IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS AND OTHER SIMILAR COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD."
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Ward, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Commercial Traveller, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HATS AND OTHER SIMILAR COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Ward at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th October
1867.
I, EDWARD WARD, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Commercial
Traveller, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HATS AND OTHER SIMILAR COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to the portion of wearing apparel known as the hot,
and more particularly to the class of hats the bodies or "shells" of which are
formed of a more or less rigid material, and consists of a novel method of
attaching the linings to the hat body by means of which the hat more perfectly
fits the head of the wearer, and at the same time the ventilation of the interior
of the hat is promoted.
In carrying my Invention into effect I make the portion of the lining of the
hat which comes into contact with the head, and which is usually made of

page_text: leather, a suitable degree smaller in circumference than the inner circumference
of the hat body to which it has to be attached, so that when placed in its
position a space will be left between the lining and the said hat body. The
.connection between the the said lining and the hat.body is effected by attaching
strips of leather or other suitable material to the lining and the hat body in
such a manner as that one end of each strip shall be attached to the lining
and the other end to the hat body, it being preferred that a portion of the
strips be reversed as regards the other portion, that is to say, that supposing
the hat to be in a vertical position, as in wear, the lower ends of one portion
of the strips which are now vertical will be attached to the lining, the
corresponding ends of the other portion being attached to the hat body.
Instead of each strip being separately attached to the hat body the whole or
a portion of the strips may be formed by cutting out a band of leather or
other suitable material so as to form the strips, and at the same time to leave
a portion of the said band to be attached to the hat body by stitching in the
same or a similar manner as the linings of ordinary hats. If preferred the
strips or a portion of them may be similarly formed in one piece with the
lining herein-before described. The strips may be attached to the lining and
the hat body by means of stitching, cement, buttons, metal fasteners, or in
any suitable manner. To assist in keeping the lining in position I sometimes
attach other strips in a similar manner to those above described, but at right
angles thereto, the said strips being preferably formed of an elastic material
to give greater pliancy to the lining. The cylindrical lining of the inner
portion of the hat, which is usually formed of paper or partially of paper in
hats which are intended for the use of males, I make about the same size
as the lining above described, and attach the same to the inner edge of the
said lining; or the paper lining may be retained in position by means of a
strip of leather, cloth, or other suitable material which is attached to the
leather lining, the edge of the paper lining fitting between the said strip and
the leather lining without being attached thereto; or other suitable means of
connection may be used. The object being to obtain a space between the hat
body and the lining extending to the crown of the hat, by means of which the
hat is rendered cooler to the head, and the ventilation of the interior of the hat
is assisted, the upper portion of the paper lining being perforated for the passage
of air if preferred.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Ward in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
WARD, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,. Commercial Traveller,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Ward, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Ward, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Ward, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS AND OTHER
SIMILAR COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," upon the condition, amongst others, that
I, the said Edward Ward, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Ward, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to the portion of wearing apparel known as the "hat,"
and more particularly to the class of hats the bodies or shells of which are
formed of a more or less rigid material, and consists of a novel method of
attaching the linings to the hat body, by means of which. the hat, more
perfectly fits the head of the wearer, and at the same time the ventilation of
the interior of the hat is promoted.
In carrying my Invention into effect I make the portion of the lining of
the hat which comes into contact with the head, and which is usually made
of leather, a suitable degree smaller in circumferance than the inner cir-
cumferance of the hat body to which it has to be attached, so that when
placed in its position a space will be left between the lining and the said hat

page_text: body. The connection between the said lining and the hat body is effected
by attaching strips of leather or other suitable material to the lining and the
hat body in such a manner as that one end of each strip shall be attached to
the lining and the other end to the hat body, it being preferred that a portion
of the strips be reversed as regards the other portion, that is to say, that
supposing the hat to be in a vertical position as, in wear the lower ends of
one portion of the strips which are now vertical will be attached to the lining,
the corresponding ends of the other portion being attached to the bat body.
Instead of each strip being seperately attached to the hat body, the whole or
a portion of the strips may be formed by cutting out a band of leather or
other suitable material so as to form the strips, and at the same time to leave
a portion of the said baud to be attached to the hat body by stitching in the
same or a similar manner as the linings of ordinary hats. If preferred the
strips or a portion of them may be similary formed in one piece with the
.lining herein-before described. The strips may be attached to the lining and the
bat body by means of stitching, cement, buttons, metal fasteners, or in any
suitable manner. To assist in keeping the lining in position I sometimes
attach other strips in a similar manner to those above described, but at right
angles thereto, the said strips being preferably formed of an elastic material
to give greater pliancy to the lining. The cylindrical lining of the inner
portion of the hat, which is usually formed of paper or partially of paper in
hats which are intended for the use of males, I make of about the same size
as the lining above described and attach the same to the inner edge of the
said lining or the paper lining may be retained in position by means of a strip
of leather, cloth, or other suitable material which is attached to the leather
lining, the edge of the paper lining fitting between the said strips and the
leather lining without being attached thereto, or other suitable means of
connection may be used. The object being to obtain a space between the hat
body and the lining extending nearly to the crown of the hat, by means of
which the hat is rendered cooler to the head, and the ventilation of the
interior of the hat is assisted, the upper portion of the paper lining being
perforated for the passage of air if preferred.
In order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I have annexed
to this Specification a Sheet of Drawings with letters of referrance marked
thereupon, to which said Sheet of Drawings I will now refer.
Fig. represents a vertical section through the centre of a hat having my
-improvements applied thereto, and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on
the line A, B, in Fig. 1, the upper portion of the hat body being shewn as
removed; Fig. 3 is a section through a portion of a hat body shewing a

page_text: modification in the method of attaching the leather lining to the hat; Fig. 4
representing a portion of the said lining, the two Figures last referred to being
drawn about half size; Fig. 5 represents a portion of the lining which is
sewn to the hat body as will be herein-after explained. In Figs. 1 and 2, a
is the shell or body of the hat, 6 is a false band or lining which is attached
to the hat body in the ordinary or any suitable manner, and which is made of
leather or other suitable material. In the example represented the said false
lining has portions removed therefrom so. as to leave strips or bands c, c, as
shewn at Fig. 5, the said strips c, c, being employed to sustain the leather
lining or "sweat band" d, which said band d is the portion of the lining which
comes into contact with the head when the hat is in use. This lining or
band d is made a little less in circumferance than the inner edge of the bat
to which the lining b is attached, so that when fixed in position a space e is
left between the lining d and the hat body, which said space permits of the
ventilation of the interior of the hat to a certain extent and at the same time
allows the lining d to accomodate itself to the contour of the head. The
said lining d is connected to the hat body by means of the strips c, the
lining d being attached to the upper ends of the said strips by means of
cement or stitching or by the employment of buttons, eyelits, metal fasteners,
or in any other suitable manner. To prevent the displacement of the
lining d when the hat is lifted from the head strips f, f, are attached to the
said lining and to the hat body in manner as shewn in Fig. 1. If preferred
the continuous edge of the lining b may be attached to the lining d and the
ends c, c, to the hat body or to a band attached thereto, or the lining binay
be formed with two continuous edges, portions being removed from the
middle part thereof to form the strips. In place of the strips c, c, being
formed by cutting out or removing portions of the lining they may be
formed independantly of the said lining, their lower ends being attached to
the said lining by stitching or by other suitable means. Those strips which
are reversed, that is to say, which have their lower ends attached to the
lining d and their upper ends to the hat body may be situated as shewn by
the dotted lines g, or they may be similary situated to the strips f, f, and
they may be made of an elastic material if preferred. The strips which are
attached to the hat body and the lining d at right angles to the strips c are
shewn at h, h, in Fig. 2 and represented by dotted lines in Fig. 1. These
said strips h assist in keeping the lining d in position, and they may be made
of an elastic material if preferred, or a portion of them may be made of an
elastic material and the remainder thereof of leather, cloth, or other similar
mate:ial; Figs. 3 and 4 shew a method of forming the strips c from the samo

page_text: piece as the lining d. In this instance the strip of leather or other material
which is to form the lining is cut to double the ordinary width and one half
thereof is perforated in the same or in a similar manner as shewn at Fig. 4.
The band is then folded down the middle and the edge, which is the lower
edge in the Drawing, is attached to the hat body as shewn in Fig. 3. The
paper lining is shewn at i in Fig. 1. In this instance it is shewn as fitted
between the lining & and the ends of the strips c, c, but it may be otherwise
attached to the lining d if preferred.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and means for
carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim
as novel and as of my own Invention.
First, the methods of attaching the "sweat band" or the portion of the
lining of a hat which comes into contact with the head to the body of the
hat by means of strips of leather, cloth, or other similar and suitable material
arranged in manner as herein described and illustrated in the attached
Drawings, or in any suitable manner being a mere modification of the aforesaid
and herein described methods.
Secondly, the methods of forming the connecting strips by cutting out or
otherwise removing portions from the bands of leather or other material
employed to line the bat substantially in the manner as herein-before described
and illustrated in the attached Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Ward, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
EDWARD WARD. (L.S.)
Signed and sealed, by the said
Edward Ward, in the presence
of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent,
Manchester.