hoto 45505.)]

A Gibbs sewing machine, on a simple iron-frame stand with treadle, sold
for approximately $50 in the late 1850s,[69] while a Wheeler and
Wilson[70] machine or a Grover and Baker[71] with the same type of
stand sold for approximately $100. After the introduction of the Gibbs
machine, the Singer company[72] brought out a light family machine in
1858 that was also first sold for $100. It was then reduced to $50, but
it was not popular because it was too light (see discussion of Singer
machines, pp. 34-35). In 1859, Singer brought out its second, more
successful family machine, which sold for $75.

Like the other companies licensed by the "Combination," Willcox and
Gibbs company paid a royalty for the use of the patents it held.
Although the Willcox and Gibbs machine was a single-thread chainstitch
machine and the company held the Gibbs patents, the company was required
to be licensed to use the basic feed, vertical needle, and other
related patents held by the "Sewing-Machine Combination."

With the approach of the Civil War, Gibbs returned to Virginia. Poor
health prevented him from taking an active part in the war, but he
worked throughout the conflict in a factory processing saltpeter for
gunpowder. Afterward, Gibbs returned to Philadelphia and found that
Willcox had faithfully protected his sewing-machine interests during his
long absence. The firm prospered, and Gibbs finally retired to Virginia
a wealthy man. Interestingly, Gibbs named the Virginia village to which
he returned in later life "Raphine"--derived, somewhat incorrectly, from
the Greek word "to sew."

The Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company is one of the few old
companies still in existence. It discontinued making and selling
family-style machines many years ago and directed its energies toward
specialized commercial sewing machines, many of which are based on the
original chainstitch principle.

There was also an ever-increasing number of other patentees and
manufacturers who, in the late 1850s and 1860s, attempted to produce a
sewing machine that would circumvent both the "Combination" and the high
cost of manufacturing a more complicated type of machine. Some of the
more interesting of these are pictured and described in figures 40
through 54.

[Illustration: Figure 41.--THE CHERUB sewing machine was another
Robertson first which was adopted by Clark. Robertson's patent of
October 20, 1857, once again makes no claim for the desi