A NEW OR IMPROVED ADJUSTABLE BOOT LAST
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Savage, of Southwark, in the County
of Surrey, Hatter, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
ADJUSTABLE BOOT LAST."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Savage at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th October 1875.
I, ALFRED SAVAGE, of Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Hatter,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR
IMPROVED ADJUSTABLE BOOT LAST," to be as follows:
This Invention relates to a new or improved adjustable boot last.
The last constructed according to my Invention is adapted more par-
ticularly for giving shape to boots whilst displayed for sale in shop
windows, and generally for imparting or retaining shape to or in boots
whilst not in wear or when being cleaned.
I make up a "shape" of the front part of a foot in shell form composed
of cotton, woollen, or such like fabric stiffened with any of the well

page_text: known compositions commonly employed for stiffening such materials
in trade, such as that of hatters. For example, a mixture of shellac,
resin and ammonia, as and in the proportions well known will be found
to answer the purpose. This "shape" may be made by stretching the
material over a suitable mould and uniting the edges by sewing or
otherwise; the outer rim of the "shape" being bound or otherwisc
finished off as desired. Beneath the sole of the "shape" is a blade
spring affixed so as to have a tendency when compressed to raise the
"shape "bodily. Attached to the upper part or instep of the " shape"
by means of a strip of elastic webbing or other elastic medium, is a
handle or prop of such a length that when the " 'shape" is pressed
forward into the front part of a boot, the outer end of the prop will
reach and rest in the angle formed by the junction of the sole and heel
leathers of the boot when the inner end of the prop has been forced into
the "shape," for such distance as the stretching of the elastic medium
attaching it will allow. If the thumb be then inserted just within the
instep of the "shape," and it be raised from the boot sole until the
upper of the boot is stretched and well filled out, the said elastic medium
attached to the end of the prop will draw it up to the "shape" as held
by the thumb, where it will remain, and retain the shape in the raised
position.
When it is desired to remove the last from the boot it is only
necessary to press the upper end of the prop within the "shape" and
then raise it out of the boot and draw out the "shape."
To facilitate the manipulation of the prop a small knob is affixed
thereto in a convenient position to be taken hold of by the finger and
thumb. The upper part or ankle of the boot is filled out into form by
two small "shapes" (one for the back and one for the front) made of
material similar to that already described, and attached to one another
by means of a blade spring in such manner that the spring has to be
bowed to insert the "shapes" in the ankle of the boot, the tension of
the spring thus pressing them outwards and so stretching and filling out
the ankle of the boot. This latter part for shaping the ankle of the
boot may be either attached to or seperate from the "shape" first
described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Savage in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
Savage, of Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Hatter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Savage, Her special license,
that I, the said Alfred Savage, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Savage, 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, tho
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
ADJUSTABLE BOOT LAST," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Alfred Savage, my executors or administrators, 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Lettors
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Savage, 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) :-
) This Invention relates to a new or improved adjustable boot last.
The last or tree constructed according to my Invention is by reason
of its extreme lightness and facility of adjustment adapted particularly
for giving shape to boots whilst displayed for sale in shop windows, and
generally for imparting to or preserving shape in boots whilst not in
5 wear or when being cleaned.

page_text: Fig. 1 of the accompaying Drawings is a side view of my improved
last or tree; Fig. 2, a plan at the under side of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a
sectional view at the centre line of Fig. 2, shewing also a boot in section
and the last in position therein.
Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate respectively in section and front view, and on
a larger scale a part of the last.
Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a section and plan of another part of
my Invention for giving shape to the ankle of the boot..
66
My improved last or tree consists of a "shape" A of the front part of
a foot or boot in shell form, and composed of a cotton, woolen, or such
like fabric (by preference cotton), stiffened with any of the well known
compositions or preparations commonly employed for stiffening such
materials in trades such as that of hatters. For example, a mixture of
shellac, resin, and ammonia, as and in the proportions well known, will
be found to answer the purpose well. The fabric to be used to make up
the "shape" is first immersed in or painted with the stiffening compound
until it has absorbed a sufficient quantity, and is then allowed to
partially set, when it is stretched or ironed over a mould of suitable form,
the edges being united by sewing adhesive substance or otherwise, the
shape" assuming the form shewn at A. When thoroughly set and
stiff it is covered with cloth, American cloth, or other suitable material,
and the edge a bound with any suitable material by sewing same on or
otherwise. To the under side of the "shape" is attached a blade
spring B by confining its extremities in slots formed in a plate of brass
or other metal C, which latter is tacked on to the "shape." The spring
is so attached as to be bowed, as seen in the Drawings, so that when the
last is pressed into the front of a boot the spring will have a tendency to
press it upwards. Attached to the upper part or instep of the "shape
by means of a strip of elastic webbing or other elastic medium D, is a
handle or prop E of such a length that when the shape A is pressed
forward into the front of the boot, the outer end of the prop E will
reach and rest in the angle formed at the junction of the sole and heel
leather of the boot when the inner end of the prop E has been forced
into shape A for such distanco as the clastic medium D will allow. To
fill out the front of the boot the thumb is then inserted just within the
instep of the shape A, and it is then raised from the boot solc until the
upper part of the boot is sufficiently stretched. As the shape is thus
"

page_text: raised the elastic D will draw the end of the prop E up to it where it
will remain and maintain the "shape" in the raised position.
To remove the last from the boot the upper end of the prop is pressed
within the "shape," then the back end raised, and the "shape" drawn
out.
To facilitate the manipulation of the prop a small knob or eye F is
affixed thereto in a convenient position, as shown to be taken hold of by
the finger and thumb. The union of the prop E to, the shape A by
means of the elastic D is shown enlarged in section at Fig. 4 and in
front view at Figure 5. The upper part or ankle of the boot is filled out
into form by two small "shapes '
"G, G, united by means of a blade
spring H of such size and in such manner that the spring may be bowed
when the "shapes" are inserted in the ankle of the boot, as shewn at
Fig. 3. The tension of the spring thus presses the "shapes" outwards
and so stretches or fills out the ankle of the boot.
The shapes G, G, may be made of the same material as shape A, but
in practice I find thin brass more convenient. Either the last for the
front of the boot, or the shape for the ankle may of course be used
without the other.