U.S. # 4801k
2013 46¢ Textile Worker
Made in America: Building a Nation
Mill owner Sidney Blumenthal once said, “The priceless ingredients of things sold in the market places are the honor and integrity of those who make them.” In 1932 and 1933, photographer Lewis Hines captured the dignity of textile workers in Blumenthal’s Shelton Looms.
During this era, bales of cotton were transformed into cloth in New England textile mills. After being cleaned, the cotton was processed into yarn. Workers with titles like “doffers” and “spoolers” replaced filled bobbins and tied broken threads.
In the weave room, a warper threaded each strand into the “creel,” or frame, of the loom. The shuttle then passed back and forth through the warp threads creating a pattern as the fabric took shape.
Many of the workers came from rural farms to work in the mills. Their lives were governed by the factory whistles, which signaled the beginning and end of 10- to 12-hour days and short lunch breaks. The work was hard and the wages were low, but the workers were glad to have jobs during the Great Depression.
Rather than showing the power and technology of America’s factories, Hines’ photos highlighted the vital work of those who operated the machines and produced affordable goods to be used throughout the U.S. and beyond.
Derry Noyes designed all of the Made in America stamps using early 20th century photographs. The textile worker stamp features a photograph taken by Lewis Hine. Hines’ photos were used for 11 of the 12 stamps on the full pane. His photos were also the models for two stamps in the Celebrate the Century series. In 2002, Hines was honored on the Masters of American Photography stamp pane.
Value: 46¢ 1-ounce first-class letter rate
Issued: August 8, 2013
First Day City: Washington, D.C. – at the Department of Labor Frances Perkins Building
Type of Stamp: Commemorative
Method: Photogravure printing in sheets of 60 in 5 panes of 12
Perforation: Serpentine Die Cut 10 ½ x 10 ¾
Self-Adhesive
Quantity Printed: 2,500,000 stamps
Five versions of the Made in America pane were issued, each with a different photo in the selvage. Two of them picture Empire State Building ironworkers; one shows a General Electric employee measuring bearings, another shows a coal miner, while the last one pictures a female welder.
US #892 – from the Famous Americans Series
Inventor Elias Howe Jr. was born on July 9, 1819, in Spencer, Massachusetts. Howe is best remembered for patenting the modern lockstitch sewing machine.
In 1835, Howe became an apprentice in a textile factory in Lowell, Massachusetts. When the factory closed following the Panic of 1837, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where he worked a mechanic in another textile factory. In 1838, Howe began an apprenticeship with Ari Davis, who built and repaired chronometers (devices used to measure time) and other instruments. Davis once told Howe that whoever invented a practical sewing machine would be rich. So, Howe set about being that man.
US #892 – Classic First Day Cover
Howe didn’t invent the first sewing machine – various forms of mechanized sewing had been used as early as 1790. Over the years, various inventors created and even patented sewing machines, but none produced a durable enough stitch to replace hand-sewing. Walter Hunt came close in the early 1830s. He invented a back-stitch sewing machine, but refused to patent it for fear of the jobs it would take away from seamstresses.
US #5098-99 – Improvements to sewing machines helped increase the popularity of quilting.
Howe worked on his machine for eight years in his spare time, working out the logistics. His machine differed from his contemporaries (and laid the groundwork for modern machines) in that he placed the eye near the point of the needle, included a shuttle beneath the cloth to create a durable lock stitch, and had an automatic feed to move the cloth through. When he demonstrated his machine in 1845, it could make 250 stitches per minute, out-sewing five seamstresses. However, at $300 (over $10,500 today) it was a tough sell. Howe patented his design the following year, but was a poor businessman and had a string of bad luck – his workshop burned down, and he was swindled out of British royalties.
US #4801k pictures a 1930s textile worker.
Sewing machines quickly grew in popularity, and it appeared that other people were using features of his patent on their machines. In 1854, Howe sued for patent infringement and eventually won. Two years later, he joined other manufacturers to create the first American patent pool, allowing them to all share the wealth of their creations and avoid going to court. With this new arrangement, Howe received $5 royalty for every sewing machine sold in the US, amounting to $2 million. He finally achieved his goal.
US #4546h pictures a 1940s Dave Chapman sewing machine.
In 1851, Howe Patented an “Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure” – resembling a zipper. However, he didn’t bother marketing it. During the Civil War, Howe served on the 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. However, he was in poor health and was made the regimental postmaster, tasked with riding back and forth to Baltimore with war news.
In his later years, Howe won a gold medal for his sewing machine at the 1867 Paris Exhibition. That same year he was also awarded France’s Légion d’honneur. Howe died on October 3, 1867, and was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.