IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL HAIR."* THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL HAIR
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Rushton, of 23; Charlotte Terrace, Barnsbury,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL HAIR."*
THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL HAIR.""
Sealed the 20th December 1867, and dated the 24th June 1867..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Rushton at the'
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Pétition, on the
24th June 1867.
I, HENRY RUSHTON, of 23, Charlotte Terrace, Barnsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL HAIR," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the manufacture of a material to be used in
imitation of human hair for head dresses and the like, and for other purposes
for which ordinary and curled hair are required.
1st, I take animal or woollen fibre and steep it in a bath prepared by adding
1 to 10 of sulphite of copper from 10 to 15 hours; the fibre is then to be
removed from the bath and boiled in a solution of catechu from 1 to 2 hours,
when sulphate of iron is to be added as a dye, the quantity varies according to
the shade required.
2ndly, the fibre without being put into the bath may be boiled in a liquid
prepared by adding 2 to 10 of fustic, then removed, dried, and boiled in a new

page_text: liquid prepared by adding 2 to 10 of logwood, to which
lb. of sulphate of
iron is to be added; the fibre is then to be taken out and dried, drawn, and
carded for use, the short fibre being used for crape rolls, frizettes, and the
like, or curled and stuffing hair, the long fibre being used for artificial hair,
which may be made up in any required form, plain, curled, or dressed.
SPECIFICATION, in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Rushton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th December 1867.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
RUSHTON, of 23, Charlotte Terrace, Barnsbury, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of June, 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
Henry Rushton, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Rushton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Rushton, 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 THE MANUFACTURE
OF ARTIFICIAL HAIR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Rushton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, 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 Henry Rushton, 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:-
י!
"This Invention relates to the manufacture of hair to be used in imitation
of human hair for head dresses and the like, and for other purposes for which
ordinary and curled hairs are required. For these purposes I take animal

page_text: fibre, by preference Russian wool or wool of a coarse texture, and steep it in a
bath of sulphate of copper from ten to fifteen hours to cleanse it and separate
the oleagenous matter therefrom; the wool or fibre when thus treated is to
be next boiled for a period of from one to two hours in a solution of catechu,
or liquid prepared by adding and dissolving therein catechu in greater or less
quantities according to the depth of shade required; sulphate of iron is to be
then added to the liquid last described as a dye or to fix the colour when red
or brown is desired, the quantity of the sulphate being also varied according to
the depth of shade necessary.
Another mode of treating the wool or fibre consists in boiling it in a liquid
prepared by adding two parts of fustic to ten parts of water; the material is
then removed, dried, and afterwards boiled in a second liquid prepared by
adding two parts of logwood to ten parts of water, to which half a lb. of sul-
phate of iron is to be added for dyeing black, the fibre is then to be taken out,
dried, and carded for use, the fibre being craped or formed into rolls, frizeetes,
and the like, or used as curled bair for stuffing articles of furniture, upholstery,
or other like purposes, the long fibre being separated and used for artificial
hair, which may be made up in any required form, plain, curled, or dressed.
The crisping or curling process by which the wool or fibre is rendered
elastic for upholstery and other like purposes consists in boiling it in gelatine,
the proportion of the latter ingredient being about one quarter of a lb. to two
gallons of water. In the latter case the yellow color is produced by the fustic,
the red or brown by the logwood, and the dark and black shades by the
sulphate of iron.
The curled hair thus produced may if desired be mixed with any other
fibres for the purposes here mentioned or for those analagous thereto.
I claim the use and application of wool, particularly that kind known as
Russian tops, or other similar wools or fibre, in the manufacture of artificial
hair in imitation of human hair, and also in the manufacture of crisped or
curled hair for furniture, upholstery, and other like purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Rushton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, A.D. Eighteen
hundred and sixty-seven.
HENRY RUSHTON. (L.B.)