IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLOTTE
SMITH, Wife of Jabez Smith, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the twelfth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charlotte Smith, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Charlotte Smith, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charlotte Smith, my
exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CERTAIN ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said Charlotte Smith, should cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to
be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I hereby
declare that the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the present
Specification thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say-
Firstly, my Invention consists of certain improvements in stays or corsets,
by which they can be more easily and quickly fastened and unfastened,
tightened or loosened, than heretofore, and may also be made to fit the person
with the utmost exactness without injurious pressure on any part.
Figure 1 is a plan of a pair of stays embodying these improvements, which
are supposed to be spread out with the back uppermost. A is a dorsal
piece, to which the two sides B, B, are united; and C³, C, are two steel busks
(indicated by the dotted lines), by which the stays are fastened in front
(instead of at the back, as usual). The dorsal piece A consists of two parts
ff, stitched end to end together. The upper part f¹ is composed of some
puckered muslin or other suitable material, into which a number of narrow
spiral springs c, c, are inserted transversely, the ends of which are taken up in
the seams which unite the piece A to the sides B, B; and this upper part is
gradually narrowed from the top towards the waist. The lower part f³ is a
gore of plain contil or other material, which is gradually widened downwards
from the waist, as may be required to suit the figure of the wearer. E, E,
are open triangular-shaped spaces left in the sides B, B, at the waist, and
provided at the edges with eyelet holes, by drawing laces L, L, through with
the stays can be tightened or loosened in those parts, according to circum-
stanstances. The steel busks C³, C, are stitched into and covered by the
cloth. Plans of these busks, detached from the stays, are given separately in
Figures 2 and 3. To the under side of C¹ are riveted three hooks h, h, h,
which are turned back over the front edge of the busk, projecting through the
cloth. These hooks take into holes i, i, i, made in the stays immediately
behind the opposite busk C, and thereby fasten the two sides together in front.
To C there is riveted at the middle a metal loop k, by passing through which
a piece of tape M, attached to the opposite side piece, the side to which C2 is
attached may be pulled over, in order to have the hooks h inserted in the
holes i. A view of the front of the stays when thus fastened is given in
Figure 4.
A convenient modification of the preceding plan of construction, in so far as
regards the front fastenings, is represented in Figures 7, 7, and 8. To the.

page_text: front edge of the busk C² there are riveted. three metal loops k, k, k, and to
the back edge of the busk C¹ three hooks h, h, h. Immediately beneath each
projecting hook h there is stitched to the body of the stays a tape or strap M,
having a row of eyelet holes in it, m, m, m, and the hook is passed perma-
nently through the first of these holes. When the stays are to be fastened,
the wearer or her attendant passes each tape M through the opposite corre-
sponding loop k, then brings it back over the book h, and inserts that hook
into one or other of the remaining holes in the tape, according to the degree
of tightness desired. A view of a pair of stays, when thus fastened in front, is
given in Figure 9. As in this case every necessary expansion or contraction
of the stays is provided for by the eyelet holes in the tapes M, the waist
lacings L, L, used in the stays first before described, are rendered. un-
necessary.
Another modification of the front fastenings is exhibited in Figures
10, 11, 12. The busk C¹ (Figure 10) has no hook attached to it, but has
The busk C
at top and bottom two socket pieces n, n, riveted to it.
(Figure 11), again is without any loops, but has two spikes p, p, attached to
it, one at top and the other at bottom, which project beyond the cloth, and
take respectively into the socket pieces n, n; admission to which is obtained
through slits made in the cloth. The two busks (the sockets and spikes
inclusive), are of the same length, or nearly so; but the flexibility of the steel,
of which the busk C2 is composed, allows it to be bent sufficiently to enable
the insertion of the spikes into the sockets to be effected with great ease.
The busk C is cut away a little on one side of the middle, which allows it as
it is fixed in its place to be slipped under a curved stud S, raised on the sur-
face of the busk C, and projecting beyond the cloth, by the hold of which
stud upon it any risk of its bulging out at the centre is completely obviated.
T is a tape, attached by stitching to the middle of the busk C (holes o, o, o,
being punched in it for the purpose), by means of which this busk can be
drawn aside, raised, and fitted, as may be required. Figure 12 shows this
mode of fastening in its finished state.
A form of stays, better adapted perhaps than any of the preceding to young
persons, is represented in Figures 13, 14, and 14. The dorsal part is made
precisely similar to that used in the stays first before described. The busk C¹
has three hooks h, h, h, riveted to its upper surface, and nearly about the
middle, and turned backwards. The busk C is made much narrower than in
the stays previously described; and three metal eyepieces M, M, M, aro
swivelled to it, which are slipped over the hooks h, h, h, when the stays are
to be fastened. W, W, are two tapes, attached to the inside of the stays, by

page_text: bringing which round and tying in front, the stays are temporarily secured,
while the process of passing the eyepieces M over the hooks.h, h, h, is being
performed. In all of these improved descriptions of stays the use of shoulder
straps is rendered wholly unnecessary by the firm yet pliant hold which the
elastic portions of the stays take of the person.
The improvements which I claim in respect of this first branch of my
Invention are the making of stays and corsets to fasten in front only, and to
expand or contract, according to the varying requirements of the wearers, but
only in so far as regards the peculiar combinations of means adopted for these
purposes and before described.
Secondly, my Invention consists in manufacturing a half boot or covering
for the foot and lower part of the leg, to which I give the name of the
"Soccopedes Elasticus," from its possessing greater adaptability to the natural
varieties in the shape of the foot and leg than any covering or coverings for
those parts heretofore in use. A side elevation of this article is given in
Figure 15 of the annexed Drawings. The sole A is made either of leather or
of gutta percha, or of the two materials combined. The upper B may be
either of leather or any other suitable material, as paramatta,, cotton, or
woollen cloth, or silk or satin or velvet. The top part C, which is stitched to
the upper B, is composed of some looped or frame-knitted fabrics, having at top
a broad ancle band D of india-rubber braiding, preferring however that lately
invented description of elastic braiding, which is distinguished from the
ordinary braiding by the threads of it crossing each other at right angles
instead of diagonally, and which consequently possesses the peculiar property
of always maintaining the same width, to whatever extent it may be stretched
lengthwise. The band is made with a silk edging or frill a, a, the better to
.enable the top piece C to fit exactly the natural shape of the foot and ancle; it
is gradually widened towards the heel, that is, by one course of loops at a
time (a process well known to manufacturers of looped fabrics), and in like
manner to prevent any puckering in front over the instep the fabric is lowered
from the top by one course at a time. In order to show more clearly the
widening at the back and lowering in front just referred to, the parts which are
widened and lowered are colored red in the Drawing.. The looped fabric may
be either made of silk thread, or of cotton thread, or of worsted, or of any other
suitable material, and either plain or figured and of any color or mixture of
colors. The "soccopedes elasticus may be worn either by itself as a boot,
or over an ordinary shoe, or sometimes in the one way and sometimes in the
other; and when intended to be used merely as an occasional overshoe it may
be either soled with cloth or felt merely.

page_text: The improvements which I claim in respect of the "soccopedes elasticus"
are: First, the making the top part of one piece of some looped fabric, with
an edging or bordering. of elastic braiding, as before described. Second, the
mode of widening the said top parts towards the heel and lowering it in front
as before described; and third, the attaching of the said top part to the sole
and upper, as before described.
Thirdly, my Invention consists in adding to or incorporating in such
coats, cloaks, shawls, wrappers, and other upper garments as are worn by
persons in travelling, a back piece of air-tight cloth, such as represented in
Figure 16. The under portion of this back piece, say from a downwards, is
made of two folds of Mackintosh or other air-tight cloth divided or partitioned
in the usual manner in which such fabrics are divided or partitioned into a
number of separate vertical or diagonal channels intercommunicating with one
another (the centre one only excepted), so that the whole may be inflated at
pleasure by the wearer from one mouthpiece B, and this without his either
changing his position or taking, off the garment for the purpose (the centre
channel is excepted because it is desirable, for the convenience of folding, to
leave the back piece uninflated at that part). Supposing the channels A, A,
to be expanded to the utmost extent of which the nature of the fabric
employed will admit, the increase in depth or thickness will rarely exceed
about one half an inch, which will be hardly perceptible to the eye, and in' no
case impart an unsightly appearance to the garment. The back piece is
intended to be stitched in between the external cloth of the garment and the
lining, and it may be extended downwards either more or less, as desired. The
collar part C is left plain and will lie flat on the neck.
: I claim, in respect to this part of my Invention, the making of travelling
coats, cloaks, wrappers, and other like garments, with inflated back pieces, as
before described..
Fourthly, my Invention consists in the employment of the method of
widening at the heel before described in the manufacture of stockings and
socks of all descriptions; for the purpose of rendering the same more fitting...and
durable.
And in respect of this fourth head of my Invention I claim the application
of the said method of widening the heels of stockings and socks.
Fifthly, my Invention consists in making outer garments for ladies, gentle-
men, and children of a peculiar species of cloth, to which I give the name of
Puima Cloth," which is manufactured from the coarse description of silk
known in India by the name of tusseh or tussar. Silk garments made of
165

page_text: this cloth are very light and in a great degree water repellent, while
at the same time they possess the advantages of presenting a beautiful glossy
surface.
Sixthly, my Invention consists in certain improvements in the shape, or
"cut" of gentlemen's coats, and in a certain addition thereto. An improved
travelling coat, together with the patterns for cutting out the cloth for making
it, are given in Figures 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23. Figure 17 is a view
of the coat in its finished state. Figure 18 is the pattern of the upper part
of the front. Figure 19 is the pattern of the lower part of it. When the
two parts are combined, as represented in Figure 17, the under boundary of
the upper part of the front forms a flap extending the whole breadth from
the front edge B to the seam C. By this arrangement the seam usually
necessary to fix on the flap is avoided, and the consequent risk of wet entering,
while the flap forms an effectual cover to the pockets. Figure 20 is the pattern
of the back, which may be cut either in one piece, in which case there would be
no flap on the back, or may be cut in two pieces, as indicated by the dotted
lines, in which case the flap would completely surround the coat. Figure 21
is a view of an adjunct to this coat, which may be either used as a cape or an
apron or wrapper for the knees and lower part of the legs. When used as a
cape it is buttoned or otherwise attached under the collar of the coat.
Figure 22 is a representation of the coat and cape combined. When the
picce Figure 21 is used as an apron it is attached by buttons, hooks, or strings
to the inside of the flap after the coat has been put on, and serves as a covering
to the legs in railway or carriage travelling. Figure 23 represents the coat
and apron combined; or the coat may be cut when used without the apron, as
represented in Figures 24, 25, 26, and 26. Figure 27 is a representation of
an improved coat sleeve, in which the buttons generally employed at the
wrist are dispensed with, the slit or opening A in the sleeve being filled in with
a piece of elastic webbing, which yields in putting through the hand, and
when in its place, causes the sleeve to fit well at the wrist. Figure 28 is a
representation of part of another coat sleeve. A, A, is the common wrist band;
B, B, another wrist band made of elastic webbing, which is sewn to a lining
inside of the sleeve, and is made of a size sufficient to embrace the wrist, so
that it may prevent the cold air from entering at that part.
And in respect of the last two heads of my Invention, I claim as
follows:-
I claim, in respect of the fifth head of my Invention, the manufacturing of
garments of tusseh or tussar silk.

page_text: I claim, in respect of the sixth head of my Invention, the travelling coat, the
mproved sleeve, and the elastic wrist piece, each as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charlotte Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirteenth day of November, in
the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid Charlotte Smith came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.

page_text: In the Matter of a Patent granted to CHARLOTTE SMITH, Wife of
Jabez Smith, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, for her Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL," bearing
date at Westminster, the Fourteenth May, One thousand eight hundred
: . and forty-nine.
DISCLAIMER proposed to be entered by the said Charlotte Smith with
the Clerk of the Patents of England, pursuant to an Act passed in the
fifth and sixth years of the reign of His late Majesty King William the
Fourth, entitled "An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for
Inventions."
Whereas, since the enrolment of the Specification of the said Invention, I
have been advised that certain parts of the said "Improvements in Certain
Articles of Wearing Apparel," that is to say, those parts described under the
heads "Thirdly," "Fourthly," "Fifthly," and "Sixthly," in the said Speci-
fication, do not possess sufficient novelty to enable me to maintain the sole
privilege of making, using, exercising, and vending the same, granted to me
by the Letters Patent aforesaid, and for that reason I am desirous of dis-
claiming the said parts of the said improvements in the said Specification
described. Now, therefore, and with the leave and consent of Her
66
Majesty's Attorney General, I do hereby disclaim all those parts of the said
Specification, and those figures and the letters marked thereon of the
Drawings thereunto annexed, which describe and relate to those parts of the
said Invention herein-before mentioned, as described under the heads " "Thirdly,"
Fourthly," "Fifthly," and "Sixthly," in the said Specification, that is to
say, I do hereby disclaim all those parts of the said Specification and the
Invention described therein, the description whereof is commenced with
the words "Thirdly, my Invention," and concludes with the words "each
as described," and also all those figures and the letters marked thereon
of the Drawings annexed to the said Specification mentioned and referred
to in the said parts of the said Specification disclaimed as aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charlotte Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
CHARLOTTE SMITH. (L.S.)

page_text: то ще
VIC 1. atents3
This is to certify that Charlotte Smith, wife of Jabez Smith, of Bedford, in
the County of Bedford, has applied to me for leave to file with you the above-
written Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration of a certain Invention,
for which Letters Patent were granted to her under the Great Seal on the
14th day of May, 1849, and to which the Specification was duly enrolled.
And having considered the said application, and no objection having been
made to the same, I have accordingly granted leave to the said Charlotte
Smith to file her said Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration, pursuant
to the Statute passed in the 5th & 6th years of the reign of His late Majesty
King William the 4th, entitled "An Act to amend the Law touching Letters
Patent for Inventions."

page_text: 66
"
66
"
46
In the Matter of a Patent granted to CHARLOTTE SMITH, wife of
Jabez Smith, of Bedford, in the County of Bedford, for her Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL," bearing date
at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-nine.
DISCLAIMER entered by the said Charlotte Smith with the Clerk of the
Patents of England, pursuant to an Act passed in the fifth and sixth years
of the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, entitled "An
Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions."
Whereas, since the enrolment of the Specification of the said Invention, I,
the said Charlotte Smith, have been advised that the following words (namely),
A convenient modification of the preceding plan of construction, in so far as
"regards the front fastenings, is represented in Figures 7, 7a, and 8. To the
"front edge of the busk C³ there are riveted three metal loops k, k, k, and to
"the back edge of the busk C¹ three hooks h, h, h. Immediately beneath each
'projecting hook h there is stitched to the body of the stays a tape or strap M,
having a row of eyelet holes in it m, m, m, and the hook is passed permanently
through the first of these holes. When the stays are to be fastened the wearer
"or her attendant passes each tape M through the opposite corresponding loop k,
then brings it back over the hook h, and inserts that hook into one or other of
the remaining holes in the tape according to the degree of tightness desired.
"A view of a pair of stays when thus fastened in front is given in Figure 9.
"As in this case every necessary expansion or contraction of the stays is pro-
"vided for by the eyelet holes in the tapes M, the waist lacings L, L, used in
"the stays first before described are rendered unnecessary," which occur in the
descriptive part of the said Specification under the head "Firstly" render it
doubtful whether the Specification may not be interpreted so as to claim more
than it was my intention so to claim, and in order to remove such doubt I am
desirous of disclaiming the said words now forming part of my said Specifi-
cation as aforesaid, and all claims which the said words may be considered to s
import or imply, and all effect thereof in any manner whatsoever. Now,
therefore, for the reason aforesaid, and by and with the leave and consent of
Her Majesty's Attorney General, as certified by his fiat and signature, in pur-
suance of the Statute in such case made and provided, I do hereby disclaim

page_text: "
the words "A convenient modification of the preceding plan of construction,
"in so far as regards the front fastenings, is represented in Figures 7, 7a, and 8.
"To the front edge of the busk C there are riveted three metal loops k, k, k,
"and to the back edge of the busk C¹ three hooks h, h, h. Immediately beneath
"each projecting hook h there is stitched to the body of the stays a tape or'
Istrap M having a row of eyelet holes in it m, m, m, and the hook is passed
"permanently through the first of these holes. When the stays are to be
fastened the wearer or her attendant passes each tape M through the opposite
corresponding loop k, then brings it back over the hook h, and inserts that
"hcok into one or other of the remaining holes in the tape, according to the
degree of tightness desired. A view of a pair of stays when thus fastened in
"front is given in Figure 9. As in this case every necessary expansion or con-
"traction of the stays is provided for by the eyelet holes in the tapes M, the
"waist lacings L, L, used in the stays first before described are rendered un-
necessary, ," which occur in the descriptive part of the said Specification under
the head "Firstly," as above mentioned, and all claims which the said words
may be considered to import or imply, and all effect thereof in any manner
whatsoever. And I do hereby declare that this Disclaimer does not, nor does
any part of it, extend the exclusive right granted to me by the Letters Patent
herein-before mentioned.
"
In witness whereof, I, the said Charlotte Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
Signed, scaled, and delivered, by the
above-named Charlotte Smith, in the
presence of
CHARLOTTE SMITH. (L.S.)

page_text: Bedford Times Newspapers, and such advertisements have been duly made.
No objection having been made to the said application, I have accordingly
granted leave to the said Charlotte Smith to file her said Disclaimer, pursuant
to the Statue passed in the 5th & 6th years of the reign of His late Majesty,
entitled An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions.
Temple Tonner 16th 105