This is the story of a firm, James Cunningham, Son and Company, that once made carriages and now makes crossbar switches. Founded in the days of handicraft, the firm survives - and prospers - in an era so new that most of us have not yet caught up with it: the era of automation. Moreover, Cunningham has always been owned and managed by the members of one family. Its fourth president is the great-grandson of its first. But something more than a name has survived: the firm has spanned the Industrial Revolution without losing its essential character for quality production.

However, the history of a company, even as old a company as Cunningham, should not be presented without some explanation; for "company history" can mean anything from advertising to a statistical abstract of operations; as a form of reading matter it is suspect.

In the informal account that follows we have tried to avoid both bad extremes. Also, we have made no attempt to discuss the technical complexities of crossbar switching - or carriage making. This is a story for the ordinary reader. If we succeed in interesting him, it is because we have a story to tell, something more than a mere succession of events. There is a connection between making fine carriages and making crossbars.

JAMES CUNNINGHAM, PRESIDENT 1838–1886