AN IMPROVED CORSET
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Stephen Flood, of San Francisco, County
of San Francisco, State of California, in the United States of
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henry Stephen Flood
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 30th July 1872, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
STEPHEN FLOOD, of San Francisco, County of San Francisco, State of
California, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
CORSET," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the
same, and have made solemn Declaration that I really believe myself to
be the first and true Inventor thereof.
:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Stephen Flood, do hereby
déclare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and

page_text: seal, fully describes the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed (that is to say) :-
-
The object of my Invention is to provide a corset for female wear
which can be partially opened and turned down in front without the
necessity of unfastening the entire corset. This I accomplish by the
employment of a hinge or other joint at the desired point on the front
steels, so that by unhooking or otherwise unfastening the upper portion
it can be turned down and thus expose the breast.
In order to more fully illustrate and explain my Invention, reference is
had to the accompanying Drawings forming a part of this Specification, in
which A represents a corset, which is made in the same manner as those
usually worn by females. The front steels b, b, of this corset I provide
with a hinge at C, and cover. the entire steels with the cloth in the
usual way; or if preferable, I connect an upper hinged section d with
the ordinary steel at the desired point, so that it shall lie upon the upper
portion of the ordinary steel. This hinged section is provided with a
hole or holes, so that it can locked down upon buttons or studs on
the under portion in the manner represented. In this case I employ a
steel with a double upper end upon one side only and an ordinary
hinged steel upon the other side, thus giving two thicknesses of steel
upon one side and a single thickness upon the other side when they are
fastened together at the upper end, or steels with a double upper end
_can be used upon both sides as desired.
By this arrangement the wearer can by unfastening the upper hinged
sections turn them down so as to expose the breast without interfering
with the lower portion of the corset.
For women who are nursing children this corset will be found to be
extremely convenient, and by its use the throat and breast can be
exposed when the person is heated, so as to prevent the oppressive or
cramping sensation which is occasioned by an ordinary corset.
I do not confine myself to the particular hinge or joint herein shown,
neither do I confine myself to any particular arrangement of the folding
parts, as these can be varied in many ways without deviating from the
general design of my Invention and with equal advantage and economy,
neither do I confine myself to any particular point in the corset steels
'

page_text: for hinging the upper portion; but what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent is,--
First. The corset steels b, b, either provided with a hinged flap or
section d, or constructed in two parts which are hinged together, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose above described.
Second. The improved corset A, having the hinged corset steels b, b,
substantially as and for the purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Stephen Flood, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of July, in the year of our
Lord A.D. One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witnesses,
M. A. WHEATON.
JOHN L. BOONE.
HENRY STEPHEN FLOOD. (L.S.)