Contemporaneous with the Wheeler & Wilson machine were other excellent machines, among which may be mentioned the Singer machine, patented Aug. 12, 1851, No. 8,294, by Isaac M. Singer, the original model of which is shown in Fig. 146. The Singer machine met the demands of the tailoring and leather industries for a heavier and more powerful machine. A characteristic feature was the vertical standard with horizontal arm above the work table, which was afterwards adopted in many other machines. Singer was the first to apply the treadle to the sewing machine for actuating it by foot power in the place of the hand-driven crank wheel. In 1851 W. O. Grover and W. E. Baker patented a machine which made the double chain stitch, characteristic of the Grover & Baker machine. James E. A. Gibbs invented and covered in several patents from 1856 to 1860 the single-thread rotating hook, which was embodied in the Wilcox & Gibbs machine. In addition to these, the “Weed” machine, made under Fairfield’s patents; the “Domestic” machine, made under Mack’s patents; and the “Florence” machine, made under Langdon’s patents, were other representative machines, which, in a few years after Howe’s patent, helped to revolutionize the art of tailoring, introduced the great era of ready-made clothing and ready-made shoes, emancipated women from the drudgery of the needle, and increased the efficiency of one pair of hands fully ten fold. In 1856 the owners of the original sewing machine patents formed the famous “sewing machine combination,” for the establishment of a common license fee, and for the protection of their mutual interests. The combination included Elias Howe, the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company, the Grover & Baker Sewing Machine Company, and I. M. Singer & Co. The following summary of machines made by the leading companies from 1853 to 1876 illustrates the early growth of this industry: Manufacturer. 1853. 1859. 1867. 1871. 1873. 1876. Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Co. 799 21,306 38,055 128,526 119,190 108,997 The Singer Manufacturing Company 810 10,953 43,053 181,260 232,444 262,316 Grover & Baker Sewing Machine Co. 657 10,280 32,999 50,838 36,179 .... Howe Sewing Machine Company .... .... 11,053 134,010 90,000 109,294 Wilcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Co. .... .... 14,152 30,127 15,881 12,758 Domestic Sewing Machine Company .... .... .... 10,397 40,114 23,587