William Jerrold saw the new-fangled sewing machine as an opportunity to get women into the professions — but time was of the essence.
By 1854, the recently invented sewing machine was turning out so much work that the demand for seamstresses was falling off. Sewing had long been a poorly paid but reliable backup for single women fallen on hard times, so journalist William Blanchard Jerrold demanded assurances that Victorian society would allow these women the same job opportunities allowed to men.