{"id":329248,"date":"2025-10-05T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T16:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=329248"},"modified":"2025-10-05T12:00:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T16:00:23","slug":"the-singer-sewing-machine-and-the-stitches-of-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/the-singer-sewing-machine-and-the-stitches-of-time\/","title":{"rendered":"The Singer sewing machine and the stitches of time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Through my grandmother Nancy\u2019s craft, the rhythmic clatter of the sewing machine became the heart of the house. From her sacred corner, her face illuminated by the rays of sunlight filtering through the blinds, she seemed to weave a soft song, a back-and-forth of whispers, with that metal and opaquely varnished wood device. Meanwhile, she transformed scraps of fabric into potholders and tablecloths for Sunday tables, mended school uniforms or sewed all kinds of clothes for her brood of grandchildren. As a child, I had no better clothes than those born from that magical complicity between my grandmother and her old sewing machine.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the traditions of yesteryear are endangered species and the robotic mind has forgotten the value of handmade items, in almost every Cuban home our grandmothers and mothers have used or still use the Singer sewing machine. Every family history has also been woven with those stitches that remain like sutures of time, of the dreams and sacrifices of generations of women who saw the needle rise and fall a thousand times in the effort to stitch together a world with less holes for their loved ones.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The sewing machine is a domestic symbol of struggle, selflessness and silent hope. A long thread of life. In many cases, it has marked the rhythm of an existence stigmatized by the necessity that sharpens ingenuity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My mother and one of my aunts followed my grandmother\u2019s lead. The Singer is still preserved as a family heirloom that has endured with solemn dignity the ravages of decades of use. The piece of furniture is made of iron and wood: approximately 120 centimeters long, 100 centimeters high and 38 centimeters wide. The cabinet is dark brown, with an extension table, two drawers on each side, and a long one in the center. It rests on two decorated iron legs. It is operated by a pulley. It has a rocker pedal, equally decorated, and a support bridge with the brand\u2019s logo. The mechanical arm is black and notched, and although barely visible, it is noticeable that it once had filigree and gold lettering with the inscription: SINGER. Although it no longer displays its original splendor, the echo of its song is present to remind us that each stitch wove something of our roots.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First enduring \u201chousehold appliance\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

On August 12, 1851, Isaac Singer, a man of dissolute life who combined theater with his inventive and entrepreneurial spirit, managed to patent his prototype of a \u201creformed\u201d sewing machine. By then, the machine had actually already existed. Elias Howe had introduced it five years earlier. So the patent registered by Singer was the final straw in the so-called \u201csewing machine wars,\u201d in which both manufacturers vied to be the epitome of progress.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Singer certainly worked on Elias Howe\u2019s model to launch his new design; but the turning point for the founder of the Singer Sewing Machine lay in the mechanical leap that included: a right-angled arm that allowed horizontal fabric handling and straight-line sewing; a pedal that provided greater control and speed to the operation; and a vertically moving needle that improved stitch consistency and quality. Added to this was the ease with which the machine could be adapted to the home \u2014 even as a decorative table, for folding machines \u2014 and a clever marketing strategy that would become a standard-bearer: installment payments.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Traversed by sexist conceptions of gender and social class, at that time most wives and daughters were forced to practice sewing. Above all, they did it by hand. It was Penelope\u2019s never-ending task. That\u2019s why the press came to proclaim the sewing machine one of the greatest inventions in history; for no other advance, they said, had brought such great relief to \u201cour mothers and daughters.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When it burst onto the market, Isaac Singer\u2019s creation exponentially surpassed the Jenny Lind model, the most famous until then. In less than ten years, the Singer Company managed to revolutionize the textile industry, controlling two-thirds of the global sewing machine market and establishing itself as one of the first multinational corporations in the United States.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to data published by the <\/span>Diario de la Marina<\/span><\/i>, by early 1888 there were eight million Singer machines distributed worldwide, while the corporation employed 30,000 people and had six large factories located in New York, Cairo, Vienna, South Bend, Montreal and Glasgow, producing one million units annually.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A century later, this sewing machine \u2014 which modernized its models over the years \u2014 was still recognized as the most innovative, versatile, efficient and prestigious. It became what we might call the first iconic and enduring \u201chousehold appliance.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Advertisement
Advertisement for the Singer brand in Bohemia magazine (May 27, 1956).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was located on Obispo Street\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The time for Singer sewing machines dawned in Cuba in the late 1850s, when the Company showed interest in the Caribbean market and set up an agency in Havana. Eduardo H. Stanton was one of the first to open a warehouse for such purposes at 64 Obispo Street, the city\u2019s commercial artery. A year later, the concession and the premises were managed by Antonio de Sotolongo, and the following year the franchise passed into the hands of American Silas Daily, who decided to move the store to 125 Obispo Street.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, due to the obvious instability of the franchisees, and mainly because it had to overcome competition from other established brands such as Wertheim and Grover & Baker, it would take Singer five years to win over Cuban customers. It wasn\u2019t until the emergence of Ram\u00f3n \u00c1lvarez de Arribas that the brand managed to embroider its reputation on the island with golden thread.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He was barely 14 years old when he decided to leave behind the rural hardships of his native Pe\u00f3n, in Asturias, and board a transatlantic ship to Cuba with the hope of making his fortune. To his eyes, accustomed to the village valley, Havana seemed like an unreal world. He was impressed by the environment of rapid economic growth, the movement of goods, technological advances and ethnic diversity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After many efforts and vicissitudes, Ram\u00f3n, the archetype of the Spaniard of his time, an entrepreneur and visionary, set his sights on founding his own business. \u201cWe don\u2019t know how, but around 1866 \u2014 thirteen years after arriving in Cuba \u2014 he managed to gather the knowledge, contacts and capital necessary to start his own company. Under the name Guti\u00e9rrez y \u00c1lvarez, he obtained a license from the Singer Manufacturing Company to exclusively market its sewing machines in Cuba and Puerto Rico,\u201d writes Spanish author Cristina Cantero Fern\u00e1ndez in her book, <\/span>Un legado indiano para el siglo XXI. Ram\u00f3n \u00c1lvarez de Arriba (1839-1920)<\/span><\/i>, an exhaustive biographical study that clears up the confusion that surrounded this historical figure for a century.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor now,\u201d the researcher, who was able to consult the Singer Company archives, maintains in her account, \u201cthe beginnings of Guti\u00e9rrez y \u00c1lvarez are quite uncertain, and we don\u2019t even have information about Ram\u00f3n\u2019s partners, beyond the manager\u2019s last name. It\u2019s likely that they worked in one of the aforementioned Singer stores or in businesses on Obispo Street, where they experienced the possibilities of this franchise. It\u2019s conceivable that Guti\u00e9rrez was the oldest partner with the most experience in the sector, hence his assumption of management of the firm, but little more can be speculated. Perhaps Ram\u00f3n was also familiar with sewing machines or learned everything he needed to know about them from his partners. In any case, Guti\u00e9rrez, \u00c1lvarez & Co. managed to make the Singer brand one of the best-selling brands in the Cuban market.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An advertisement that appeared in the <\/span>Diario de la Marina<\/span><\/i> from September 24 to December 18, 1874, confirms this: \u201c5,000 machines sold in our company last year attest to their superiority!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the aforementioned sales boom, the partnership dissolved after a few months, and \u00c1lvarez e Hinse was born, the new branch established by Ram\u00f3n and the American Herman George Hinse \u2014 nine years his junior \u2014 which opened at 123 and 125 Obispo Street as a warehouse and retail store for miscellaneous supplies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Novelty
Novelty store at 123 Obispo Street of the \u00c1lvarez e Hinse partnership, representatives of the Singer Company in Cuba and Puerto Rico. Photo: Courtesy of Marvin Juy-P\u00e9rez\/Facebook.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The queen of sewing machines<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Ram\u00f3n and his partner would later add cutlery, watches, and hardware to their business, among other items. Under the sales premise of \u201ca lot of good, beautiful and inexpensive things,\u201d they became known as the Grand Bazaar of Sewing Machines and New Items.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As sole representatives and importers of the Singer Company, \u00c1lvarez and Hinse amassed a considerable fortune and, within two years, controlled 90% of the domestic market; largely aided by the fact that demand for sewing machines in Cuba exceeded that of other countries.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a report letter dated November 7, 1887, sent to the parent company, Ram\u00f3n \u00c1lvarez explained: \u201cPerhaps there is no other country that, in proportion to its population, sells as many sewing machines as Cuba\u2026. Sewing machines of all kinds are sold in every city and town, large or small. There is no establishment specializing in them; they are sold like any other merchandise, quite naturally, in department stores, hardware stores, grocery stores, etc., throughout the length and breadth of the island.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the 19th century, a Singer sewing machine meant to housewives what a Smith & Wesson revolver meant to men. Although all would dream of owning one, logically not everyone could afford one, so at the time it also represented a measure of socioeconomic status.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"In
In addition to the proven quality of the machines, much of the brand\u2019s success was due to its advertising strategies. Photo: La Uni\u00f3n Constitucional, January 29, 1890.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Convinced of the power of advertising as a marketing technique to establish a brand and increase revenue \u2014 something commonplace today, but still in its infancy at the time \u2014 \u00c1lvarez and Hinse tirelessly promoted in the press the incomparable quality of their \u201cmechanical marvels\u201d and the \u201cbargains\u201d they offered for their purchase. In this regard, they declared: \u201cReady to please everyone, we will sell these machines from now on at fabulously cheap prices.\u201d Well paid, the <\/span>Diario de la Marina<\/span><\/i> joined in the chorus, claiming that the Reformed Singer, the Vibratory, the Automatic, the Oscillating\u2026 \u2014 that is, the main models marketed by the brand \u2014 \u201dwill be the obsession of sewing machines.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Commercial
Commercial advertisement in the Diario de la Marina (September 28, 1884).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Furthermore, the official publication of the Havana Post Office described them as the \u201cNon-Plus-Ultra of sewing machines\u201d or \u201cthe most perfect known to date.\u201d In line with this, it called for \u201cmaking way for the Queen of sewing machines.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On February 19, 1888, the newspaper noted: \u201cThe Singer company does not rest on its laurels; it lives the active life of progress, and the proof is known to all who follow in its footsteps. Today, as always, it is ahead of all, and imitators will never be able to stop its march.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stitches that have marked eras<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

After the end of the war, the socioeconomic situation in Cuba was dire, so many women and widows found in the sewing machine a way to feed their children. Meanwhile, the arrival of the 20th century found the old company founded by the Asturian transformed into \u00c1lvarez, Cernuda y C\u00eda., a limited partnership established with Celestino Cernuda Pel\u00e1ez in the spring of 1900. By then, they were operating as a novelty bazaar specializing in sewing machines.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The
The pages of Bohemia magazine constantly appealed to the presence of the Singer sewing machines in Cuban homes. Photo: Bohemia, August 30, 1953.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With Ram\u00f3n\u2019s intact keen eye for detecting business opportunities and a commercial strategy focused on subaltern groups, during the Republican era the Singer empire continued along similar lines to its predecessor, maintaining its suppliers and sales policy at affordable prices and on credit (payments could be made with a down payment of one peso and up to 40 months), but constantly updating the business dynamics and the mechanics of its prototypes. Simply put, it continued to expand its hegemony.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn every language, Singer means the same thing: the best sewing machine in the world,\u201d proclaimed a <\/span>Bohemia<\/span><\/i> advertisement in June 1954. As the brand\u2019s advertising platform until the early 1960s, the renowned magazine was tasked with convincing its readers that Singers were \u201cthe last word\u201d when it came to sewing machines and that \u201cwhen you buy a Singer sewing machine, you know it will provide you with efficient service for a lifetime.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Another
Another advertisement from the 1950s highlighting the extraordinary qualities of the Singer sewing machine. Photo: Bohemia, September 26, 1954.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let the seamstress sew.\u2026 Those who have plenty to say about it will tell me whether or not this is less true than the Singer time machine. A legacy of traditions and a testament to the spirit of Cuban women, who, with Penelope\u2019s obsession, overcomes so many odysseys, maintains the same fame as before, in its everlasting capacity to weave together those stitches that have marked eras.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A symbol of selflessness and silent domestic hope in the long thread of centuries. In many cases, it has set the pace of an existence that sharpens ingenuity. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12346255,"featured_media":329252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13902,13906],"tags":[17491,19256,34937],"ppma_author":[34888],"class_list":["post-329248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuba","category-entrepreneurship-in-cuba","tag-entrepreneurship-in-cuba","tag-featured","tag-history-of-cuba"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Singer sewing machine and the stitches of time | OnCubaNews English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The time for Singer sewing machines dawned in Cuba in the late 1850s, when the Company showed interest in the Caribbean market\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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