Circa 1910-22

presenting the Ideal Sewing machine a one year wonder.

It is rare that as late as 1910 a complete sewing machine patent application is filed and approved. By then over 60 years had passed and thousands upon thousands of patents had been issued all over the world. This made patenting a brand new, complete, sewing machine almost unheard of. From 1840 when sewing machines were almost unknown by 1900 just 60 years later the world was producing over 20 million machines a year. Germany had over 300 factories making machines and North America had 200 plus. There were factories in almost every major country in the world producing sewing machines and then along comes the Ideal...

On December 30th 1910 Leslie Salter filed for his improved Portable Chain Stitch Sewing Machine. Patent application Number 30,264.

Leslie Slater of 50 Copthall Avenue London was an engineer by trade. Perhaps he had hoped to make his millions from this superb art deco model. The company premises were at 66 Broad Street, London EC2.

It was so different to anything on the market that the patent was granted.  

Ideal Sewing Machine, known as Salter’s Improved Portable Chain Stitch Sewing Machine.

The Ideal Sewing Machine patent application of Dec 1910

US Patent 1,200,675

Little else is known about the British made Ideal patented by Leslie Slater. What we do know is a bit of an enigma. The well-engineered small tin plate machine was first patented before The Great War, the patents being issued in December 1910 and accepted on the 8th of June 1911. Hold on though because that is not when the machines were made. read on...  

Ah the Ideal sewing machine so small and sweet you can take it anywhere.

Do not confuse the British Ideal sewing Machine with the much earlier American Willcox & Gibbs chainstitch copy, also called the Ideal sewing machine but produced by Davies, White and also New Home.

This is the American Ideal sewing machine circa 1880. It was marketed as both a child's machine and as useful to both mothers and the servants! Blimey...The Davis Company produced an Ideal as did New Home and White Sewing Machines.

Now back to the British Ideal.

Patents were issued and each surviving machine is stamped across the bed with the 30264 United Kingdom patent numbers. Such a bold display across the machine was intended to scare away competitors.

I love this little ad. Mumsie sits by the sea sewing. Highly unlikely but a good advert. my Mum would be sipping wine and reading the Times!

We do know that Salter also had German, American and French patents showing that he had intended to market his machine to a larger European market. Little did he  know that just around the corner was a devastating World War!

Ideal sewing machine trade mark on the tin

Although patented in 1911there is some confusion about the start of manufacturing. Some records state that it was not actually made until after the Great War as late as 1921.

There was a launch of shares in 1921of 2,000,000 shares of one shilling per share.

There is also another curious point. In January of 1914 Herbert Westcott of Adelaide Road, London, patented an almost identical machine to the Ideal except that it made a lock-stitch not a chain-stitch. Patent No 1459. If you were to look at the two patent applications together they would look like twins, not identical ones but instantly recognisable as from the same stock.

The patent of the Herbert Westcott lock-stitch copy of 1914 notice the undeniable similarities to the top of the Ideal Sewing Machine.

Was Salter's machine held up due to a copy trying to come onto the market or was there another reason? The similarities are way too close for chance!

The Ideal Sewing Machine is only 10 inches long. An Art Deco engineering masterpiece of style and performance.

The machines were made at their London factory at 66 Broad Street Avenue. EC2.

So we are not sure about the actual start of manufacturing and there is no evidence of the time it was stopped. Not too good eh! But great fun to collect.

Let's look at the facts. We have the patent date of June 1911. From 1914-19 we have the Great War and of course it did not just finish overnight. Then we have the dreaded Spanish Flue killing millions and then by 1921 things settle down. There are facts to back this up mainly from their advertising. So we can make the assumption that along with the share launch the big Ideal sewing machine launch was also in 1921.

Well this is the only piece of advertising for the Ideal that I have ever found showing the 1921 start date.

The machines were small, light, and easy to use. Why they did not manage to get a better foothold in the market is curious. It could not have been poor marketing as I have never seen so much advertising for a sewing machine that only lasted a year!

The machines came in a tin, black, with a dome metal case and there were slight changes to the machine so we have Models A &B. Note the different ends.

                                                        
                       Ideal Sewing Machine model B                Ideal Sewing Machine model A. Open style.

The Model B also had an adjustable presser foot and a slightly improved lifter cam.

The machine manufacturer may also have a connection to Salter's family, the famous British scale makers but I have found no evidence to support this…Yet!

Salter scales and pressure gauges

The patented walking foot mechanism is very similar to the very early 1850’s Pillar or Fire Hydrant machines made by American manufacturers such as Shaw & Clark. It was easy to copy these long out-of-date mechanisms without fear of patent infringement.