The Big French Riot To Destroy The First Sewing Machines

How one Frenchman's invention sewed the seeds of revolt.

While doing research for another article recently, I was reading up on the history of the sewing machine. This is the kind of fun stuff you get to do when you write facts for a living. Anyway, it's surprisingly dramatic. In a world where so many livelihoods are being threatened by AI, we forget that there was a time when this humble technology was seen in the same way.

The French Love a Riot

As any student of classical music, like myself, will tell you; the French love a riot. If they'll riot over a ballet, then why not a sewing machine too? In 1831, they did just that. An unruly mob of disgruntled tailors set out to destroy 80 sewing machines belonging to the inventor Barthélemy Thimonnier, who was using them to make uniforms for the army. It seems they were successful, and Thimonnier either didn't try or failed to make a comeback.

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