Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 5-24-2013 Atlantic Threads: Singer in Spain and Mexico, 1860-1940 Paula A. de la Cruz-Fernández [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI13080902 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, History of Gender Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, and the Latin American History Commons Recommended Citation de la Cruz-Fernández, Paula A., "Atlantic Threads: Singer in Spain and Mexico, 1860-1940" (2013). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 953. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/953 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida ATLANTIC THREADS: SINGER IN SPAIN AND MEXICO, 1860-1940 A dissertation in partial fulfillments of the requirements for a degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in HISTORY by Paula A. de la Cruz-Fernández 2013 To: Dean Kenneth G. Furton College of Arts and Sciences This dissertation, written by Paula A. de la Cruz-Fernandez, and entitled Atlantic Threads: Singer in Spain and Mexico, 1860-1940, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Bianca Premo _______________________________________ Mira Wilkins _______________________________________ Jesus Cruz _______________________________________ Aurora Morcillo, Co-Major Professor _______________________________________ Kenneth Lipartito, Co-Major Professor Date of Defense: May 24, 2013 The dissertation of Paula A. de la Cruz-Fernandez is approved. _______________________________________ Dean Kenneth G. Furton College of Arts and Sciences _______________________________________ Dean Lakshmi N. Reddi University Graduate School Florida International University, 2013 ii © Copyright 2013 by Paula A. De la Cruz-Fernández All rights reserved. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my Tim. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation is the product of almost six years of work spanning across the Atlantic, between Spain, the United States and Mexico. During this time a number of admirable scholars and friends from these three countries have made my work possible. I will always be thankful to Aurora Morcillo for encouraging me to continue my graduate education in Florida, to be open to interdisciplinary approaches and to think critically about the role of women and gender in history. I am grateful to Kenneth Lipartito for introducing me to Business History, for always believing in my project and for our long discussions about how to integrate culture in the study of business. Bianca Premo has opened up and taught me new and amazing ways of theorizing the history of Latin America and of the Hispanic World. I will always be indebted to Mira Wilkins for her patience and encouragement with introducing me to the world of multinationals. I have been fortunate to learn from the thought-provoking classes, discussions and the work of Jesus Cruz, Lara Kriegel, Victor Bulmer-Thomas, Michael Miller, Chantalle Verna, David Cook, Mark Szuchman, Marie Francois, Caroline Faria, April Merleaux, Roger Horowitz, Elizabeth Heath, Rebecca Friedman, and Alex Lichtenstein. I thank all of my friends and classmates at Florida International University that have supported and helped me improve my work throughout my years here: Carolina Zumaglini, Patrick Peacock, Jennifer Sheran, Adam Silvia, Greg Weimer, Amanda Snyder and Loraine De la Fe. Without the encouragement and love of my parents, Mercedes and Alberto, and my sister Alicia, I would have never finished this dissertation. And thank to my v American parents and sister as well, Nancy, Dan and Marissa. In Mexico, I especially thank Vasthi and Paco for their immense generosity and for teaching me everything that is needed to move around Mexico City. I would like to give a special thanks to my amazing friends from Madrid and Miami who have always believed in my work: Marga Giménez, Alex Ruiz, Patricia Puente, Maleni Romero, Carmen Martín, Raquel Álvarez, Marta Rojo, Caroline Faria, Anton Dochterman, Ken Baker, Israel Alonso, Yenisleidys González, Camille Rivera, Claudia Dimitrio, Philip Poekert, Christianne Maigre, Ireri Areola and Kevin Hamon. I have received significant funding support from different departments and centers at Florida International University: the Department of History, the Women’s Studies Center, the Latin American and Caribbean Center, the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center, and the School of International and Public Affairs. This project has also received important funding from the Fundación Mutua Madrileña in Spain and the Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society at the Hagley Museum and Library. vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION ATLANTIC THREADS: SINGER IN SPAIN AND MEXICO, 1860-1940 by Paula A. De La Cruz-Fernández Florida International University, 2013 Miami, Florida Professor Aurora Morcillo, Co-Major Professor Professor Kenneth Lipartito, Co-Major Professor This dissertation examines the role of Singer in the modernization of sewing practices in Spain and Mexico from 1860 to 1940. Singer marketing was founded on gendered views of women’s work and gendered perceptions of the home. These connected with sewing practices in Spain and Mexico, where home sewing remained economically and culturally important throughout the 1940s. "Atlantic Threads" is the first study of the US-owned multinational in the Hispanic World. I demonstrate that sewing practices, and especially practices related to home sewing that have been considered part of the private sphere and therefore not an important historical matter, contributed to the building of one the first global corporation. I examine Singer corporate records and business strategies that have not been considered by other scholars such as the creation of the Embroidery Department in the late nineteen-century. Likewise, this dissertation challenges traditional narratives that have assumed that Spain and Mexico were peripheral to modernity. I look at Singer corporate records in Spain and Mexico and at regional government and cultural sources to demonstrate how vii Singer integrated Spain and Mexico within its business organization. Singer's marketing was focused on the consumer, which contributed to make the company part of local sewing businesses and cultures. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Introduction. Atlantic Threads, Singer and the Modernization of Sewing Practices in the Hispanic World ........................................................................................... 1 Singer in Spain and Mexico .................................................................................. 7 Sewing Machines ............................................................................................... 14 Multinationals ...................................................................................................... 17 The Early History of Singer and Sewing Practices in the United States ............. 26 Outline of Chapters ............................................................................................. 33 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 35 1. Basting the World as a Market: Singer in Mexico and Spain, 1860 to 1890 .. 38 Sewing in Spain and Mexico and the Introduction of the First Sewing Machines ........................................................................................................................... 41 Unraveling Singer Consumers in Spain and Mexico .......................................... 51 Fighting Local Competition through Singer’s Service ........................................ 60 Building a Multinational Brand .......................................................................... 72 Vertical Integration Completed .......................................................................... 77 2. Localizing Markets: Casa Singer in Spain and Mexico, 1890-1910 ............... 83 Singer Gerentes, Encargados and Agentes ...................................................... 90 Working for the Multinational’s Benefit? .......................................................... 102 Following Spanish Times ................................................................................. 110 Negotiating Modernity ...................................................................................... 116 Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 122 3. Global Patterns: Singer Advertising and the Globalization of Sewing Practices, 1876-1920 ....................................................................................................... 124 Protecting Women, Marketing the Hearth ......................................................... 129 Home-sewing Practices in Spain and Mexico at the Turn of the Twentieth Century ............................................................................................................ 135 An Universal “Modern” Sewing. The Singer