The Forgotten Sewing Machine That Outsold Singer For 15 Years

The Forgotten Sewing Machine That Outsold Singer For 15 Years In 1858, Singer was in third place. Wheeler & Wilson was outselling them by more than two to one — and almost nobody today knows that company's name. This is the story of Allen B. Wilson, a self-taught cabinetmaker from rural New York who invented the two mechanisms found inside every sewing machine in the world today. It is the story of Nathaniel Wheeler, the businessman who turned those inventions into the most successful sewing machine company in the United States. And it is the story of how Wheeler & Wilson — a company that produced nearly 2 million machines and held the top sales position in America for approximately 15 years — was purchased by Singer in 1905 and erased from history within a decade. Wheeler & Wilson did not lose because its machines were inferior. Its machines were quieter, smoother, and more precise than Singer's. It won medals at the 1861 Industrial Exposition in Paris and the 1862 International Exhibition in London. At its peak in 1871, it produced 128,526 machines in a single year. It lost because Singer understood something Wheeler & Wilson never acted on: that selling a product and selling access to a product are two entirely different businesses. In 1856, Singer's partner Edward Clark introduced the installment plan — five dollars down, three dollars a month. Sales nearly tripled the following year. Wheeler & Wilson kept selling full price, upfront, to whoever could pay. By 1875, Singer had taken the top spot. By 1905, Wheeler & Wilson was gone. By 1913, even the machines Singer inherited had been discontinued and rebranded. Allen B. Wilson's rotary hook patent — filed August 12, 1851 — is the foundation of every lockstitch sewing machine manufactured today. His four-motion feed patent, filed December 19, 1854, is on every machine as well. His name is on none of them.