Richards Sole Cutting Patent Model
date: label: date made
content: 1840 - 1844
label: patent date
content: 1844-12-16
name: label: patentee
content: Richards, Richard
label: inventor
content: Richards, Richard
notes: label: Description
content: Richard Richards of Lynn, Massachusetts received patent number 3,857 on December 16, 1844 for his invention of a machine for cutting leather soles for shoes. The leather is placed upon the platform, and operating the treadle causes the machine to move the leather into position, cut a sole, and move the cut sole away from the blade. Richards had previously been a shoe last maker in Lynn, a city that became synonymous with shoe making as mechanization began to take over the industry in the second half of the 19th century. While Richards machine was a step towards mechanization of the shoe industry, it was still only a step in the process. The tedious task of hand lasting each shoe remained, but a machine patented by Jan Matzeliger of Lynn in 1883 solved this problem, increasing the rate of production by 70.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Lynn
label: associated place
content: United States: Massachusetts, Lynn
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Agriculture
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition
content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.003857
label: catalog number
content: 003857
label: accession number
content: 89797
label: patent number
content: 3,857
objectType: label: Object Name
content: patent model, sole cutting machine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)