IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLINERS' WORK-BOXES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Mieussey, of No. 79, Rue Charlot, in the
City of Paris, in the Empire of France, Brush Maker, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLINERS' WORK-BOXES."
Sealed the 28th October 1864, and dated the 30th April 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Mieussey at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th April 1864.
I, JOSEPH MIEUSSEY, of No. 79, Rue Charlot, in the City of Paris, in
the Empire of France, Brush Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLINERS' WORK-BOXES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in the manufacture of a box for the use of
seamstresses and others working with the needle, having in its interior. as
many compartments as it may be desired to place various balls or reels of
thread, cotton, wool, or silk. At the upper part of this box as many orifices
are made as the box is intended to contain balls of thread, the end of the
thread of each of these balls passing through one of these orifices, and
coming outside the box, so that the workwoman has but to pull it when she
wishes to thread her needle. The lid of this box is surmounted by a small
stem about an inch in height, at the end of which is a tuft or cushion stuffed
with material suitable for the reception and preservation of needles and pins.
This box may be of wood, metal, enamel, horn, ivory, cardboard, or other

page_text: material, and as plain or as richly ornamented as may be desired. One of its
principal advantages consists in placing immediately under the hand several
balls or reels of thread, so that they may be used successively without danger
of seeing each ball entangling at every moment, as always occurs during the
work, and thus avoid a loss of time very precious and useful to the work-
woman, as well as the waste of thread, to which she is very often obliged to
submit in proportions relatively very great.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Joseph Mieussey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
MIEUSSEY, of No. 79, Rue Charlot, in the City of Paris, in the Empire of
France, Brush Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Mieussey, Her special licence that I, the said
Joseph Mieussey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Joseph Mieussey, 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, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLINERS' WORK-BOXES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Joseph Mieussey, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Mieussey, 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 bad to, the accompanying Sheet of Drawing forming
part of this my Specification; and to the figures and letters of reference placed

page_text: thereon, Figure 1 denoting an elevation of a box made according to my
Invention; Figure 2, top plan view of same with cover removed; and Figure 3,
plan view of inside of lid or cover of box.
My Invention consists in the manufacture of a box with divisions within it;
such box being of wood, metal, enamel, horn, ivory, cardboard, or other
suitable material, and carved or enriched as desired. It may be round, oval,
square, or of other shape; the Drawing shews a circular form. The interior
possesses 2, 3; 4, or more divisions at pleasure, each division being intended
to receive a ball or- reel of cotton or silk, thread, or worsted, and its size
depending upon that of the ball or reel it is to contain, and that of the box
upon the number and size of the divisions. At the upper part, that is to say,
inserted in the lid of the box, are as many nipples pierced with holes as there
are reels or balls of thread in the box, and it is by holes made in the lid and
through these nipples that the threads from the reels or balls pass to the out-
side. The lid is surmounted by a stem of a height proportioned to that of
the box, and on its top is fixed a cushion of any form or shape, and repre-
senting an apple, bird, bouquet, or other article, such cushion being stuffed
with some substance intended to receive and preserve the needles and
pins; this cushion might be replaced by a watch stand or other useful or
ornamental apparatus.
One
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawing, A indicates the box; A¹, cover or
lid of same; B, cushion for pins and needles; c, c, c, c, nipples through which
the threads pass to the outside of the box, as shewn; d, stem of cushion;
e, e, e, e, (Figure 2) divisions or compartments for reception of balls of cotton,
silk, or other thread; f,f.f.f, holes in cover beneath the nipples'c, c.
of the chief advantages of this box is, that several reels or balls of thread may
be used successively without fear of their becoming entangled, as now con-
stantly happens in the course of use, and thus much valuable and useful time
be saved to the work woman, as well as the loss of thread which results when
disentanglement cannot readily be effected, and the thread must be cut.
I
carry
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and means by which
it into practical effect, I would observe that I do not intend to confine
myself to the precise details herein given, as such may, and indeed must, be
varied to suit the circumstances of particular cases, as when reels are used
5 instead of balls of cotton or other thread, and when silk, cotton, worsted, and
other threads are enclosed in the same box, as then not only must the number
of receptacles vary, but also their form or shape, according to the mode of
winding the silk or other threads, whether in reel, ball, or spool; but I declare
to be of my Invention, and I claim, the exclusive manufacture of a box con-

page_text: structed as herein-before described and shewn on the Drawing with separate
divisions for the reception of each ball, reel, or spool of thread in conjunction
with a cover or lid furnished with nipples through which the end of the thread
of each ball, reel, or spool passes to the exterior for the use of the worker, by
which arrangement the materials within the box are kept clean and free from
entanglement.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Mieussey, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JOSEPH MIEUSSEY. (L.S.)