Brother Sewing Machines in Bismarck, ND

Produced in 1928 by the Yasui brothers who sought to produce sewing machines domestically, this was the first chain-stitch sewing machine for producing straw hats. It was the first product marketed with the "Brother" brand, which was named after the Yasui brothers' collaborative effort that realized the production of this sewing machine. Interestingly, "Brother" was not the first brand name considered by the Yasui brothers when naming their first model. Initially they chose "Sister" because the majority of sewing machine users were women, but it turned out that the name was already registered as a sewing machine brand name. Drawing inspiration from their strong family ties, founders Jitsuichi and Masayoshi Yasui then decided to go with the name "Brother". In 1933, the company built a new factory in the area that is now the Mizuho Ward, Nagoya City, for domestic mass-production of sewing machines. Taking the next step towards mass production, the Yasui Brothers Sewing Machine Shop was liquidated on January 15, 1934 to enable its incorporation under the name Nippon Sewing Machine Manufacturing Co., which subsequently began to manufacture industrial sewing machines in 1936. In 1941 Brother Sales, Ltd. was established in order to develop a sales network in Japan. In 1947, at the request of the Japanese government, Brother exported 200 sewing machines to Shanghai. This was the first step in developing the import-based sewing machine industry into an export-based industry, which was Brother's ambition since its founding.