SRMBrochure2010_web1.pdf|archive-date=May 8, 2016}}

With nearly a million square feet of space and almost 7,000 employees, it was possible to produce on average 13,000 machines a week, making it the largest sewing machine factory in the world. The Clydebank factory was so productive that in 1905, the U.S. Singer Company set up and registered the Singer Manufacturing Company Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Demand continued to exceed production, so each building was extended upwards to 6 storeys high. A railway station with the company name was established in 1907 with connections to adjoining towns and central Glasgow to assist in transporting the workforce to the facility. Increased productivity came from 'scientific management' techniques which increased workloads whilst keeping salary overheads low, and in 1911, a mass walk out of 10,000 workers, the 'Singer Strike',{{Cite web |title=Red Clydeside: The Singer strike 1911 |url=http://gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk/redclyde/redclyeve01.htm |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=gdl.cdlr.strath.ac.uk}} took place in support of twelve women polishers, who had seen three staff dismissed, but the workload remained the same with no extra pay.{{Cite web |title=The Strike at Singer's by John Maclean 1911 |url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/maclean/1911/04/singers-strike.htm |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=marxists.org}} It was significant in its recognition of the rights of women workers{{Cite web |title=The contribution of women in the Singer factory strike of 1911 |url=https://www.open.edu/openlearn/society-politics-law/society-politics-law/the-contribution-women-the-singer-factory-strike-1911 |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=The contribution of women in the Singer factory strike of 1911 |language=en}} and 'collective bargaining' and predated the labour movement known as 'Red Clydeside'.{{Cite web |title=Singer Sewing Machine Strike |url=https://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/the_big_singer_strike.html |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=International Sewing Machine Collectors Society |language=en}}{{Cite web |title= Singer Sewing Factory strike |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/modern_scotland/the_singer_strike/ |access-date=2022-03-10 |publisher=BBC – Scotland's History|language=en-GB}}{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/22625271 |title=The Singer strike Clydebank, 1911 |date=1989 |publisher=Clydebank District Library |others=Ishbel Ballantine, Glasgow Labour History Workshop, Clydebank District Library |isbn=0-906938-07-4 |location=[Clydebank] |oclc=22625271}} A centenary film was made by the BBC about the female workers who stood up to the American management.{{Cite web |title=Exclusive pics of 1911 shoot: Singer Factory Strike |url=http://www.hopscotchfilms.co.uk/news/2011/12/15/exclusive-pics-of-1911-shoot-singer-factory-strike.html |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=Hopscotch Films {{!}} TV & Film Production Company |date=December 15, 2011 |language=en-US}}

In the First World War, sewing machine production gave way to munitions. The Singer Clydebank factory received over 5000 government contracts, and made 303 million artillery shells, shell components, fuses, and aeroplane parts, as well as grenades, rifle parts, and 361,000 horseshoes. Its labour force of 14,000 was about 70% female at war's end.{{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Robert Bruce |title=Peacefully working to conquer the world: Singer sewing machines in foreign markets |date=1976 |publisher=Arno Press |page=170 |isbn=978-0-405-09270-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/peacefullyworkin0000davi}}

From its opening in 1884 until 1943, the Kilbowie factory produced approximately 36,000,000 sewing machines. Singer was the world leader and sold more machines than all the other makers added together. In 1913, the factory shipped 1.3 million machines. The late 1950s and 1960s saw a period of significant change at the Clydebank factory. In 1958, Singer reduced production at their main American plant and transferred 40% of this production to the Clydebank factory in a bid to reduce costs. Between 1961 and 1964, the Clydebank factory underwent a £4 million modernisation programme which saw the Clydebank factory cease the production of cast iron machines and focus on the production of aluminium machines for western markets. As part of this modernisation programme, the famous Singer Clock was demolished in 1963. At the height of its productiveness in the mid-1960s, Singer employed over 16,000 workers but by the end of that decade, compulsory redundancies were taking place and 10 years later the workforce was down to 5,000. Financial problems and lack of orders forced the world's largest sewing machine factory to close in June 1980, bringing to an end over 100 years of sewing machine production in Scotland. The complex of buildings was demolished in 1998.{{cite web|url=http://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/kilbowie/|title=Singer Sewing Machine Factory Kilbowie, Clydebank}}

An archive about the factory, the strike and the history of its business in Scotland, is regarded as a recognised collection of national significance by Museums Galleries Scotland.{{Cite web |title=Singer |url=https://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/leisure-parks-events/museums-and-galleries/collections/singer/ |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=west-dunbarton.gov.uk |language=en}}

File:singersign.JPG

File:Singer-P1010053.jpg with electric retrofit]]

File:Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6346702.jpg, Milan 1963. The machine is a model 191.]]

The Singer sewing machine was the first complex standardised technology to be mass marketed. It was not the first sewing machine, and its patent in 1851 led to a patent battle with Elias Howe, inventor of the lockstitch machine. This eventually resulted in a patent sharing accord among the major firms.Joan Perkin, "Sewing Machines: Liberation or Drudgery for Women?" History Today 52 (Dec. 2002). Marketing strategies included focusing on the manufacturing industry,{{cite journal |last1=Godley |first1=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Godley |title=Selling the Sewing Machine Around the World: Singer's International Marketing Strategies, 1850–1920 |journal=Enterprise and Society |date=June 2006 |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=266–314 |doi=10.1093/es/khj037 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/enterprise-and-society/article/abs/selling-the-sewing-machine-around-the-world-singers-international-marketing-strategies-18501920/D1808771EB8E71918105884E42E7E276}} gender identity,{{cite journal |last1=Coffin |first1=Judith G. |title=Credit, Consumption, and Images of Women's Desires: Selling the Sewing Machine in Late Nineteenth-Century France |journal=French Historical Studies |date=1994 |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=749–783 |doi=10.2307/286691 |jstor=286691}} credit plans, and "hire purchases."

Singer's marketing emphasized the role of women and their relationship to the home, evoking ideals of virtue, modesty, and diligence. Though the sewing machine represented liberation from arduous hand sewing, it chiefly benefited those sewing for their families and themselves. Tradespeople relying on sewing as a livelihood still suffered from poor wages, which dropped further in response to the time savings gained by machine sewing. Singer offered credit purchases and rent-to-own arrangements, allowing people to rent a machine with the rental payments applied to the eventual purchase of the machine, and sold globally through the use of direct-sales door-to-door canvassers to demonstrate and sell the machines.

During World War II, the company suspended sewing machine production to take on government contracts for weapons manufacturing. Factories in the United States supplied the American forces with Norden bomb sights and M1 Carbine rifle receivers, while factories in Germany provided their armed forces with weapons.Sanders, Richard [http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/53/clark.html Robert S. Clark (1877–1956)], Press for Conversion! magazine, Issue 53, "Facing the Corporate Roots of American Fascism," March 2004. Published by the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade.

In 1939, the company was given a production study by the government to draw plans and develop standard raw material sizes for building M1911A1 pistols. The following April 17, Singer was given an educational order of 500 units with serial numbers S800001 – S800500. The educational order was a programme set up by the Ordnance Board in the U.S. to teach companies without gun-making experience to manufacture weapons.

Singer delivered 500 units to the U.S. government. Although Singer was unable to produce 100 guns a day, which the government contract required, the War Department was impressed with the quality of their pistols and asked the company to produce navigation and targeting equipment components.{{r|popmech}} The pistol tooling and manufacturing machines were transferred to Remington Rand whilst some went to the Ithaca Gun Company. Approximately 1.75 million 1911A1 pistols were produced during World War II, making original Singer pistols relatively rare and collectable.{{cite web|last1=Karash|first1=Karl|title=Singer Manufacturing Co|url=http://www.coolgunsite.com/images/1911/singer1911a1.htm|website=coolgunsite.com|publisher=Moore, Ty|access-date=April 15, 2019|year=2002}} In 2017, one sold at auction for $414,000.{{cite web | title=When the Singer Sewing Machine Company Built the Best .45 Pistol Ever Made | website=Popular Mechanics | date=November 2, 2021 | url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a23340620/singer-sewing-machine-company-45-pistol-gun/ | access-date=November 25, 2022}}

In December 1940, Singer won a contract to produce the M5 Antiaircraft Director, a version of the UK-designed Kerrison Predictor. The US Army had previously adopted the M7 Computing Sight for their 37 mm gun M1 anti-aircraft guns, but the gun proved temperamental and Sperry Corporation was too busy producing other systems to build the required number of M7's. After testing in September 1940, the Army accepted the Kerrison as the M5, and later, the Bofors 40 mm gun in place of the M1.{{cite journal|title=Anti-aircraft fire control and the development of integrated systems at Sperry, 1925-40|journal=IEEE Control Systems Magazine|volume=15|issue=2|date= April 1995|pages=108–113|issn=1066-033X|doi=10.1109/37.375318|first=David A. |last=Mindell}}

Singer resumed developing sewing machines in 1946.{{Cite web|url=https://www.singer.com/history|title=The Singer Brand History – 160+ Years of Sewing {{!}} Singer.com|website=singer.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-20}} They introduced one of their most popular, highest-quality and fully-optioned machines in 1957, the 401 Slant-o-Matic.{{Cite web|url=https://www.singer.com/machines|title=Machines {{!}} Singer.com|website=singer.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-20}}

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Singer sponsored rock and roll concerts to help advertise a variety of products including a line of Singer record players. The 1971 concert series was broadcast by WPLJ New York from the A&R Recording Studios and included the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Seatrain, Procol Harum, Incredible String Band, Mother Earth, and Delaney & Bonnie and Friends.{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IcT_UctcDM&t=25 | title=Delaney & Bonnie with Gregg Allman, Duane Allman, and King Curtis live at A&R Studios on 7/22/71 | website=YouTube | date=April 14, 2013 }} In 1968, Singer sponsored "Singer Presents ... Elvis", commonly referred to as the '68 Comeback Special.

While Singer commenced operations in Sri Lanka as branch of Singer Sewing Machine Company, USA in 1877 {{Cite web|url=https://www.singersl.com/about-us|title=Singer Sri Lanka - About Us {{!}} Singersl.com|website=singersl.com|language=en|access-date=2024-01-20}} the diversification and expansion in Asia started in 1957 when Singer introduced home appliances to complement its sewing machine sales in Asian markets. {{Cite web|url=https://www.singersl.com/milestones|title=Milestones - Singer {{!}} Singersl.com|website=singersl.com|language=en|access-date=2024-01-20}} By 1963, Singer Industries (Ceylon) PLC was incorporated for the assembly of sewing machines and the manufacture of cabinets and stands. Singer Sri Lanka became a public company in 1974 and was listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in 1981. The company commenced refrigerator manufacturing in 1988 at Regnis (Lanka) PLC and sponsored world series cricket in 1994. The first Singer Mega store opened in 1998, and the company launched its pioneering e-commerce website in 2001, a first for a consumer durable company in Sri Lanka.

Singer Finance was incorporated in 2004 and began accepting public deposits in 2005, followed by the introduction of new financial services in 2008. In 2010, Singer implemented an online real-time ERP system and incorporated Regnis Appliances (Private) Limited to manufacture home appliances. The Singer Finance IPO in 2011 was oversubscribed over 100 times, and the company launched the Life Style Exhibition, the largest consumer durable exhibition. In 2012, Singer created a dedicated channel for smartphone sales under Singer Digital Media, and in 2013, its subsidiary Regnis began manufacturing refrigerators using environmentally friendly R600a gas, among the first in South Asia to do so.

The company celebrated the opening of its 400th retail store in 2014 and made history in 2015 when Singer Finance launched Sri Lanka's first VISA credit cards issued by a non-banking financial institution. In 2016, Singer underwent a group restructure, acquiring Regnis and Singer Industries from Singer Asia. The company was acquired by Hayleys PLC in 2017, marking a new chapter in its history. Subsequent milestones included changing the financial year in 2018, relocating the head office to Colombo in 2019, and relaunching its website and introducing the Singer Care App in 2020. In 2022, Singer redefined its brand proposition and visual identity, reaffirming its position as a leader in innovation and customer engagement.

Currently Singer is the market leader in Sri Lanka’s consumer durables industry, with an unmatched reach of over 5.7 million customers and a penetration of nearly 30% of the country’s population.

File:Early 20th-century Singer sewing machine in Malta.png]]

In the 1960s, the company diversified, acquiring the Friden calculator company in 1965 and General Precision Equipment Corporation in 1968. GPE included Librascope, The Kearfott Company, Inc, and Link Flight Simulation. In 1968 also, Singer bought out GPS Systems and added it to the Link Simulations Systems Division (LSSD). This unit produced nuclear power plant control room simulators in Silver Spring, Maryland: Tech Road building for Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), Parkway building for Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) and later moved to Broken Land Parkway in Columbia, Maryland while flight simulators were produced in Binghamton, New York.

Friden became Singer Business Machines which produced the Singer System 10.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19790918&id=_IRWAAAAIBAJ&pg=1042,6791928|title=A New Lease of Life for Singer's System 10|date=September 18, 1979|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=June 3, 2012|page=27}} In January 1976, Singer announced its withdrawal from the data processing market,{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/computerworld1036unse_017/page/25/mode/1up | title=Corporate Casualties | magazine=Computerworld | date=27 December 1976 | access-date=16 February 2025 | pages=37 }} offering the division to other companies.{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1976-01-26_10_4/page/43/mode/1up | title=Two Firms Contacted by Singer In Attempt to Sell DP Division | magazine=Computerworld | date=26 January 1976 | access-date=16 February 2025 | pages=43 }} In March 1976, TRW Inc. and Singer announced an agreement whereby TRW would assume "managerial responsibilities" for Singer's System 10 and point-of-sale products, perceived as a way for TRW to expand its market presence.{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1976-03-22_10_12/page/35/mode/1up | title=TRW to Maintain Singer Base | magazine=Computerworld | date=22 March 1976 | access-date=16 February 2025 | pages=35 }} Maintenance and customer support for Singer's products were transferred to TRW, accompanied by a pledge for TRW to continue manufacturing at Singer's Cogar facility in Utica, New York.{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/computerworld1021unse/page/2/mode/1up | title=TRW Signs to Support, Maintain Singer Hardware and Software | magazine=Computerworld | last1=French | first1=Nancy | date=24 May 1976 | access-date=16 February 2025 | pages=2 }} Concurrently with these arrangements, ICL assumed the corresponding "management responsibilities" to Singer's international operations and acquired the rights to products marketed internationally, including the System 10.{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1976-03-29_10_13/page/n62/mode/1up | title=Singer Selling Foreign SBM to ICL | magazine=Computerworld | date=29 March 1976 | access-date=16 February 2025 | pages=37 }} ICL would later acquire the Cogar subsidiary and its manufacturing facility, continuing to manufacture the System 10 for its own customers.{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_Electronic9770120_105626386/page/40/mode/1up | title=Britain’s ICL reorganizes U.S. arm | magazine=Electronics | date=20 January 1977 | access-date=16 February 2025 | pages=40 }} Despite Singer's original announcement, its international operations continued to win orders and show signs of profitability.{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1976-02-02_10_5/page/31/mode/1up | title=Singer Offspring Abroad Called Bitter | magazine=Computerworld | date=2 February 1976 | access-date=16 February 2025 | pages=31 }}{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_computerworld_1976-02-02_10_5/page/31/mode/1up | title=Singer Division, Ready for Selling, Wins Big Brazilian, French Orders | magazine=Computerworld | last1=Berenyi | first1=Ivan | date=2 February 1976 | access-date=16 February 2025 | pages=31 }} As some existing Singer customers contemplated legal action against the company for failing to fulfil its obligations,{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_datamation_38511517/page/n16/mode/1up | title=Singer's Not Through with Computers Yet | magazine=Datamation | date=February 1977 | access-date=16 February 2025 | pages=15 }} ICL sought to expand its US presence, attracting new business for both its own products as well as those acquired from Singer.{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_datamation_38511517/page/n153/mode/2up | title=ICL's U.S. Operation Looking Beyond NYC | magazine=Datamation | last1=Pantages | first1=Angeline | date=February 1977 | access-date=16 February 2025 | pages=156–157 }}

By 1971 Singer was also producing portable/home audio/visual equipment as evidenced by the Singer-branded record and cassette tape players and film-strip viewers that can be found on e.g., eBay. In order to support this venture, Singer sponsored concerts such as the 1971 A&R Studio concerts on WPLJ-New York mentioned above.

For several years in the 1970s, Singer set up a national sales force for CAT phototypesetting machines (of UNIX troff fame) made by another Massachusetts company, Graphic Systems Inc.{{cite web |url=http://haagens.com/oldtype.tpl.html#2G |title=Old Phototypesetter Tales |publisher=Haagens.com }} This division was purchased by Wang Laboratories in 1978.

In 1987, corporate raider Paul Bilzerian made a "greenmail" run at Singer, and ended up owning the company when no "White Knight" rescuer appeared. To recover his money, Bilzerian sold off parts of the company. Kearfott was split, the Kearfott Guidance & Navigation Corporation was sold to the Astronautics Corporation of America in 1988 and the Electronic Systems Division was purchased by the Plessey Company in 1988 and renamed Plessey Electronic Systems (and then acquired by GEC-Marconi in 1990, renamed GEC-Marconi Electronic Systems, and later incorporated into BAE Systems). The four Link divisions developing and supporting industrial and flight simulation were sold to Canadian Avionics Electronics (CAE) and became CAE-Link. The nuclear power simulator division became S3 Technologies, and later GSE Systems, and relocated to Eldersburg, MD. The Sewing Machine Division was sold in 1989 to Semi-Tech Microelectronics, a publicly traded Toronto-based company.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_31/b3794153.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020806103233/http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_31/b3794153.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 6, 2002|title=Dishonored Dealmaker|magazine=Bloomberg Businessweek|last1=Miller|first1=Matthew|last2=Clifford|first2=Mark L.|last3=Zegel|first3=Susan|date=August 5, 2002|access-date=2007-03-25}}

Sales and profits grew until the 1940s. The market was affected in several ways. The US market matured after WWII. European and Japanese manufacturers ate into the market with zig-zag sewing machines. Under the leadership of Donald P. Kircher, Singer diversified into markets such as office equipment, defense, and aerospace. While 90% of Singer's revenue was from sewing machines before diversification, this was reduced to 35% after the change.{{cite book |title=International directory of company histories. Vol. 30 / ed. Jay P. Pederson |date=2000 |publisher=St. James Press |location=Chicago |isbn=9781558623897 |ol=8607050M |page=418}}

File:Singer Nähmaschine in Osttimor 2017-04-22.jpg (2017)|alt=|210x210px]]

In 1978 Singer moved its HQ from Rockefeller Plaza to Stamford, Connecticut. 430 jobs were moved to the new location.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/06/14/archives/singer-co-is-moving-to-stamford-to-surprise-of-new-york-officials.html|title=Singer Co. Is Moving to. Stamford to Surprise of New York Officials|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 14, 1978|last1=Sterba|first1=James P.}}

During the 1980s Singer sewing machine markets were being hit with Japanese machines and European brands including Bernina, Pfaff, and Viking. In 1986 Singer purchased Dalmo Victor for $174m from Textron,{{cite news |last1=Archives |first1=L. A. Times |title=Textron sold its Dalmo Victor division to Singer. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-04-fi-4251-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=4 February 1986}} It would subsequently be resold in 1989 for $175m in cash to General Instrument.{{cite news |title=General Instrument Corp. {{as written|annn|ounced [sic]}} Tuesday it has agreed to... - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/07/19/General-Instrument-Corp-annnounced-Tuesday-it-has-agreed-to/1125585288000/ |access-date=17 May 2024 |work=UPI |date=July 18, 1988 |language=en}}{{cite news |title=SINGER ANNOUNCES SALE OF SIXTH BUSINESS LINE |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1988/07/20/singer-announces-sale-of-sixth-business-line/4340b6f4-7669-4c29-b8d8-88eb65c170ee/ |access-date=17 May 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |agency=UPI |date=July 19, 1988}} The original Singer company announced in July 1986 that it would be spinning off its sewing machine business under the name SSMC Ltd.{{cite news |title=Singer Spinoff |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/15/business/singer-spinoff.html |work=The New York Times |date=15 July 1986}} In 1989 Semi-Tech Global purchased SSMC along with the rights to the Singer name, allowing for the renaming of SSMC back to Singer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/global/1999/1115/034_01.html#244b1d823b15|title = The wrecking of Singer|website = Forbes}}{{cite news |last1=Robb |first1=Gregory A. |last2=Times |first2=Special To the New York |title=COMPANY NEWS; Semi-Tech Is Winner: $38 a Share for SSMC |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/23/business/company-news-semi-tech-is-winner-38-a-share-for-ssmc.html |work=The New York Times |date=23 March 1989}} As a result the former Singer Corporation was renamed to Bicoastal Corporation.{{cite news |last1=Knight |first1=Jerry |title=BILZERIAN RESIGNS AS SINGER CHAIRMAN |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1989/06/30/bilzerian-resigns-as-singer-chairman/8d26427e-45ec-4abd-9c4b-d823dee8a714/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=30 June 1989}}{{cite web |title=EPA correspondence AR002072 |url=https://semspub.epa.gov/work/03/185014.pdf}}{{cite news |last1=Stevenson |first1=Richard W. |title=A WHISTLE-BLOWER TO GET $7.5 MILLION IN BIG FRAUD CASE |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/15/business/a-whistle-blower-to-get-7.5-million-in-big-fraud-case.html |work=The New York Times |date=15 July 1992}} Semi-Tech Global incorporated Singer (former SSMC Ltd.) into Singer N.V. based in Netherlands Antilles owned by the Hong Kong holding company.

Singer N.V. filed bankruptcy in 1999 and was acquired by Kohlberg & Company.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nashvillepost.com/home/article/20448916/singer-sewing-company-to-be-sold-to-kohlberg|title=Singer sewing company to be sold to Kohlberg|date=June 15, 2004 }} In 1997, Singer (Singer N.V.) US operations moved its consumer products to LaVergne, Tennessee. This location also served its wholesale distribution of sewing machines and parts. In 2006 The parent company of Singer – Kohlberg & Company, acquired Husqvarna and Pfaff brands. This merged the three brands into the current company the SVP Group.{{Cite web |url=http://www.singersa.com/svp-group |title=SVP Group | SingerSA |access-date=July 20, 2020 |archive-date=November 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127192151/https://singersa.com/svp-group/ |url-status=dead }} Its main competitors are Baby Lock, Bernina, Brother, Janome, Juki and Aisin Seiki.

File:Historic American Buildings Survey, September 1967, VIEW FROM WEST. - Singer Tower, 149 Broadway, New York, New York County, NY HABS NY,31-NEYO,71-4.tif in Manhattan, the tallest in the world at the time of its construction]]

File:Singer House SPB 01.jpg in Saint Petersburg, Russia]]

Singer was heavily involved in Manhattan real estate in the 1800s through Edward C. Clark, a founder of the company. Clark had built The Dakota apartments and other Manhattan buildings in the 1880s. In 1900, the Singer company retained Ernest Flagg to build a 12-story loft building at Broadway and Prince Street in Lower Manhattan. The building is now considered architecturally notable, and it has been restored.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/29/realestate/style-standard-for-early-steel-framed-skyscraper.html?scp=896&sq=corning&st=nyt|title=Style Standard for Early Steel-Framed Skyscraper|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=June 29, 1997|work=The New York Times|page=7|access-date=August 1, 2010}}

The 47-story Singer Building, completed in 1908, was also designed by Flagg, who designed two landmark residences for Bourne. Constructed during Bourne's tenure, the Singer Building (demolished in 1968 for the One Liberty Plaza development) was then the tallest building in the world and was the tallest building to be intentionally demolished until the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed in the September 11 attacks.{{cite web|url=http://nyc-architecture.com/?p=1497|title=New York Architecture Images – Home|website=nyc-architecture.com}}

At their Clydebank factory, Singer built a {{Convert|200|ft|m}} clock tower, which stood over the central wing and had the reputation of being the largest four-faced clock in the world. Each face weighed five tons, and it took four men fifteen minutes twice a week to keep it wound.{{cite web|url=http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/leisure-parks-events/museums-and-galleries/collections/singer/|title=Singer Clydebank history on West Dunbarton Council website}} The tower was demolished in 1963, and the factory itself was closed in 1980. Singer railway station, built to serve the factory, is only one of two railway stations in the UK named after a factory, and is still in operation today.

The famous Singer House, designed by architect Pavel Suzor, was built in 1902–1904 at Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg as headquarters of the Russian branch of the company. This modern style building (situated just opposite the Kazan Cathedral) is officially recognised as an object of Russian historical-cultural heritage.

In 2017, they launched their new Singer Sewing Assistant App.{{Cite web|url=https://www.singer.com/software/app|title=SINGER Sewing Assistant App for iPhone & Android {{!}} Singer.com|website=singer.com|language=en|access-date=2018-10-20}}

In 2018, a large factory fire destroyed a Singer distribution office and warehouse in Seven Hills, Sydney. Singer had manufactured sewing machines in Australia at a purpose-built plant in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith, from 1959 until 1967.{{clear left}}

• Isaac M. Singer (1851–1863)
• Inslee Hopper (1863–1875)
• Edward C. Clark (1875–1882)
• George Ross McKenzie (1882–1889)
• Frederick Gilbert Bourne (1889–1905)
• Sir Douglas Alexander (1905–1949)
• Milton C. Lightner (1949–1958)
• Donald P. Kircher (1958–1975)
• Joseph Bernard Flavin (1975–1987)
• Paul Bilzerian (1987–1989)

{{cite magazine

|url = http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958093,00.html

|title = A Raider's Days of Reckoning

|magazine = Time Magazine

|date = July 10, 1989

|access-date = 2007-05-01

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081202164108/http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958093,00.html

|archive-date = December 2, 2008

|url-status = dead

}}

• Iftikhar Ahmed (1989–1997){{cite news

| url = http://bestsewingmachinereviewspot.com/singer-semi-techs-ting-jailed-six-years/

| title = Semi-Tech's Ting jailed six years

| newspaper = The Standard (Hong Kong)

|author1=Daniel Hilken |author2=Albert Wong

|name-list-style=amp | date = July 1, 2005

| access-date = 2010-08-15}}

• Stephen H. Goodman (1998–2004)

File:Singer12k.jpg|A Singer model 12K fiddle-bed from 1878

File:Singer66.JPG|A Singer model 66 with Lotus decals from 1922

File:Singer99b.jpg|A Singer model 99 from 1939

File:singer222k.jpg|A Singer Featherweight model 222k from 1954

File:Casa Masó inv. 526.2.jpg|A Singer model 15. This was one of Singer's longest-running production models.

• History of the sewing machine
• List of sewing machine brands

{{Reflist}}

• Brandon, Ruth. A Capitalist Romance: Singer and the Sewing Machine (Lippincott, 1977).
• Davies, Robert Bruce. Peacefully Working to Conquer the World: Singer Sewing Machines in Foreign Markets, 1854–1920 (Arno Press, 1976).
• Godley, Andrew. "The Global Diffusion of the Sewing Machine, 1850–1914". Research in Economic History 20#1 (2001): 1–46.
• Godley, Andrew. "Selling the Sewing Machine Around the World: Singer's International Marketing Strategies, 1850–1920", Enterprise & Society (2006) 7#2 pp. 266–314.
• Godley, Andrew. "Singer in Britain: the diffusion of sewing machine technology and its impact on the clothing industry in the United Kingdom, 1860–1905". Textile History 27.1 (1996): 59–76.
• Jack, Andrew B. "The channels of distribution for an innovation: The sewing-machine industry in America, 1860–1865". Explorations in Economic History 9.3 (1957): 113.
• Weber, Nicholas Fox. The Clarks of Cooperstown: Their Singer Sewing Machine Fortune, Their Great and Influential Art Collections, Their Forty-year Feud (Alfred A. Knopf, 2007).
• Wickramasinghe, Nira. "Following the Singer Sewing Machine: Fashioning a Market in a British Crown Colony," in Metallic Modern: Everyday Machines in Colonial Sri Lanka. (Berghahn Books, 2014) pp. 16–40. {{JSTOR|j.ctt9qd0gq.6}}.

{{Commons category multi|Singer Corporation|Singer sewing machines}}

• {{Official website|https://www.singer.com}}
• Singer Direct [https://www.singermachines.co.uk/faq/singer-sewing-machine-company-history.html Singer history timeline]
• Singer in WWII [https://web.archive.org/web/20090717001750/http://home.roadrunner.com/~featherweight/wwii.htm Singer's contribution to the war effort]
• Singer sewing machine [https://web.archive.org/web/20101231074244/http://www.singerco.com/support/serial_numbers.html serial numbers and dates]
• [http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/Trade-Literature/Sewing-Machines Sewing Machines, Historical Trade Literature] Smithsonian Institution Libraries
• [https://archives.newberry.org/repositories/2/resources/247 Singer Manufacturing company records] at Newberry Library
• [http://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/2207.xml Singer Company records] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610203941/https://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead%2F2207.xml |date=June 10, 2020 }} (1851–1990) at Hagley Museum and Library
• [http://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/2526.xml Singer Manufacturing Company Records] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117233602/https://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead%2F2526.xml |date=November 17, 2018 }} (1860–1878) at Hagley Museum and Library
• {{HAER |survey=NJ-51 |id=nj0983 |title=Singer Manufacturing Company, 321 First Street, Elizabeth, Union County, NJ}}

{{Sewing}}

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Category:Sewing machine brands

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Category:Manufacturing companies based in Tennessee

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Category:Home appliance manufacturers of the United States