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 201-650 1852 651-1449 1853 1450-2205 1854 2206-3376 1855 3377-5586 1856 5587-10177 1857 10178-18155 1858 18156-39461 1859 39462-64563 1860 64564-83119 1861 83120-111321 1862 111322-141099 1863 141100-181161 1864 181161-220318 1865 220319-270450 1866 270451-308505 1867 308506-357856 1868 357857-436722 1869 436723-519930 1870 519931-648456 1871 648457-822545 1872 822546-941735 1873 941736-1034563 1874 1034564-1318303 1875 1138304-1247300 1876 Records of the second series of serial numbers dating from 1876 are not available.] [Illustration: Figure 130.--WHITE SEWING MACHINE. Although the White sewing machines date from 1876, Thomas H. White had been busy in the manufacture of sewing machines for many years prior to this. White is known to have been associated with Barker in the manufacture of the Brattleboro machine and later with Grout in producing one of the several New England machines. In 1866 he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and began manufacturing machines for sale under special trade names through selling organizations. In 1876, the White Sewing Machine Company was formed and machines were sold under the White name.