 All this month, get up to $50 off any Android smartphone from Appalachian Wireless, any Android you desire. All $50 off with two-year agreement, better service, bigger savings, that's today's Appalachian Wireless and East Kentucky Network Company. As the North and South squared off in Prestonsburg this weekend, during the Battle of Middle Creek re-enactment, local vendors were also set up for residents and tourists to view. One vendor in particular caught the eyes of many with his vintage sewing machine, which he bought on Craigslist. While of course the sewing machine did not win the war for Union soldiers, owner Bruce Austin says it certainly helped. When the war started, sewing machines were a brand new thing. The government wasn't even sure they were going to trust them to make the uniforms in different items, so they had to prove themselves. The first contracts that the government laid out for machine sewing products was to make all this canvas stuff that you see around us. Thousands and thousands of tents needed to be made in quickly. After they proved that they were worthy by doing the tents and the goods, they allowed them then contracts out to make the sewing goods for the Union uniforms. So the sewing machine was another thing that helped the Union to get ahead in the war. The Union had the advantage of the sewing machine producing goods in the North. These machines weren't made much until the Civil War started. Civil War started as mass producing, they're all made in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey. They're all made in Northwood's industrial. One sewing machine then would replace five other people, making it easier to produce more of what was needed. This machine, right here just like you see it, model number three, by 1863 in that one year loan, Wheeler Wilson made 30,000 of this machine in 1863. So that was a big increase in production. Again, while the sewing machine didn't technically win the war for the North, it certainly played a role in their victory. In Prestonsburg, Shelby Still, EKB News.