AN IMPROVEMENT ON STAYS OR BODICES, WHICH IMPROVEMENT IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO BOOTS
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
ROGERS, of Buckingham Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by
His Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of His United Kingdom, bearing
date at Westminster, the Eighteenth day of March, 1823, in the fourth year
of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Rogers, my exors,
adiiors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Thomas Rogers, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns,
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT ON STAYS OR BODICES, WHICH
IMPROVEMENT IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO BOOTS;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso, that if I, the said Thomas Rogers, shall not parti-
cularly describe and ascertain 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, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and
all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease,

page_text: becomes easy and expeditious. The operation of putting in should be on the
right side of the stay, as the edge of the cut is best to be forced on the inside
of the stay, because in the operation it becomes ragged.
Fig. 6 is an instrument which I term a tucker-in. The blades are flat,
something like scissars, but do not cross, they only meet in the broad part B.
A notch is made in each blade, to forin a round or oval holes when closed;
round the notch it is made thinner than the other part of the blades, but
not sharp, and the size of the notch in each blade should be something
larger (when the instrument is shut) than the diameter of the neck of the
eyelet hole. With this instrument, by applying the notched part of it round
the eyelet hole in the stay, and closing it a few times, the ragged part that
surrounds it will be tucked or closed in under the projecting rim of the eyelet
hole, round the neck of which the cloth of the stays is firmly pressed, and is
prepared for the next operation (sewing).
The operation of sewing is by a strong waxed thread on the two opposite
sides of the eyelet hole, to close the nick or cut made to receive it; at
the same time a few turns of the thread is taken round the neck of the
eyelet hole, which takes hold of the cloth, already pressed close to it, by
which it is perfectly secured, and is the last operation. The several articles
here described are the full size which I have made use of, and find to be the
best for stays. The eyelet holes I have used for boots are smaller than those
described. When fixed in leather a small hole is punched round, and of the
size of the neck of the eyelet hole, which is pressed into the hole in the
manner described, the leather expanding to the pressure, and again contracting
to its original form. When used in cloth boots a hole is made with a sharp
pointed round instrument (the piece should not be cut out); into this hole
the eyelet hole is to be pressed, as described, which at first will be found
difficult, but as in the other instance a like practice is required. By care in
these two last-described operations the necessity of sewing may be avoided, as
the collapsing of the leather and cloth will be sufficient. Now, there are
other modes of attaching the eyelet holes to stays, corsets, boots, or other such
articles of dress, such as by forcing them in with the finger, pliers, or other
sharped instrument into any other shaped or directed aperture made therein,
and sewed or unsewed; also by first fixing the eyelet holes in stripes or
other pieces of cloth or leather, and then fastening the same to the stays,
corsets, or boots, or other such articles of dress, though I prefer the method
herein-before described. The shape, exact size, and ornament of my said
Invention may be varied to fancy, being to the best of my knowledge and
belief entirely new, and never before used in this Kingdom, 1 do hereby

page_text: .declare this my said Specification does in all respects, fully and without reserve
or disguise, comply with the said proviso in the said in part recited Letters
Patent contained; whereby I propose to maintain an exclusive right and
.privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Rogers, have hereunto set my i
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-three.
THOMAS (L.S.)
ROGERS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord 1823, the aforesaid Thomas Rogers came before our
said Lord the King in His 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.