Singer Castle on Dark Island
Hello Dear Friends and Readers and a warm welcome to today’s post. Today I would like to share with you an interesting journey I have had recently which relates to sewing machines..
I believe I have been incredibly fortunate to see something that I never thought I would see in my life, as this site is only accessible by sea! By sheer coincidence, towards the end of my holiday, we sail down the Saint Lawrence Seaway, which traverses Canada and the USA. During that journey, we went through seven locks which each incrementially raise the ship to go up the seaway which sounds so counterintuitive and was absolutely fascinating. The ship was such a tight fit that I could actually touch the sides of the locks as we were passing through.
Thousand Islands
Passing through each lock higher and higher in the seaway until eventually we came to an area called Thousand Islands, (Origin of Thousand Island Dressing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_Island_dressing
Thousand Islands was absolutely stunning. I never could have imagined there was such a beautiful place. We sailed along the seaway blessed by a beautiful warm sunny day with lots of onlookers waving and enjoying their holidays in their summer houses, and boats. To my joy and surprise, we also passed, the famous Singer Castle. This castle I believe was built with some of the proceeds of the Singer Empire started by Isaac Singer. https://sewalot.com/singer_history.htm
I’m going to share some photos with you of this beautiful spot and a little bit of brief history about how it came to be there.
Fifth President of the Singer Corporation
This amazing castle in the area of a Thousand Islands was not built by Isaac Singer. Apparently it was built by the fifth president of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. He built it for his family to enjoy in the summer. Seeing this building and its location seems to me that it would’ve been a mammoth undertaking to, bring all the materials in the middle of this seaway to make this amazing island getaway. It apparently houses secret tunnels ands it’s own boathouse,
Here is a link to a an article about how this came to be https://www.singercastle.com/brief-history/
I believe Isaac Singer was responsible for creating a type of credit called Installment Credit Plans. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaac-Singer in order to purchase sewing machines.
Sewing machines were so expensive in this era that required approximately six months wages in order to afford a sewing machine. Therefore he invented a program where you could purchase the sewing machine and gradually pay it off. Of course, having a sewing machine made a huge difference to women of the day because it could enormously improve, the efficiency and capability of making so many household goods. I can’t imagine having to make all the linen and clothing and drapery for a whole family along with all the normal chores that go along with running a household and looking after people.
Which leads me to say that, that accounts for the massive amount of money required to create such an impressive castle, I did not go into the castle, but merely observed it as a passer by. However, I feel like that was the most visually impressive part of it anyway. I gather that they still have some sewing machines inside the castle, but I don’t know what kind or how many they actually are.
I hope you enjoyed seeing these photos. As I said, it’s something I never imagined I would see in my lifetime.
I have always enjoyed the appearance and use of antique and vintage sewing machines. One of the reasons I’ve chosen to collect more of the Singer sewing machines, is because it is easier to get parts as they are so ubiquitous throughout the world. Having said that, here is one of mine which is lovely however, these are hard to get needles for. Singer 12 Circa 1899. I do love the decals on this hand crank.
Thank you for joining me today on this little episode of my recent travels. We finally sailed into Toronto, Canada in the early hours of the morning so I will leave you with this beautiful photo.
If you enjoy this post and you are also a sewing machine enthusiast you may also like these Singer sewing machine related posts.
Singer 31K20 Treadle – Free Motion Quilting
Make Your Singer Sing (Part 1)
As always, wherever you are today, happy stitching.
Susie
© Susan Stuklis 2024
We had a wonderful Road Scholar trip in 2017 along the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence. Boldt Castle was one of the stops.
I’ve been wondering, since seeing this post, has the castle been used as a set in any movie? You probably don’t know, but that sure would be interesting. The interiors look like a fun place to visit, and I’m so glad you shared this. I’ve read back through some of your sewing machine acquisitions and you’ve got some lovelies now.
Thanks for sharing your photos. I grew up in the Thousand Islands!
Loved your holiday adventure story Susie. Singer Castle must have been built with a lot of sewing machine sales! When i was young my Mum, Aunties and cousins all sewed with Singer treadles and electric machines. Mum had the 1930s model Singer with knee lever. She was a great seamstress and created most of my clothing through the years.
I didn’t know there was such an amazing castle in existence. It was very interesting watching the scenes from long ago.
I’m from Nova Scotia, and yet I have never had a journey through the seaway. Thanks for sharing your lovel experience. I have two Singers, neither being used at present. The first a treadle belonged to my grandmother’s mother and then my grandmother. The second is one i purchased as a student nurse in 1965. I used it to pay the installments for buying the machine .What memories accompany that particular machine.
The photo of your Toronto arrival is spectacular. I’m basically a country bumpkin (and I love it), so I’m not up for many adventures in the big city. I think that made your photo even a bit more special to me. Thanks
Thank you for sharing your experience with buying your machine. So glad you enjoyed the post.
Susan can you direct to information on the cruise you took, thank you
We cruised from Iceland to Toronto. Look up Ponant.
Amazing, and it was just a summer home, wow. I did not know about the Singer castle and I am a big fan of vintage Singers too. I have about 7 vintage Singer machines, wish I could find a hand crank. I have 3 of them set up to use at a moment’s notice. Thanks for the wonderful “tour”.
😊 It is possible to convert the vintage electric machines to a hand rank if that’s any help.
Oh how lovely. It was a long time ago – before we had children that we went on an adventure to Canada and stayed with relatives. We did a Thousand Island trip. I have fond memories – especially when one of our party looked at the birds flying and said “why are they flying backwards?” It did indeed look like that – an optical illusion! We didn’t get off the boat because we didn’t have US visas, but it was an amazing journey. Thank you and what a pretty hand crank!
❤️
Very interesting!!! Thank you for sharing that! I had never heard of Singer Castle.