Mudd House Victorian Christmas

[L Verge]

(12-04-2015 11:51 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  

(12-04-2015 10:18 AM)L Verge Wrote:  Eva - It has been over five years since I have been in the Mudd House (even longer on the second floor since going upstairs hurts like crazy). Was/is the children's bedroom still at the rear of the house, close to the stairs and Dr. Mudd's office? Seeing a sewing machine in that room seems somewhat out of place - I had a childhood friend who did sew her fingers together by playing with one when she was only about five.

Yes, that is where the room was, and here is the sewing machine:

Almost identical to my grandmother's sewing machine from the 1890s. We kept that one in use through the 1990s. Three of my four period outfits for use here at Surratt House were done by my mother on that old machine. Surratt House has an old Singer with the last patent date of 1852.

God bless Elias Howe, whom is credited (I believe) with producing the first sewing machine in the U.S. -- but not applying fast enough for a patent. He saved housewives numerous hours of hand labor, even though the first machines only sewed straight seams. Do you have any idea the length of a straight seam in an 1863 dress designed to be worn over a hoop?

...and Dr. Mudd's adjoining office:

I didn't find the sewing machine out of place because I thought the nurse was probably also responsible for sewing the clothes, so she could watch the kids and sew.
My grandma had the same type of sewing machine (for sewing, not for decoration).