History

The present AMF Reece company was formed in 1991 by joining together of two of the industry’s oldest and most respected specialized sewing machine manufacturers.

AMF Sewn Products Inc. and The Reece Corporation. The merger brought together the resources and technical expertise of two companies that had been developing innovative and revolutionary products for the sewing industry since the late 1800’s.

In 1995 AMF Reece Inc. purchased the Minerva Company based in Prostejov the Czech Republic. The Minerva Company had also been designing and manufacturing a wide range of sewing machines, including eyelet buttonhole models. This acquisition was a strategic move by AMF Reece, giving the company additional manufacturing and engineering capacity.

Eyelet Buttonhole History

Mid 1800’s Hand sewn garments Very basic machines Many efforts to develop a practical sewing machine
Sewing industrial revolution first practical sewing machine invented by Elias Howe in 1846 simple overcast buttonhole stitch replaced by highly-refined stitch devised by artisan tailors buttonholes having eyelet at one end to encircle the shank of the button 18 patents issued between 1846 and 1880 by inventors (Batchelder, Singer, Wilson, Groveraker, Gibbs) to produce a Buttonhole machine. All of these quite impractical for use in production
John Reece born in 1853 in Stanstead Quebec Canada intuitive knowledge of mechanics reputation for fixing neighbors sewing machines dedicated to invent specialized sewing machines developed the First Automatic Eyelet End Buttonhole Machine in 1874, the largest bobbin in the world used in the shoe industry Reece Model J patented on 26.04.1881, won acclaim and honors in many exhibitions, including the World fair of 1893 in Chicago First production machine leased in 1883 (until the 1970’s Reece Company only leased machines and collected weekly rental plus payments for amount of buttonholes sewn)
Button shoe industry Difficult to sew in leather Earlier attempts were crude and required many steps High Speed Shoe Machine of 1907 and Rapid of 1915, successors used in production of shoes (single boot contained 12 or more buttonholes), collars, work clothes and rainwear
Early 20-tieth century First buttonhole machine Hand Hole Model designed in 1908 by Reece, to be used especially for men’s suits Rapid machine of 1915 introduced by Reece had two new innovation; new looper action, main cam able to make style changes Accelerated engineering efforts resulted in model S 101 available in different models (cut before, cut after, round eyelet, lapel holes, imitation holes)
Mid 1900’s Machine sewing straight type buttonholes S-1 Model released in 1940 Development of S-1 machine continued and after WWII, in 1949 machine revised, speeded up and released as S-2 Model 1949 the old Reece and International companies merged into the Reece Corporation Piped Buttonhole Machine to reproduce accurate and uniform piped buttonholes introduced in 1952 Series 42 Pocketwelt of 1958 became the world’s first automatic pocket welting machine

AMF - American Machine and Foundry Company

• Founded in New York in 1900, making castings and machinery for various industries
• First involved in stitching equipment in 1936 when a device for slip stitching neckties developed by the Naftali brothers
• Naftalis and Langsdorf (another necktie manufacturer) formed a partnership; unable to manufacture machines themselves they contacted AMF
• Machines operated in pairs (three operators required per machine and per set up), sold under the name The Naftali Standard Slip Stitch Machine
• Much simpler and faster machine for slip stitching operation No Mode Slip Stitch Machine developed by Max Newman in 1930’s
• AMF bought the rights from Newman and agreed to pay royalty on every machine sold.
• Using the “floating needle” principle, AMF started developing a decorative stitching machine using a “saddle stitch”
• For tailored clothing AMF came up with more sophisticated stitch called “pick stitch” perfected on Pick Stitcher
• First button sewing machine released in 1960 under the name Hand Button Stitcher
• AMF decided to expand into other countries in the late 50’s; W.G. Clarkson in Leeds became a sole distributor for England and Ireland (agent for Reece since 1915)
• development activities in1967-68 resulted in Under Collar Felling Machine that attached facing to under collar of tailored jackets
• in the late 1970’s AMF continued developments and produced a machine for folding and attaching belt loops, followed in the mid 80’s with Atlas machine

AMF Reece Inc.

• AMF and Reece Corporation merged in 1991, the company name changed to AMF Reece Inc. All departments brought together into the facility in Richmond Virginia
• Minerva Company based in Prostejov the Czech Republic, founded in 1941 as a private company by the Kovarik family to manufacture Vulcanization machines for use in shoe industry. Nationalized by the state in 1948 it became part of national company called BATA ZLIN, production replaced by special machines for footwear and clothing. During 1994 agreement to market a low cost buttonhole machine S 100 and sell it under the AMF Reece name.
• 1995 acquisition of the Minerva Company by AMF Reece; strategic move giving company additional manufacturing capacity, lower manufacturing costs and highly skilled labor force
• All production successfully transferred to Prostejov plant in 2001, Richmond plant closed