IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS AND OTHER LIKE COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George John Philps, of Friday Street, in the
City of London, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George John Philps
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd October 1852.
I. GEORGE JOHN PHILPS, of Friday Street, in the City of London,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS AND OTHER LIKE COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD" to
be as follows:--
My improvements consist in constructing hats with a seamless body
and covering. In some instances, where a very light hat is required, I
construct it of one thickness of material, which I produce on a circular
loom, and give the fabric a plain or plush face, and stiffen it or not, as
required. When not stiffened, this material forms an excellent cover-
ing for folding spring hats, known in the trade as the "Gibus" hat.
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS AND OTHER LIKE COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD" to
be as follows:--
My improvements consist in constructing hats with a seamless body
and covering. In some instances, where a very light hat is required, I
construct it of one thickness of material, which I produce on a circular
loom, and give the fabric a plain or plush face, and stiffen it or not, as
required. When not stiffened, this material forms an excellent cover-
ing for folding spring hats, known in the trade as the "Gibus" hat.

page_text: In other instances I construct a seamless hat body of a stout
material or otherwise, produced from a circular frame, and block it
into the shape required; I next stiffen it in the usual method pursued
by the makers of hat bodies, and then cover it with a fabric with plain
or plush face produced on a circular loom, so that there may be no
seam in the sides of the hat. The top edges of the circular fabric are
brought over the crown of the body, and are covered as well as the
crown itself by a circular piece of the same material as the covering.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George John Philps in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 1st April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
GEORGE JOHN PHILPS, of Friday Street, in the City of London, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said George John Philps, Her special
licence that I, the said George John Philps, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said George John Philps, my ex-
ecutors, 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 LIKE COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George John Philps, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George John Philps, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement (that is to say):
My Invention consists in constructing hats, caps, and bonnets with a
seamless body and covering. To make a hat body I take a piece of seam-
less fabric, produced upon a circular loom or otherwise, about the circum-
ference of an ordinary hat, and stiffen it in the usual manner pursued
by hatters, and block it into the shape required. I form the tip of two
or more thicknesses of calico, stiffened like the body, and secure it
thereto, in the usual manner. I then take one thickness of a kind
of calico known as "swan's-down," stiffen it, and cover it with two or
more thicknesses of calico (stiffened also), from which I construct the
brin; and secure it to the body, and varnish it in the ordinary manner
pursued by hatters. I make a perfectly ventilating hat body, combining
lightness and strength, by using a seamless open fabric produced on a
circular loom or otherwise, with large spaces between the loops thereof,
and subject it to the same process herein-before described, care being
taken in stiffening such body not to fill the interstices with the stiffen-
ing composition; these bodies I make with one, two, or more thicknesses
of seamless materials, according to the strength required. I then cover
either of the bodies so made with a covering of seamless fabric produced
on a circular loom or otherwise, and I take such fabric sometimes as
it leaves the loom in the state of looped fabric, or I take it in the state
of pile fabric, that is, after the loops have been cut (denominated plush).
I cover the sides and brim from one piece of such looped or piled
fabrics, as also the tip, when it will be necessary to cut away a portion
of that part of the fabric intended to cover the tip, and form the crown,
so that the part that remains may lay flat thereon. I sometimes find
it expedient to cover the tip with a separate piece of the same fabric as
that used for the sides and brim. Or, instead of the bodies herein-
before described being covered with a seamless fabric, the same may be
covered with the plush ordinarily employed by hat makers in the covering
of hat bodies.
I also produce a light and perfectly ventilating hat by covering the

page_text: foundation of folding spring hats, known in the trade as "Gibus hats,"
with a seamless fabric, produced upon a circular loom or otherwise, and
with either a looped or piled face thereto.. As well as hats, I produce
by the same means and from the same materials caps and bonnets.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that-
I claim the manufacture of hats, caps, and bonnets from the materials
and in the manner herein-before described.
I also claim the manufacture of hats, caps, and bonnets with a
seamless ventilating body, produced and stiffened as herein-before
described, and covered with an ordinary plush or other covering.
In witness whereof, I, the said George John Philps, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of
March, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
GEORGE JOHN PHILPS. (L.S.)