Kimball and Morton of Glasgow
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Kimball & Morton were a Glasgow-based manufacturer of domestic and industrial sewing machines active between 1867 and 1955.[1]
The first office set up in the UK by I.M. Singer was at 11 Buchanan Street in Glasgow in 1856, and the manager of this office was called Alonzo Kimball. John Morton was one of the firm’s travelling salesmen for England. Kimball began to patent improvements in sewing machines in his own name on 30 June 1864 (Patent no. 1632), 23 July 1866 (Patent no. 1908) and 11 March 1867 (Patent no. 687). These patents were for machines that were heavyweight and designed for use on canvas and heavyweight materials such as sack cloth. John Morton then joined Kimball and together they created the Kimball & Morton Company in 1867. Patent number 2227, dated 27 June 1877 was the first patent to appear under both names. Until this point their factory was based at 82 Bishop Street, Andertson, Glasgow, and they had showrooms at 114 Argyle Street.[2][3]