A Cabinet Card photograph of the first sewing machine patented by Elias Howe, Jr. in 1846. In public demonstrations to market its creation, it proved to be faster than five of the swiftest hand sewers combined. The key to its success was discarding the idea that the machine had to mimic the motions of a human. Elias's solution was to have two threads form a stitch by the combined aid of a shuttle and a needle with the eye near the point. In 1867, he exhibited the machine at the Paris exposition and was decorated by the Empress of France with the Cross of the Legion of Honor. This was the highest honor ever given to an inventor at any exhibition.
