Lyman Reed Blake

Infobox Person
name = Lyman Reed Blake


image_size =
caption = Lyman Reed Blake
birth_date = birth date|1835|8|24|mf=y
birth_place = South Abington, Massachusetts
death_date = death date and age|1883|10|3|1835|8|24|mf=y
death_place =
occupation = Inventor
spouse =
parents =
children =Persondata
NAME=Blake, Lyman Reed
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American inventor who devised a sewing machine for sewing the soles of shoes to the vamp of the shoe
DATE OF BIRTH=August 24, 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=October 3, 1883
PLACE OF DEATH=

Lyman Reed Blake (August 24, 1835 - October 3, 1883) was an American inventor who devised a sewing machine for sewing the soles of shoes to the vamp of the shoe.cite web
title = Lyman Reed Blake (1835 - 1883)
publisher = About.com
author = Mary Bellis
date =
url = http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blblake.htm
accessdate = 2007-02-10 ] Born in South Abington, Massachusetts, Blake started off in the shoemaker business at a young age, first working for his brother Samuel. Blake later worked in inventor Isaac Singer's company, Singer Corporation, setting up sewing machines in shoe factories. By 1856, he had become a partner in a shoemaking company and spent his time inventing machines to help speed up the process of shoemaking. [cite web
title = Lyman Reed Blake (1835 - 1883)
publisher = Encyclopedia Britannica
author =
date =
url = http://secure.britannica.com/eb/article-9001797/Lyman-Reed-Blake#292429.hook
accessdate = 2007-02-10 ]

Two years later, on July 6, 1858, Blake received a patent from the United States government for his sewing machine for helping attach the soles of shoes to the upper of the shoe. [cite web
title = July 6, 1858 in History
publisher = Brainymedia.com
author =
date =
url = http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1858/july_6_1858_53821.html
accessdate = 2007-02-10 ] The sewing machine helped permit the production of low-cost shoes by eliminating the heavy work of hand sewing. Blake then sold the patent to Gordon McKay a year after for $8,000 in cash and a $62,000 share of future profits. [cite web
title = Lasting Impressions
publisher = Harvard Magazine
author = Edward Tenner
date = 2000
url = http://people.deas.harvard.edu/~jones/mckay/article.html
accessdate = 2007-02-15 ] Blake later worked for McKay from 1861 until his retirement in 1874, working on improving the machine. The McKay sole-sewing machine was at the top of the market for twenty-one years in both the United States and Great Britain. Blake died on October 5, 1883 at the age of 48. [cite web
title = Today in Science History
publisher =
author =
date =
url = http://www.todayinsci.com/8/8_24.htm
accessdate = 2007-02-10 ]

References