[Illustration: Figure 81.--EUREKA SEWING MACHINE, 1859. An example of the many short-lived types of which no written record can be found, this particular machine was used as a patent model for certain minor improvements in 1859. It has the name "Eureka" painted on the top and the following inscription incised on the baster plate: "Eureka Shuttle S. M. Co. 469 Broadway, N.Y." Although it is a shuttle machine, it carries no patent dates and was not included in the Howe royalty records. Neither is it listed in the obsolescence list published in 1881. The company probably could not pay its royalty fees and was forced out of business almost immediately. If this machine had not been used as a patent model, no record of the company's existence might remain. It should be noted that as in most shuttle machines the head was meant to be set into a treadle-powered table. Since most tables are very similar, they are not required for identification. (Smithsonian photo 48328-C.)] [Illustration: Figure 82.--M. FINKLE SEWING MACHINE, 1857. The M. Finkle machines were manufactured in 1856 and 1857. Sometime before or about 1859, the inventor, Milton Finkle, formed a partnership and the machines were subsequently called M. Finkle & Lyon and later simply Finkle & Lyon. In 1859 the machine was awarded a silver medal by the American Institute for producing superior manufacturing and family lockstitch sewing machines. It also won a silver medal in Boston in 1860 at the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association Exhibition. Although the name of the machine was changed to Victor in 1867, the company name remained Finkle & Lyon until about 1872 when it was changed to Victor also. Victor machines were manufactured until about 1890. Machines can be dated by their serial number approximately as follows: _Serial Number_ _Year_ 1-200 1856 201-450 1857 451-700 1858 701-950 1859 951-1500 1860 1501-3000 1861 3001-5000 1862 5001-7000 1863 7001-9000 1864 9001-11000 1865 11001-13000 1866 13001-15490 1867 15491-17490 1868 17491-18830 1869 18831-21250 1870 21251-28890 1871 28891-40790 1872 40791-48240 1873 48241-53530 1874 53531-59635 1875 59636-65385 1876 No estimates are available for the years 1877 to 1890. (Smithsonian photo 48216-A.)] [Illustration] <----