Alex I Askaroff

The two business partners, Gustav Rossmann and Robert Frister had started their sewing machine business by copying existing machines such as the American Wheeler & Wilson and Willcox & Gibbs under licence from the original manufacturers.

Frister & Rossmann Model A Circa 1865

Their first sewing machine, the A1 was simply a Wheeler & Wilson clone machine, boy would I love one of those. However its success was unsurpassed, hardly changing for around 50 years. 

Frister & Rossmann model A needleplate info.
Actien Gesellschaft means Public Company.

The potential for European sewing machines was huge and the wealth of entrepreneurs like Howe and Wilson were well known. They were the Bill Gates of the Victorian age. The only problem with the American machines were that they were across the other side of the world and shipping was time consuming and expensive. European manufacturers had a clear advantage in price.

The F&R business grew at an outstanding rate and within a few years, they had produced tens of thousands of machines. Eventually with the success of their venture, a great factory grew at  Skalitzerstrasse that darkened the sky.

For decades F&R were the largest producers of sewing machines in Germany. By  the early 1880's they had made a staggering quarter of a million machines and by 1903 the great company had produced over one million machines.

One million machines, a landmark in F&R history in 1903

Hey slow down Gustav & Bob were business men as well as manufacturers. They did not stop at sewing machines, they turned their expertise to typewriters even bicycles but sewing machines were to last the longest.  

Frister & Rossmann settled down to manufacture high quality sewing machines for many decades. Winning medals in Sydney in 1879, Altona and Crystal Palace, England 1881, Amsterdam, 1883, Teplitz and London again in 1884, Edinburgh, 1886, Adelaide, Australia, 1887, again in Melbourne Australia the following year and the most prized award in their home town of Berlin in 1889.

A transverse shuttle F&R circa 1890 based on the Singer 12

A few of the early Victorian models that were heavily inlaid with mother of pearl and lavish gold work have become very collectible machines.

Their most popular late Victorian model was based on the Singer New Family machine model 12k also fondly referred to as the Fiddle base due to its curved casting. They made their fist copy of Singers model around the early part of the 1870's. How they got around the patent infringements I can only guess unless they, as before, paid a licence fee! They even advertised their machines as the Improved Singer! Cheeky.

The Willcox & Gibbs Clone

The undisputed best selling chainstitch in the world was the Willcox & Gibbs Chainstitch. Now Gustav & Bob, right from the beginning copied, under licence we assume, the best machines available and they turned their gaze toward the pretty bestseller by W&G. Little is known about these rare beauties made by F&R only for a very short period. Frank Godfrey even surmised that F&R hade some of the first castings made by Clemens Muller of Dresden while they were sorting out their foundry for the new castings.

The F&R...W&G's chainstitch clones are scarce machines and only a handful have come to light. I have a picture of one on my site see if you can find it! Because all the models I have seen all have the W&G automatic tensioner brought in in around 1875 we know that the models are post that date. However to add more confusion all the models I have seen have very low serial numbers. I can guess that all the Chainstitch F&R machines must have started their production run at zero and not just joined in on the other machine numbering. If they had they would have been much higher numbers. Frister & Rossmann chainstitch machines are as rare as hens teeth.

The very earliest ones do not even have the F&R logo on them. However there are manufacturing details that are obvious to a specialist. I shall name a few. there are the obvious ones, nickel plated fine cast hand wheel assembly, nickel  plated lower pulley wheel. Porcelain hand knob. Brass auto tension assembly not steel with a  centre screw, brass cotton peg, not steel. all the attachments are also brass. The gold work is slightly cruder with different scroll work. The needlebar and presser bar have pear shaped tops rather than round knobs. Smaller base wing nut, larger needle bar clamp nut. Right I'm bored now I could go on and on but you get the gist lots of minor alterations to fit in with their manufacturing and tools.

And so you have it, a little marvel, rare and sweet. The F&R chainstitch had a short life and disappeared. The odd super-rare machine now turn up in collectors collections.

*****

Back to business. The first importers into Britain, that I am aware about, was I. Nasch of whom I know absolutely nothing! German production, while he was importer, rose to over 100,000 machines so he must have sold a few in Britain.  So now let's skip to the next fella!

1869-1875 serial numbers 1 to 105, 923...

It was not until Herman Loog ltd, around 1876, that sales really started to rise in Britain. They traded from 126-128 London Wall, London. I have only seen a couple Loog-badged F&R and neither of them had Herman's name on them just his trading address.

Herman had a troubled life. His wife died in an asylum, one son died very young and the other emigrated. He seemed to be plagued with lawsuits, including the giant Singer Corporation. Even F&R had to act against him to protect their interests. Although a workaholic and full of ideas he had a fiery temperament that was not successful in business. When not going bankrupt he seemed to be in court suing someone!

After his split with F&R Herman worked for a short while with Seidel & Naumann, another German sewing machine manufacturer. However that did not last and he ended up in court...again!

Shadowed by constant illness and money problems in later life Hermann took a final step. Herman wound up his personal affairs wrote a letter leaving his body to science and walked to the cemetery in Croydon where his wife was buried. His son was not allowed to be buried with her as he had not been christened.

Herman chatted to the cemetery gardener went to his wife's grave and shot himself through the head. He was 59.

Let's get away from that tragic scene and follow on with our journey.

1875-1896 Serial numbers 105923 to 715233

Later importer’s were S. Lowe & Son of 49 Fore Street London, who bought the rights in 1896-7. Lowe may have been in business with O Quitman who we shall get to a little later on in our story.

Now there is some dispute about this next date I reckon that Lowe & Son sold out to the importers and dealers W. Pierssene & Co, the same year as Queen Victoria died in 1901 but some say it was earlier around 1896. They  also imported to 49 Fore Street but then moved down the road to larger premises at 25 Fore Street and held the rights up until the outbreak of WW1. Of course production of sewing machines stopped during the war. I wonder what they made instead! Bet it wasn't anything pleasant...see below.

1896-1914 serial numbers 715233 to 1500000

Coincidentally up until the outbreak of the Great War, most Frister & Rossmann machines were proudly marked MADE IN BERLIN, however after the war all mention of their manufacturing base was removed. Hmm I Wonder why! At this time it was normal for a shop to remove the F&R badge to avoid upsetting customers.

During this period their machine was know as the Cam Action F&R and took the same needle as the Singer 12, needle 339.

If you have a F&R looking machine with no mention as to where it was made and no badge you probably have one of the post-war models. If you have one with no badge just the holes you can almost guarantee it was war stock. 

1914-1920 serial numbers 1500000 to 1620000

It has recently come to light that Frister & Rossmann changed from Sewing machine manufacturing to weapons! No wonder no one in Britain bought a F&R... In six years production of sewing machines fell dramatically to less than 20,000 a year.

A rare WWI bayonet made by F&R.

                     No more Berlin badges after 1914               

The great factory that had been the pride of German manufacturing closed its doors. the last man locked the gates and a period of pioneering history was over. In 1925 Gritzner & Kayser bought the rights to make Frister & Rossmann machines.

For a long period all Frister & Rossmann machines were in name only and from the Gritzner factory.

But we must go back a step. Now funny things happen with history. Just before the outbreak of WWI, Pierssene must have known that importing from Germany, if they went to war, would be difficult if not impossible. Pierssene must have looked around Britain to find another manufacturer to supplement his supplies and keep his market going. During periods of war and the shortages they bring sewing machines are in high demand. His eye fell upon one of Britain's foremost manufacturers. Vickers made loads of stuff from planes to machine guns, ships to bombers. In the Second World War they produced the amazing Supermarine Spitfire, which along with its Merlin Rolls Royce engine helped save England in its darkest hour.

At Vickers handling a sewing machine would be easy and they could see huge potential, not only during the war but after it as well. By 1916 they were well underway with a copy of Singers model 28 VS machine. A sturdy simple machine basically identical to Frister & Rossmann's own copy of Singers best seller. By 1917 the machines were being supplied instead of F&R machines to shops up and down the country.

Frister & Rossmann could not do much about the new competition and Vickers took away a precious market putting another nail in the coffin of poor old Frister's.

Now Pierssene funnily enough had left F&R at the outbreak of war. An image of industrial espionage jumps to mind of the former importer running off with the plans of F&R's new machine to Vickers. Either way Vickers was here to stay.

During the 1920's and 30's Vickers Sewing Machines flourished but by the late 1930's demand was so high for armaments they shelved the poor old domestic sewing machine. So that was the end of Vickers from our little saga. Back to our story.

Now a funny thing with research is that spanners are always being tossed into the mix. I was told that the next importers of F&R machines, after the Great War ended, was Oliver Quitman, around 1919 then along comes this leaflet...

It clearly states that they were importers from 1884, 30 years before they were supposed to be importing the F&R machines. So what is the answer? Maybe they imported other things besides sewing machines. They did sell sewing machine accessories before the sewing machines but we shall probably never know when they really took over the machine business. Still they do say never say never. More information may turn up.

Fascinating mix

What I do know is that some of the F&R machines sold during the take-over period from Pierssene to Quitmann had a bit of both in them. For example the machines came clearly marked W. Pierssene Sole Agent 49 Fore Street, London. But the needles and accessories in the same machine came packaged from O. Quitmann, Sole Agent 18 City Road, London! So was there a slow hand-over or a collaboration? I am guessing again.

Back to more positive information. The longest running of all the importers were definitely O. Quitman & Co of 350 - 356 Old Street London, EC1. And 18 City Road, Finsbury Sq. London EC1. You will note that up until 1937 many of the badges had the City Road mark but after that period marked Little Britain.

Quitman's held the franchise right up until the 1990’s. I should know I used to go and collect my Frister & Rossmann machines personally from Michael Quitman who had a factory in my area in Ghyll Road, Heathfield, East Sussex. At the factory Ben and his assistant would repair machines sent in from all over Britain and Michael would run the office.

In the early days Quitman's also had a depot at 4 to 7 Chiswell Street, Finsbury Square, London EC1. At the depot they had a team of skilled mechanics that could repair any machines returned under guarantee. Also they had premises just around the corner at 23/24 Little Britain in Newgate Street London, EC1.

After WWII the badly damaged German factories, Now part of the Eastern Block in Eastern Germany, were unable to produce sewing machines for Quitman's. It was the end of another era. Germany, once the largest manufacturers of sewing machines in the world had all but ground to a halt and had to compete with the emerging countries like American financed Japan.

Unable to import machines from Germany around 1945-6, the importers, Quitman’s bought the rights to the Frister & Rossmann name so that they could continue with the brand name. This allowed the family firm to purchase machines worldwide and still badge them with the famous name that had been around since the early pioneering times.

In Germany the manufacturers of Frister & Rossmann machines had changed, firstly  from F&R to Gritzner & Kayser  who had bought out the original firm in 1925. They in turn merged and in 1963, they in turn were taken over by giant German manufacturers of Pfaff who still produce high quality machines, industrial and domestic. wow that was a brief lump of history, you can see I prefer the early stuff!

Quitman’s, who owned  all the rights to the famous German name of F&R went on to import excellent machines marked with the famous Frister & Rossmann logo from several countries around the world.

The Japanese Frister's of the 1980's are still held as some of the finest sewing machines ever produced. The Cub, 500 and the 900 series still produce unbeatable quality when sewing well.

In fact the Cub 4 was also sold under the Bernina badge for a short time.

The stunning Frister & Rossmann model 50R ran from 1919 up till 1955 it was possibly the best selling model they ever sold. In 1954 it cost £26, the average wage was around £5. Work out what five weeks wages is today and you have a modern cost of this beauty!

Eventually, in the 1990's, the last family member in Frister & Rossmann, Michael Quitman, retired and we said goodbye to one of the longest running families in the sewing business. Michael and I had many meetings and conversations over the years and he was a pleasure to do business with.

The Business then passed to Michael Orr (who had worked within Frister & Rossmann for many years). He kept the Frister & Rossmann name alive and continued to sell a selection of fine sewing machines from their head office in Bristol.

In 2005 Frister & Rossmann passed to new owners Russell Forester and Mike Brooks, Sewing Machines Direct.

In 2008 the F&R brand name has passed to Jerry Fried based in Gateshead. Mike still handles the parts for F&R and Juki domestic models.

Frister & Rossmann machines are know world wide and similar models are better know in Australia & New Zealand as The Globe and America as Jaguar and Kenmore machines.

Several of their more modern machines were design influenced by British designer, Ken Grange RDI FSI.

Frister & Rossmann continues to hold it place amongst the best sewing machines names in Great Britain.

Values

I spend hours researching and writing so do let me know what you though and if there is anything you would like me to add : alexsussex@aol.com