The White Sewing Machine Company was a

sewing machine Diagram of a modern sewing machine Animation of a modern sewing machine as it stitches A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolutio ...

company founded in 1858 in

Templeton, Massachusetts Templeton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,149 at the 2020 census. The town comprises four main villages: Templeton Center, East Templeton, Baldwinville, and Otter River. Geography According to ...

, by

Thomas H. White Thomas Howard White (April 26, 1836 – June 22, 1914) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. In 1876 he founded the White Sewing Machine Company in Cleveland, Ohio, predecessor of White Consolidated Industries. He was also an automoti ...

and based in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, since 1866.

History

Founded as the White Manufacturing Company it took the White Sewing Machine Company name when it was incorporated in 1876. White Sewing Machines won numerous awards at international expositions, including the 1889 Universelle Exposition in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. White began supplying sewing machines to Sears Roebuck and Co in the 1920s. By the 1930s, all Sears sewing machines were Whites rebadged as Kenmore, Franklin, Minnesota, and other house brands. A White Rotary Electric Series 77 machine was placed in the

Crypt of Civilization The Crypt of Civilization is an impenetrable, hermetic seal, airtight, room-sized time capsule, built between 1937 and 1940, at Oglethorpe University in Brookhaven, Georgia. The repository is meant not to be opened before 8113 AD. It contains nu ...

.A photo of the machine inside Crypt of Civilization can be see
here

White Motor Company

In 1900, Thomas White's son, Rollin, developed a

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

, using a corner of one of his father's factories to start building automobiles. In 1906, the automotive venture was spun off as its own company, the

White Motor Company White Motor Company (later renamed White Motor Corporation and commonly known as White) was an American car, truck, bus and agricultural tractor manufacturer from 1900 until 1980. The company also produced bicycles, roller skates, automatic la ...

. By 1923, the White Sewing Machine Company had divested all side ventures to focus solely on sewing machines and accessories.

Later History

By the early 1950s, however, White was losing money amid a flood of cheaper imported sewing machines and the loss of a supplier contract from

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

, which had represented 40 percent of White's business. Edward Reddig became company president in 1955, and he led an aggressive campaign of shifting manufacturing overseas, slashing domestic manufacturing, and diversification. White moved heavily into appliances, tools and machinery, acquiring appliance brands such as

Kelvinator Kelvinator was an American home appliance manufacturer and a line of domestic refrigerators that was the company's namesake. Although it is now defunct as a company, the name remains a brand owned by Electrolux AB. It takes its name from ...

(from

American Motors American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the mergers and acquisitions, merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 19 ...

Gibson Gibson, Gibson's or Gibsons may refer to: Business * Gibson Appliance, a former American refrigerator manufacturer * Gibson (guitar company), an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Greetings, ...

Philco Philco (an acronym for Philadelphia Battery Company) is an American electronics industry, electronics manufacturer headquartered in Philadelphia. Philco was a pioneer in battery, radio, and television production. In 1961, the company was purchase ...

(from

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

GTE GTE Corporation, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (1955–1982), was the largest independent telephone company in the United States during the days of the Bell System. The company operated from 1926, with roots tracing furth ...

) and Franklin (a private label supplier, from

Studebaker-Worthington Studebaker-Worthington was a diversified American manufacturer created in 1967 through a merger of Studebaker Corporation, Wagner Electric and Worthington Corporation. The company was in turn acquired by McGraw-Edison in 1979. Origins Founded i ...

). To reflect this, the company renamed itself White Consolidated Industries (WCI) in 1964. WCI purchased Westinghouse's major appliance business in 1975, which resulted in creation of the

White-Westinghouse White-Westinghouse is an American home appliance brand used under license by trademark owner Westinghouse Licensing Corporation. It was created in 1975 when White Consolidated Industries bought the Westinghouse Electric Corporation's major appli ...

brand name. In 1979, WCI bought the

Frigidaire Frigidaire Appliance Company is the American consumer and Commercial area, commercial home appliances brand subsidiary of multinational company Electrolux, a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. History ...

appliance line from

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

. WCI was acquired by

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish Multinational corporation, multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool Corporation, Whi ...

in 1986. In 2006 Electrolux spun off a number of its lines under the Husqvarna (including variations of the Husqvarna) brand name. The White line of sewing machines was consolidated into the lower end Husqvarna Viking brand after this spinoff. The

brand name remained with Electrolux and that name is the only remnant of the "White Sewing Machine Company" name, however the brand line included no sewing machines. New White-branded sewing machines models have not been manufactured since the Husqvarna spinoff in 2006. Singer, Husqvarna Viking and Pfaff brands are now all owned by

SVP Worldwide SVP Worldwide is an American privately held company that designs, manufactures, and distributes consumer sewing machines and accessories around the world under three brands: Singer, Husqvarna Viking, and Pfaff. The company's corporate headquart ...

. Though not advertised, SVP provides all of their user manuals for all of their brands including the "White" brand through the Singer brand website.

Notable Sewing Machine Models

White Sewing Machine The White Sewing Machine was the first sewing machine from the White Sewing Machine Company. It used a vibrating shuttle bobbin driver design. For that reason, and to differentiate it from the later White Family Rotary that used a rotary hook desig ...

(also known as the White Vibrating Shuttle or the White VS) *

White Family Rotary The White Family Rotary or White FR, later White Rotary or White Rotary Electric, was the first rotary hook sewing machine produced by the White Sewing Machine Company, introduced circa 1900. It joined the successful White Vibrating Shuttl ...

(later called the White Rotary)

Notes

References

External links

*
History of White Consolidated Industries

The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, WHITE CONSOLIDATED INDUSTRIES, INC.
Electrolux brands Home appliance manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Cleveland History of Massachusetts History of Ohio Sewing machine brands 1858 establishments in Massachusetts White Consolidated Industries {{manufacturing-company-stub