IMPROVE- MENTS IN DRESS FASTENINGS, AND IN ATTACHING THE SAME, AND IN ARTICLES MADE WHOLLY OR IN PART OF CERTAIN FLEXIBLE MATERIALS OR FABRICS
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MASTERS, of Leicester, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the eleventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, 'the said
John Masters, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Masters, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Masters,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN DRESS FASTENINGS, AND IN ATTACHING THE SAME, AND IN ARTICLES MADE
WHOLLY OR IN PART OF CERTAIN FLEXIBLE MATERIALS OR FABRICS;" in which said.
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Masters, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my'
hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said:
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said:

page_text: John Masters, do hereby declare that, the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My first improvement in dress fastenings relates to buttons, or the shanks
of buttons, and consists in this, that instead of making such shanks in the
usual form, I make them in any of the following ways. First, I make the
shank of a piece of suitable wire of about a quarter to half an inch in length,
one end of which I tap so that it can be screwed into the back of a button
suitably tapped to receive it. At the other end of the wire I form a head
similar to a rivet or screw head, intended to prevent it passing through the
fabric to which the button may be attached. To attach this button I pass the
screw end of the shank through the fabric from the back and screw it into
the button. Secondly, I make a shank of a similar piece of wire, one end of
which I make fast to the button by soldering or other suitable means, and
the other end I tap so as to screw into a nut suitably tapped to receive it.
To attach this button I pass the screw end of the shank through the fabric,
and then screw on the nut at the back. Thirdly, I make a shank of a suitablo
piece of wire, one end of which I make fast to the button by soldering or
other suitable means, and in the other end I cut a slot about an eighth of an
inch long and open at the end. To attach this button I pass the slit end of
the shank through the fabric from front to back, and then turn the sides of
the slot back to about a right angle by means of pliers or other suitable
means. Fourthly, I take two pieces of wire of equal length and place them
side by side, and secure them at one end to the button by soldering or other-
wise. To attach this button I pass the projecting ends of the wires through.
the fabric from front to back, and then turn an equal portion of each wire
back as above. Fifthly, I take a piece of wire of a suitable length and double
it in the middle, and secure the doubled end of the shank thus formed to the
button by soldering or other suitable means: The mode of attaching this
button is the same as the last. Instead of using wire for the two first.
descriptions of shanks they may be cast or moulded of the required forms from
any suitable metal.
My second description of dress fastenings are suitable for the backs of
ladies dresses, and consist in attaching or connecting hooks or eyes, or either of
them, to a strip or length of web, braid, cord, or other suitable material or fabric
made wholly or in part of caoutchouc or gutta percha, so that when the said.
strip or length of such material or fabric, with hooks or eyes so attached or
connected, is properly fastened to a dress it forms a spring between the part of
the dress to which it is fastened and the hook or eye or hooks or eyes. I

page_text: take a length or strip or material or fabric as above, and I attach to it a hook.
or eye at about a right angle by sewing or other suitable means, and at
suitable distances I attach other hooks or eyes in the same way, or I sew or:
otherwise fasten a hook or eye to a short length or strip of such elastic
materials or fabrics as I have described, leaving the opposite part or end to bo
sewn to the dress. Other modes of attaching the hooks or eyes to or connect-
ing them with such elastic materials or fabrics may be adopted, but I prefer
those I have described although I do not confine myself to them. I make
improvements in braces by connecting them at the parts which form the
back by means of braid, narrow web, cord, or other suitable fabric, made
wholly or in part of caoutchouc or gutta percha, as follows:-I pass a
suitable length of such braid, web, cord, or other fabric as above from braco'
to brace backwards and forwards in any of the usual ways of lacing, either
through the substance of each brace or through. holes attached to the
edge, and I fasten one or both ends by sewing or other suitable means.
Or instead of having lace holes I cross the braid or other fabric as above
from brace to brace backwards and forwards as in lacing, but instead of
passing it through lace holes I fasten it to each brace at each crossing
by sewing or other suitable means; or I attach such braid or other material
or fabric as above to the edge of each brace in the form of loops, and make
each loop to pass through or link into the corresponding loop of the opposite
brace; or instead of the loops passing through each other I attach a suitable
number of loops along the edge of each brace suitably for connecting the
braces by passing a ribbon, tape, or other suitable fabric through such loops
from brace to brace in the form of a lace or otherwise. I also connect the
lower ends of the backs of braces to the upper parts in the same way I
have described the connecting one brace to the other when lace holes or loops
are used. I also form a convenient joint in a brace by placing one part of a
brace over another and then passing an eyelet through both pieces and
fastening it in by means of a punch or press, as is well understood by persons-
in the habit of using eyelets, taking care not to turn the eyelet so much over
as to prevent the pieces of the brace moving freely one over the other.
I make what I call ladies' braces or chest expanders thus:-I take two lengths
of web or other suitable fabric and I connect them at the parts that are to
form the back in any of the ways I have above described for connecting bracës:
I take another length of web or other suitable fabric of which I form a waist-
band, which may be fastened round the waist by a buckle or other suitable!
means, and I attach the back end of each brace to the waistband by means of a
button, hook and eye, or other suitable fastening; and I make each brace; of!

page_text: sufficient length to pass over the shoulder and then back under the arm, so as
to allow of being attached to the back of the same brace by any suitable
fastening.
I make improved back straps or springs for waistcoats, trowsers, or
drawer bands, and my improvements consist in attaching to each back strap
(which may be of any of the usual or other suitable form) elastic loops such
as I have described as being used by me for connecting braces, and I connect
one strap to another in the way that I connect braces when loops are used.
I also make back straps or springs for waistcoats, trowsers, or drawer bands,
wholly or in part of caoutchouc or gutta percha, made permanently elastic by
what is called vulcanizing or otherwise. I believe vulcanized caoutchouc has
been used in various ways for forming an elastic middle or middle piece for
back straps, the ends or side pieces being made of non-elastic fabrics. In
distinction from these my improvement here consists in making the side or end
pieces (as they may be variously called, according to what may be their shape)
of a material or fabric consisting wholly or in part of caoutchouc or gutta
percha made permanently elastic, or I make them permanently elastic after
they are manufactured, as may be done by processes described in the Speci-
fications of Letters Patent granted to Messieurs Brockedon and Hancock,
Mr. Joshua Proctor Westhead, and others.
I also make elastic strings for waistcoats, trowsers, drawer bands, bottoms
of drawers, caps, and other purposes thus:-I sew or otherwise connect a piece
of ribbon, tape, or other suitable fabric to a short length or strip of web,
braid, cord, or other suitable material or fabric, made wholly or in part of
caoutchouc, so that when the opposite part or end of such elastic strip or
length is attached to the waistcoat or other article it forms a spring between
such article and the ribbon, tape, or other fabric.
I make springs for trowser bearers thus:-I make two side picces of cloth
or other suitable fabric, and of a suitable shape for letting in or attaching to
trowser bearers, and I connect them together in any of the ways I have
described for connecting braces or back straps; or I connect such side pieces by
sewing or otherwise fastening between them a piece of elastic material or fabric.
I make improved trowser bearers by making them of a suitable elastic
fabric made wholly or in part of caoutchouc instead of the fabrics generally
used.
I make improved neck stocks and opera tics, and my improvement consists
in using for these articles foundations or stiffeners consisting wholly or in part
of caoutchouc or gutta percha instead of the ordinary fabrics in use for the
purpose.

page_text: I also make improved neck stocks and stiffeners for stocks, opera ties,
neckerchiefs, and such like articles, and my improvement in these consists in
making them wholly or principally of caoutchouc or gutta percha. I prefer
making such stocks and stiffners as well as the foundations above named by
simply cutting them of the required form from sheet caoutchouc or gutta
percha, or a combination of them, but I do not confine myself to this mode
of making them. They may, if preferred, be made from woven or other
fabrics made in part of those materials or of those materials moulded into
suitable forms.
I make improvements in shirt wristbands by making them of a fabric formed
in part of caoutchouc; or I insert a piece of such fabric into any part of a
wristband to which it may be desirable to give elasticity, and secure the same
in its place by sewing or otherwise; or I give such elasticity by sewing or
otherwise fastening on to any such part of a wristband a strip or length of such
fabric when in an extended state.
I make what I call Wellington tops or tops suitable for wearing
under trowsers with short boots, so that when such a top and short
boot are attached together they have the general figure and resemblance
of a Wellington boot. I make these tops of any suitable material or fabric,
and in the same way that the upper part of the legs of Wellington boots
are made. Or instead of closing them on both sides, I sometimes leave one
side
open like a gaiter, so that it can be fastened by means of buttons or other
suitable fastenings; and instead of making the top in two parts, I sometimes
make it of one piece of sufficient size to reach round the leg; and when I
wish to give elasticity to any part, I do so by inserting a strip or gore of any
suitable material or fabric, consisting wholly or in part of caoutchouc or gutta
percha. They may be attached to the short boots with which they are
intended to be worn, by means of buttons or other suitable fastenings.
I wish now to explain, that in respect to any of the articles herein described,
where caoutchouc or gutta percha are named, I prefer using those materials
when made permanently elastic by what is called vulcanising, or any other
means used for that purpose.
I claim as my Invention,―
First, the mode of constructing buttons and shanks of buttons, and attaching
the same, as herein described.
Secondly, the making of elastic fastenings suitable for the backs of ladies'
dresses, by attaching hooks or eyes to or connecting them with such elastic
fabrics, as I have described.
Thirdly, the mode of connecting braces or parts of braces, herein described.
'

page_text: JOHN (L.B.) MASTERS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord 1848, the aforesaid John Masters came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twelfth day of October, in the year of our Lord One