Figure 129. — Wheeler and Wilson No. 8 sewing machine of about 1876. 

 (Smithsonian photo 17663-C.) 



Figures 128 and 129. — Wheeler and Wilson sewing 

 machines. The Wheeler and Wilson company was the largest 

 manufacturer of sewing machines in the 1850s and the 1860s. 



It began in 1851 as A. B. Wilson; from 1852 to 1856 it was 

 the Wheeler, Wilson & Co., Watertown, Connecticut; and 

 from 1856 to 1876, it was Wheeler & Wilson Mfg. Co., 

 Bridgeport, Connecticut. 



The style of the head changed very little during these years 

 (see figs. 26 and 27). Both a table style with iron legs and a 

 cabinet model were made: the head was usually mounted to 

 stitch from left to right. In 1861, the company introduced 

 the famous glass presser foot, patented on March 5 of that 

 year by J. L. Hyde. The presser foot was made of metal but 

 shaped like an open into which was slid a small glass plate, 

 with a hole for the needle descent. The glass allowed the 

 seamstress to observe the stitching and to produce very close- 

 edge stitching. It remained a favorite of many women for 

 years. In 1876, the new No. 8 machine was introduced and 

 a new series of serial numbers was initiated. It is. therefore. 



imperative to know that the machine is one of the earlier 

 style machines before using the following list of serial 

 numbers to date the machines, approximately as follows: 



Records of the second series of serial numbers dating from 

 1876 are not available. 



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