In a remarkable site in the heart of the city, the Barthélemy Thimonnier Museum takes you to discover two 19th century inventions: sewing machines and cycles. Founded in 1985, the museum occupies the former hospital of Amplepuis and its neo-gothic chapel. This amazing setting offers a setting for the collections labeled Museum of France in 2005.
Throughout history...
It is to Barthelemy Thimonnier, a famous inhabitant of Amplepuis, that we owe the invention of the sewing machine. From its "sewing machine", patented in 1830, to the present sewing machine, the museum presents machines of all brands that constitute the first public collection in France. Patent battle, technical innovations, aesthetic research and commercial engineering have paced the history of the sewing machine present in homes, factories and workshops around the world.
All in the saddle!
Donated by Henri and Renée Malartre (museum of Rochetaillée sur Saône) in 1989, the collection of cycles and advertising posters presented at the museum takes us into the great history of the cycle. From the 1818 dirt bike to the current race bikes, this is a chronology of this mode of travel that is traced.
Bikes with machines?
Cycles and sewing machines have much in common: manufactured object, same manufacturers (Peugeot, Opel...) and also mechanical (a pedal that drives a wheel). Reflections of the life of the nineteenth century, these two everyday objects have left their mark in our society. The museum tells their story.
