An Improvement in or Connected with Bustles or Dress Distenders.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd July, 1887
Complete Left, 10th May, 1888
Complete Accepted, 22nd June, 1888
An Improvement in or Connected with Bustles or Dress Distenders.
I, GORDON MCDONALD, of 79 Wood Street, City of London, Manufacturer of Fancy
Goods, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
The object of this invention is to construct or form ladies bustles, dress improvers,
crinolettes, and the like from thin strips or lengths of vulcanite, celluloid, paper
maché, or other pulped or moulded material or from a combination of such material
each strip being braided, or plaited, or "served "by machine or otherwise and then
several of such strips or lengths are curved or twisted to form an open worked or
meshed frame preferably tubular with tapering ends, the extremities of which can be
clamped, rivetted, sown, or otherwise connected among themselves or to a band of
canvas or other material.
The strips or lengths of compressed or moulded pulpy material or compound may
be plain and be then formed by interlacing, twisting, curving, to tubular or equivalent
shape and then the whole can be braided, clothed, or covered with a plain, a figured,
or an open woven substance.
In some arrangements two or more of the tubular or equivalent shaped bodies of
different dimensions may be connected in any desired manner to constitute a single
article adapted for ladies wear.

page_text: An Improvement, in or Connected with Bustles or Dress Distenders.
I, GORDON MCDONALD, of 79 Wood Street, City of London, Manufacturer of Fancy
Goods, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
...
The object of this invention, is to construct or form ladies' bustles, dress improvers,
crinolettes and the like, from thin strips or lengths of vulcanite, celluloid, papier
maché, or other pulped or moulded material, or from a combination of such material,
each strip being braided, or plaited or "served" by machine or otherwise and then
several of such strips or lengths are curved or twisted to form an openworked-or
meshed frame preferably tubular with tapering ends, the extremities of which can be
clamped, rivetted, sewn or otherwise connected among themselves on to a band of
canvas or other material.
The strips or lengths of compressed or moulded pulpy material or compound may be
plain and be then formed by interlacing, twisting, curving, to tubular or equivalent
shape and then the whole can be braided, clothed, or covered with a plain, a figured
or an open woven substance.
In some arrangements two or more of the tubular or equivalent shaped bodies of
different dimensions may be connected in any desired manner to constitute a single
article adapted for Ladies wear.
My mode of constructing Bustles or dress improvers as before described, is repre-
şented in the annexed drawings.
According to Figure 1, the article is composed of a.flat strip of vulcanite, ebonite,
celluloid, or other equivalent material of a yielding or. flexible character wound in
single spiral form A tapering froin the centre to the ends; the several coils or spirals
being connected alternately to two strips B, B, of the same material or of other
material or it may be spring steel, said strips forming a kind of internal band, by
which the article can be secured in position by means of tapes attached to the loop
ends C, C.
Instead of the reversed tapered single spiral body A being of vulcanite or its
equivalent as before mentioned it may be made from thin spring steel and the bands
or lining strips B, B, may be of ebonite, vulcanite, or celluloid, to which the end
loops C, C, can be secured preferably by rivetting but the end loops may be moulded
in a piece with the vulcanite or equivalent inside strips B.
}
If the reversed tapered single spiral article A is required to be of extra strength
a thin strip of steel may be first shaped to the required reversed taper formation and
be then coated or moulded in conjunction with ebonite, vulcanite, celluloid, or its
equivalent, so that the two materials, conjoined as a single material will possess great
strength without interfering with the flexibility of the article when in wear.
The formation of the article above referred to would be substantially that shown
at Figure 2 where the steel strip is coated with a very thin film of ebonite, vulcanite,

page_text: celluloid, or equivalent material, such as that known as Coraline, the thicker part of
such material being on the inside of the spiral.
The lining tape B, which may be of flexible material, such as ordinary woven tape,
may have the smaller taper ends attached by sewing or otherwise, or the tape may
be so arranged with socket plates affixed, that the smaller ends of the spiral may be
inserted into said socket plates according to the desired shape to which the wearer
desires to arrange the article.
According to another construction, the thin strip of steel which may be like
ordinary steel wire D may be moulded with the reverse taper and then coated with
the ebonite, vulcanite, celluloid, coraline, or equivalent material somewhat after style
shown at Figure 3, in which the greater part of the strain put upon the article is
sustained by the thin steel or wire like lining of which the reverse tapered single spiral
article A is composed.
The tape B through the interior of the article may be of a solid, yet yielding or
flexible material as referred to with reference to Figure 1, or as ordinary woven tape,
in which latter case, the two ends of the article can be brought towards each other to
give the article a crescent formation somewhat after that shown at Figure 4.
According to Figure 2 the exterior coating of vulcanite, ebonite, coraline, celluloid,
or the like over the steel wire is very thin in comparison to that of the interior coat
of the material and in Figure 3 the same thickness or substance of the vulcanite,
ebonite, celluloid, coraline, or its equivalent is equal all over the reverse taper single
spiral article but this coating may be of extreme thinness upon the metallic reverse
taper single spiral body and serve in conjunction with its flexibility and adhesiveness
to the internal reverse taper single spiral body as a protection against damp, such
as when the article is not in actual wear. When it is desired to use the reverse taper
single spiral without such a coating or cover of vulcanite, celluloid, papier maché,
coraline, or the like it may have a coating applied by a braiding machine or it may
be plain as at Figure 5 and may then be enclosed in a reverse taper bag in order to
protect it from the effects of damp.
The bustle or dress improver of any of the arrangements before referred to and
composed of a reverse taper single spiral formation may be used singly as indicated
by Figure 4, or two of such, but of different lengths may have their ends connected
as at Figure 6 to constitute what is known as a Crinoletie, the upper of the two being
drawn with the spiral coils in closer contact than that of the lower, or three of such
reverse taper single spirals can be similarly connected at their ends to the liner
tape B, by which they can be secured to the waist of the wearer.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
The reverse taper single spiral article constituting a bustle or dress distender as
herein before described and as shown in the annexed drawings.
The 9th day of May 1888.
H. GARDNER,
166, Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said Gordon McDonald.
H. GARDNER,
166, Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said Gordon McDonald.