The SINGER Journal - SingerSeries

Mary Ann Sponsler: The Scream That Broke Isaac Singer

On August 7, 1860, one scream on Fifth Avenue exposed four households and eighteen children — and put Isaac Singer on a boat to Europe under a false name.

04.08.2026

Mary Ann Sponsler Isaac Singer Fifth Avenue 1860 Victorian scandal Singer family 19th century New York women's rights

Singer Project

He Staged His Own Funeral. It Was His Best Role.

Twelve of his own horses, three coffins, a procession three-quarters of a mile long — all staged by the dead man himself. The last act of Isaac Singer, 1875.

16.07.2026

Isaac Singer; Oldway Mansion; The Wigwam; Paignton; Victorian funeral; Singer will case; Gilded Age

Singer Project

The Rule of Love: How 19th-Century Law Shielded Wife-Beaters

In the 1800s the law had one rule about beating your wife: don't let it become public. Then the sewing-machine king who "freed" women broke it — and one woman refused to stay silent.

20.06.2026

rule of love; coverture; moderate chastisement; Isaac Singer; Mary Ann Sponsler; rule of thumb myth; Reva Siegel; 19th century wife beating law

Singer Project

Winnaretta: How a Sewing Machine Paid for the Music of the 20th Century

Her father's sewing machine made millions off seamstresses. His daughter spent it on Stravinsky, Satie and Marie Curie. The strange afterlife of the Singer fortune.

31.05.2026

Winnaretta Singer; Princesse de Polignac; Singer sewing machine fortune; Singer inheritance; patron of modern music; Stravinsky patron

Singer Project

Edward Clark: The Lawyer Who Built the Singer Empire

The Williams College attorney who invented the installment plan, engineered the first patent pool, and ran the world's first multinational while Isaac Singer hid in Europe.

08.05.2026

Edward Clark Edward Cabot Clark Singer Sewing Machine Isaac Singer Singer Manufacturing Company Hire-purchase plan Patent pool The Dakota Business history 19th century America Gilded Age Consumer credit Williams College

Singer Project

The Hungry Wolf in a Golden Muzzle: Who Was Isaac Singer?

Opening post on the Singer Series blog. Before we get to the empire, we need to get to the man who built it — and never quite understood what he'd built.

06.05.2026

Isaac Singer Isaac Merritt Singer Singer sewing machine sewing machine history history of invention Gilded Age 19th century America business history biography hidden history robber barons the man behind the brand

Singer Project

"The Scoundrel’s Story"