where do patches come from?

[mccooper]

Thought you might enjoy this SignalCorps photo of the IV Corps patch being applied in a friendly atmosphere (non-fraternizational, of course).

 

mccooper

 

[automatic]

I read the title and immediately imagined a little kid asking "Daddy, where do patches come from?"

[Salvage Sailor]

The patch fairy?

[world war I nerd]

Neat photo ... the first image I've ever seen of a shoulder patch being sewn on.

 

[world war I nerd]

Considering all the interest in WW I era shoulder insignia, I've always been surprised that no research has even been done on the French, German & American firms that initially fabricated them in 1918 - 1919.

 

In a post that I'm currently writing about the insignia of the 35th Infantry Division, I tracked down a small amount of information on the equipment that was used to manufacture machine embroidered insignia as used by so many AEF divisions.

 

Here's a preview on that bit of the post:

 

Machine Embroidery

Surprisingly, the world’s first “Hand Embroidery Machine” was devised nearly 200 years ago in 1828, by a Frenchman named Josue Heilman. His machine was conceived some twenty years before the advent of the first sewing machine, which was patented by Joseph Singer in 1846!

 

Heilman’s machine embroidered at a much faster pace. It was capable of doing the work of up to four embroiderers simultaneously. However, because his invention was perceived as a threat to the then thriving hand embroidery industry, he was only able to sell two of his hand embroidery machines.

 

An improved embroidery machine was created in 1863, by Swiss inventor Joseph Groebli. The second generation mechanized embroidery apparatus was known as the “Schiffli Machine”. Unfortunately the Schiffli Machine never really caught on because it was only capable of stitching in one direction. Groeblie’s son however, perfected the shortcomings of his father’s invention and renamed it the “Automatic Schiffli Machine”. When the Automatic Schiffli Machine was used by textile manufacturers the quality of the embroidered work it produced was such that they were often mistaken for hand embroidery.

 

Then in 1911, the Singer Sewing Company developed the first multi-head embroidery sewing machine. It was equipped with six heads and a pantograph attachment.

 

Photo No. 34: The majority of mass produced AEF embroidered insignia manufactured in Europe were likely fabricated using an Automatic Schiffli Machine similar to the one depicted in this French picture postcard circa 1906.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 35: It required a great deal of manual dexterity to successfully operate early machine embroidery equipment. The operator used his left hand to navigate the “scribe” over a larger pattern that was made six times the size of the original design. Each movement made by the scribe caused the backing cloth, behind the machines multiple embroidery needles, to mirror the movement made by the scribe. As the operator guided the scribe with his left hand, his right hand manipulated a wheel that initiated the embroidery needles to pass in and out of the fabric as needed, thus duplicating the pattern many times over in miniature. While performing the above tasks, the operator’s feet were utilized to operate the clamps which gripped the automated embroidery needles.

[world war I nerd]

Photo No. 36: The obverse (top) and reverse (bottom) of a pair of untrimmed and unused, 70^th Infantry Brigade HQ, machine embroidered insignia.

 

Photos courtesy of the RC collection

[mccooper]

Brian-

 

Thanks! As usual, overwhelming data from you on an interesting subject. I was tickled to find this photo.

 

mccooper