r by Catharine. For almost two years Singer worked as a part-time actor and handyman, finally ending up as an unskilled laborer working on the Erie Canal. Singer wasn't like the other workers and because of his mechanical ability he thought that there had to be a better way to dig the rock and dirt than by hand. He designed a machine to drill into solid rock, which he patented in 1839. He sold the patent for $2,000.
             Since he had plenty money and he couldn't get any more work as an actor, he formed his own acting troupe, the Merritt Players. This didn't turn out to be a good investment. Singer toured for almost five years, always struggling because his expenses were usually more than his box office receipts. Finally he was dead broke, and had to stop in 1844. Singer and Mary Ann settled in Fredericksberg. He went to work full-time in a successful print shop.
             Now that he was working in a print shop, Singer almost immediately saw a need for a machine that would automatically shape and produce the large wood letters that were used to set newspaper and advertising headlines. He borrowed money from a Philadelphia businessman,
             George Zieber, and went about inventing a device to do this. His first efforts ended suddenly when an explosion in the building where he rented space destroyed his protot
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