IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF SKIRTS, PETTICOATS, AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Dixon, of the Town and County of the
Town of Nottingham, Stay and Corset Manufacturer, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF
SKIRTS, PETTICOATS, AND OTHER ARTICLES."
Sealed the 14th June 1870, and dated the 24th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Dixon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th December 1869.
I, STEPHEN DIXON, of the Town and County of the Town of
Nottingham, Stay and Corset Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR
PRODUCTION OF SKIRTS, PETTICOATS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows :-
My Invention has for its object the manufacture or production of
skirts, petticoats, and other similar articles, such as stays, corsets,
bodices, bands, abdominal and other belts, dress improvers or bustles,
chest protectors or preservers, and other like objects, giving skirts the
appearance of crinolines without their disadvantages.

page_text: In manufacturing or producing these articles I employ cork or leather
(compressed or otherwise) in lieu of steel, iron, or other hard substance,
and I place a layer or layers of cork or leather between two substances,
or between or within one or more pieces of material composing the article,
whether silk, cotton, woollen, or other convenient material, or I may
make these articles in strips or otherwise, using the cork or leather
covered or otherwise on one or both sides thereof. These garments or
articles when made up present a novel, elegant, and agreeable appearance,
and the use of bone or other hard and injurious substance is avoided,
and they are more flexible, yielding, comfortable, and graceful, besides
being safer and more durable and less expensive.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Stephen Dixon in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
DIXON, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham, Stay and
Corset Manufacturer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Stephen Dixon, Her special licence that
I, the said Stephen Dixon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Stephen Dixon, 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 OR
PRODUCTION OF SKIRTS, PETTICOATS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Stephen Dixon, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Scal Patent Office within six

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Stephen Dixon, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object the manufacture or production of
skirts, petticoats, and other articles, such as stays, corsets, bodices,
bands, abdominal and other belts, dress improvers or bustles, chest
protectors or preservers, and other similar articles, giving skirts the
appearance of crinolines without their deteriorating disadvantages.
In manufacturing or producing these articles I employ cork or leather,
compressed or otherwise, in lieu of steel, iron, or other substance, and in
making or producing these articles I place a layer or layers of cork or
leather between two substances composing the articles I manufacture,
whether of silk, cotton, woollen, or other convenient material, or I may
make these articles in strips or otherwise, using the cork or leather
covered or otherwise on one or both sides thereof. These articles or
garments when made up present an altogether novel, elegant, and
agreeable appearance, and the use of bone or other hard and injurious
substance is avoided, thus affording increased comfort domestically or
when walking or travelling, and they are more flexible, yielding, and
graceful, besides being safer and more durable in their character and.
less expensive.
It will be obvious that my Invention is also applicable to the manu-.
facture or production of quilts.
From the foregoing it will be apparent that my Invention will provide.
a comfortable and suitable substitute for steel, bone, and other hard
substances and will give to stays, corsets, dress bodies, and other closely
fitting garments designed to support and improve the human figure
a support and comfort with an entire absence of undue pressure upon
the frame or figure; therefore I can give to skirts, corsets, bodices, and
other articles mentioned any desired shape or configuration, and that too
without rendering the garments in anywise deficient in comfort. And
these results I obtain by the employment of thin layers of cork stitched
or otherwise closely connected with the textile or other fabric with
which they are employed, and by covering the cork tightly I denude it
of its naturul brittleness, or the layers of cork may be placed between

page_text: two thickness of textile or other material employed in like manner as
with bone or steel. Or the cork may be employed as a thin layer
throughout the articles or garments mentioned, but the manner of using
this cork mainly depends upon the shape of the articles or garments
required. In stays, corsets, bands, bodices, and abdominal belts manu-
factured or produced according to my Invention the cork will mould
itself to the figure of the wearer.
In further carrying out my Invention I may sometimes prefer to
stitch the cork on the outside of the garment, or I may place the cork
between the material in the form of strips or layers, or the cork may be
placed on the outside of the garments by means of the employment of
adhesive agents.
In manufacturing or producing bands (or hoops) I prefer to employ
thin strips of cork or pieces of cork which I join together in bands or hoops
by stitching or sticking the bands and the said material together, and these
bands or hoops I cover with textile or other convenient flexible material,
and afterwards I stitch or sew the covered bands in or upon the material
which forms the skirt, or I may employ the thin layers of cork in making
a most comfortable quilted skirt either by placing it between the sub-
stances of which the skirt is composed either by itself or in conjunction
with down or other wadding. I prefer to give the bands or hoops or
layers of cork the same form as the skirt, that is to say, each of the
bands or hoops are smaller at the top edge than at the bottom edge
thereof, and in order to make the bands or hoops correct in themselves
and graceful in appearance I employ forming blocks or their equivalent
for that purpose. These bands or hoops are made by joining a series of
pieces of cork together either by stitching or otherwise joining them
together so as to form bands or hoops.
I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to securing the
cork upon the articles or garments by stitching or rendering it adhesive
thereto, or by enclosing it between portions of the articles or garments,
as in some cases I may effect the union of the cork with the portions or
main materials of the articles or garments by other means without
departing from the nature of my said Invention.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim, the
employment of cork, substantially as herein-before described, in the
manufacture or production of skirts, petticoats, stays, corsets, bodices,

page_text: bands, abdominal and other belts, dress improvers or bustles, and other
similar articles.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Dixon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
GEO. JON. ROBINSON,
Patent Office,
Nottingham.
STEPHEN DIXON. (L.S.)