Dear Pam;

It has been a long time, so history gets muddled in the process. To set the 
record straight a bit, in response to your input:

Hacker has never had a tape machine. As far as I know, the only company to 
manufacture a tape unit is Sakura, which was initially distributed by Miles.

The first glass machine was introduced by Shandon way back in the early 
1980's. It needed some work and was withdrawn from the market.

The first viable glass coverslipper was manufactured and made available in 
1984 by Meisei Electric Company, and has been distributed in North America 
(and elsewhere) by Hacker Instruments ever since. As a matter of record, the 
first unit was placed with Syntex in San Francisco and was still in service 
the last we heard.

As a guesstimate, tape coverslippers became available in the USA in the late 
1980's.

Hope this helps whoever wanted to know.

With best regards,

Elfi Hacker