8 by 5 inches) manufactured by Watson &
Wooster and selling for $10. References to the Watson single-thread
machine occur as late as 1860, but no examples are known to have
survived. (Smithsonian photo 48221-B.)]

[Illustration: Figure 127.--WEST & WILLSON SEWING MACHINE of about 1859.
The West & Willson machine, manufactured under the patent of H. B. West
and H. F. Willson, enjoyed a very brief span of popularity. The patent
covered the peculiar method of operating a spring-looper in combination
with an eye-pointed needle to form a single chainstitch, but whether
machines of this single-thread variety were manufactured is unknown. The
machine illustrated here is a two-thread machine of basically the same
description. It stitches from left to right and bears serial number 1544
and the inscription "West & Willson Co. patented June 29, 1858."
(Smithsonian photo 49456-A.)]

[Illustration: Figure 128.--WHEELER & WILSON SEWING MACHINE of about
1872. Serial number 670974. (Smithsonian photo P63149-A.)]

[Illustration: Figure 129.--WHEELER AND WILSON NO. 8 sewing machine of
about 1876. (Smithsonian photo 17663-C.)]

[Illustration: 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:

_Serial Number_ _Year_

1-200 1851