LADD, WEBSTER & CO. sewing machine of about
1858, Boston, serial number 1497. (Smithsonian photo 46953.)]

[Illustration: Figure 102.--IMPROVED COMMON SENSE sewing machine of
about 1870. This machine is so very similar to the New England machines
in its feed, threading, looping mechanism, and in its general design,
that it is sometimes mistaken for the earlier New England machines (see
figs. 112 and 113).

Dating from the early 1870s, the Improved Common Sense machine is about
10 inches in width, two inches larger than the New England machine. The
spool holder is similar to Folsom's patented design, but is less
refined. A page from an advertising brochure of the period verifies the
name of the machine, but does not identify the manufacturer.

There are no patent dates or identifying names or numbers on the machine
illustrated. Although the Empire Co. also produced a machine of this
style, their models are marked with their name and with Ketchum's patent
date, April 23, 1863. Of the several styles of machine using the Raymond
looper, this type seems to account for the largest volume manufactured,
as evidenced by the proportionately higher number of examples still
extant. (Smithsonian photo 48328-E.)]

[Illustration: Figure 103.--JOHNSON SEWING MACHINE, 1857. Another of the
all-but-forgotten manufacturers of the 1850s was Emery, Houghton & Co.,
who constructed the A.F. Johnson machines. Examination of existing
machines indicates that they were manufactured in 1856 and 1857, and
possibly a little longer. This one from 1857 bears the serial number
624, so we know that several hundred were manufactured. The head is
ornately attractive, slightly reminiscent of Wheeler & Wilson models,
and of standard size. (Smithsonian photo 48329-B.)]

[Illustration: Figure 104.--"LADY" SEWING MACHINE of about 1859. The
contemporary name of this machine is unknown. The unusual design of the
head, or main support, is based in part on the design patent, number
216, of Isaac F. Baker, issued April 10, 1849, for a "new and useful
design[,] for ornamenting furniture[,] called Cora Munro" who was a
character in James Fenimore Cooper's _Last of the Mohicans_. The design
shows a female figure wearing a riding dress and hat that is ornamented
with a plume and a bow. Her right hand holds a riding stick and the
left, her skirt. Trunks of trees and foliage complete the Baker design,
which is known to have been used for girandoles of the period. A
c