SINGER

a reference to the Singer Company, a major American corporation which grew out of a sewing-machine business established in the mid- 1800s. The company was originally run by the inventor of the first practical sewingmachine for domestic use, Isaac Singer (1811-1875). It soon expanded to be the largest sewing machine maker in the world. In the 1960s, Singer embarked on a strategy to diversify, buying twenty-two different manufacturing firms with products ranging from household appliances to defense systems. This proved unsuccessful, however, and the company soon began eliminating many of its new operations. It also eventually abandoned the sewing-machine business, once its most remunerative operation, and continued in the electronics and defense systems fields.