Brief History of Union Special Machine Company


Photo(s) courtesy of Union Special Machine Company

Union Bag Company, anxious to expand and build on the success of its bag seaming machines, began developing other types of industrial sewing machines. Before long the company was building machines for producing all types of garments of knit and woven materials, for shoes, and for many other sewn products.By 1887, the company had outgrown its original manufacturing plant, and moved to a site at Hubbard and Franklin Streets, in a building occupied by the Continental Bolt Works.By 1897, the factory had expanded to extend nearly the entire block from Hubbard to Kinzie Street along Franklin Street.During that period, Union Bag Company was aggressively making its name and products known. Machines were exhibited at the Columbian Exposition, and branch offices were established at Cincinnati, Ohio; St. Louis, Missouri; and Rochester, New York. To meet increasing demand abroad, Union Special Maschinen-Fabrik was established at Stuttgart, Germany, in 1901. That organization is now named Union Special GmbH, and located in Möglingen, Germany.

In 1904 the management changed the firm name to “Union Special Machine Company”, to reflect the wide variety of sewing machines offered to the needle trades. The term 'Special' was chosen because of the specialized sewing operation each machine was designed to perform with great efficiency.

Further factory expansion occurred in 1913, when a corner business, a fish market on Kinzie at Franklin, was bought out. Into this new space went the general office, adjusting department, 'experimental' department, stockroom and shipping. Just four years later, in response to needs for sewing machines for the war effort, several rooming houses and hotels to the west along Kinzie were demolished, including the old fish market building. Pilings for the new building were driven into place while the old structures were still being removed.

The mid–1920's throughout the 1930's was a time of intense improvement and expansion of the Union Special product line. During this period, the company produced its first feed–off–the–arm lapseamer, serger, blindstitch hemmer, and lockstitch machines. (It was the demand for the lockstitch and the need for additional production capacity that would lead to a new manufacturing facility outside Chicago, in Huntley, IL.) Meanwhile, a three-story extension was made to the main building along Kinzie Street, west to Orleans Street in 1938.

In 1946, immediately after World War II, three floors were added to the 1938 extension.It soon became apparent that further expansion would be necessary, but changing economic conditions indicated also that further expansion at the Chicago location would not be practicable. As a consequence, the decision was made to establish a facility at Huntley, IL, and a small 44,000 sq. ft. manufacturing was purchased there in 1948.

At the onset of World War II, Union Special Machine Company, like other American manufacturers, was engaged in the war effort. Not only were sewing machines themselves vital to the cause, but because of the extreme precision standards required in producing its high–speed industrial machines, the company was called upon to apply its talents and facilities to produce scientific equipment, precision instruments, gun parts, and sub–assemblies for the famous Norden Bombsight.

As the next four decades progressed, the Huntley plant was gradually expanded to over 418,000 sq. ft., as operations in Chicago were transferred to that suburban location. 1986 was the final year the Franklin Street office and plant was occupied by Union Special Machine Company.