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Wheeler & Wilson was an American company which produced sewing machines.
Nathaniel Wheeler and Allen Benjamin Wilson were once giants among the sewing machine pioneers. For a time, they were known in the periodicals of the day as the Sewing Machine Kings. They battled with the other giants of the day including Elias Howe and the formidable Isaac Merritt Singer. At one point they were involved in the largest legal cases in American History. As their adverts boasted, during the 19th Century Wheeler & Wilson really did create a “stitch in time”. Nathaniel Wheeler and Allen B. Wilson established the Wheeler & Wilson Company in Water Town Connecticut in 1852, A. B. Wilson had patented the rotary hook in the previous year and also patented the four motion feed in 1854.
Having produced about 3000 machines the Company moved to Bridgeport in 1856 and became known as the Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company. By 1858 a total of only 20,000 machines had been produced but then production expanded rapidly and in 1861 the Company sold 19,725, 30,000 in 1862 and in 1865 some 50,000 were manufactured, production continued to increase and in 1871 yearly production reached 128,526 machines of various types. Production in 1876 fell to 109,000 machines.
The factory occupied a 2 acre site and by 1863 had a floor area of 5 acres. An office was opened in England in 1859 at 13 Finsbury Place, London. By 1866 offices & showrooms on Regent Street, London. c1878 the Chief Office was at 21 Queen Victoria Street E.C. and in 1880 there were 26 other Depots in Great Britain. By 1897 the Chief Office was at 11 to 21 Paul Street, Finsbury, London. The Company won a number of Prize Medals, including at the Industrial Exposition, Paris 1861, International Exhibition London 1862, Exposition Universalle, Paris 1868, 1878 and 1889. In 1904 Singer took over the retailing of Wheeler and Wilson sewing machines and acquired the remained of the business in January 1907. No. 9 machine 1887 - 1905. Designed for Family use with its high arm it was advertised as 'The Only Perfect Sewing Machine for Family Use'. After Singers takeover of the Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing Company it was made under the Singer brand name until at least 1913. Very early No. 9 machines use the same bobbin mechanism as the No. 8. This was later changed, and the basic design remained unchanged although it under went various improvements.
Our museum has a Wheeler and Wilson D-9 SN 2552725 manufactured in 1885.
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