Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Major/Program
History
First Advisor's Name
Aurora Morcillo
First Advisor's Committee Title
Co-committee Chair
Second Advisor's Name
Kenneth Lipartito
Second Advisor's Committee Title
Co-committee Chair
Third Advisor's Name
Bianca Premo
Fourth Advisor's Name
Mira Wilkins
Fifth Advisor's Name
Jesus Cruz
Keywords
History, Multinational Corporations, Gender, Spain, Mexico, Singer, Sewing, Technology
Date of Defense
5-24-2013
Abstract
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 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.
Identifier
FI13080902
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
Included in
Cultural History Commons, European History Commons, History of Gender Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, Latin American History Commons
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