IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS OR CORSETS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John William Lane, of Bristol, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS OR CORSETS."
Sealed the 9th April 1872, and dated the 11th December 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John William Lanc
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th December 1871.
I, JOHN WILLIAM LANE, of Bristol, do hereby declare the nature of.
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STAYS OR CORSETS," to be as
t
follows:-
Ladies' corsets or stays are generally, as is well known, fastened or
secured in the front by means of hooks and eyes formed on strips of
steel or other metal or material, said "steels" being sewn inside the
corset with the hooks, and corresponding eyes projecting through slits in
the fabric composing the corset. I have said these strips of steel are
generally sewn in the corset. It is therefore necessary to unsew-them,
and take them out when the corset has to be washed or cleaned, and
when the latter is so cleaned to sew them in again..

page_text: Now the object of my Invention is to obviate this trouble of unpicking
and sewing in of the steels every time the corset or pair of stays has
to be washed or cleaned, and this I effect in the following manner :—
Instead of sewing in the steels I hem or. bind the edges of the corset,
and form pockets to receive each end of the steel. The edge of the
corset is then doubled over the so inserted steel, and the hooks or eyes,
as the case may be, made to protrude through the usual slits or openings
in the fabric; I then form eyelet holes in the two thicknesses of the
corset when the edge is so doubled over, and run through them an
ordinary tagged lace which secures the steels as tightly within the corset
as if they were sewn in.
It is only necessary to undo the lace and take out the steels when the
corset has to be cleaned or washed, and thus the trouble of unpicking
and re-sewing is done away with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John William Lane in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th June 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILLIAM LANE, of Bristol, send greeting.
WHEREAS, Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John William Lane, Her special licence that
I, the said John William Lane, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John William Lane, my executors; admi-
nistrators, 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 STAYS OR
CORSETS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
William Lane, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
4
.

page_text: 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 John William Lane, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon (that
is to say) :-
It is well known that stays or corsets are generally fastened or secured
in the front by means of hooks and eyes fixed to strips of steel which
are sewn inside the stay or corset with the hooks and corresponding eyes
projecting through slits in the fabric of which the stay or corset is
made.
In consequence of the strips of steel being sewn in it is necessary to
unpick the sewing and take the strips out when the stay or corset has to
be washed or cleaned, and after the cleansing is finished to sew them in
again; and the object of this Invention is to obviate this trouble of
unpicking and re-sewing every time the corset or pair of stays has to be
washed or cleaned, and this I effect in the following manner :-
Instead of sewing in the steels marked a, Figs. 1 and 2 on the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings, I hem or bind the outer corners b,
Fig. 1 being a view of the inside, and Fig. 2 a view of the outside of the
stay or corset, in order to form pockets c, Fig. 1, to receive the ends of
the steels, and then double the edges of the stay or corset over the
inserted steels a, Fig. 2, the hooks e on the one side, and the eyes ƒ on
the other side being made to protrude through slits or openings in the
fabric in the usual manner.
I form eylet holes g in the two thicknesses of the fabric which enclose
each steel a, and. run through them at each side an ordinary tagged
lace h, which secures the steel as tightly within the stay or corset as if it
had been sewn in, and it is only necessary to undo the laces and take
out the steels when the stay or corset has to be washed or cleaned, and
thus the trouble of unpicking and re-sewing is done away with.

page_text: Having described the nature and particulars of the said Invention I
desire it to be understood that I claim, the system of fastening or
securing the steels in stays or corsets by means of pockets, eýlet holes,
and laces as shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John William Lane, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of June, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-two.
JOHN WILLIAM LANE. (L.S.)