IMPROVEMENTS IN LADIES PETTICOATS, UNDER SKIRTS, AND DRESSES.
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Osborne, of 5, Bow Church Yard, Cheap-'
side; in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LADIES PETTICOATS, UNDER SKIRTS, AND DRESSES.
Sealed the 2nd February 1858, and dated the 17th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Osborne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th October 1857.
I, WILLIAM OSBORNE, of 5, Bow Church Yard, Cheapside, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LADIES' PETTICOATS, UNDER SKIRTS, AND DRESSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in stiffening ladies' petti-
coats, under skirts, and dresses, and consists in using for this purpose thin,
strips of wood of the description usually employed for making hat boxes; this
material may be used by enclosing the strip in the hem of the petticoat, under
skirt, or dress, or by attaching them to other parts of the garment; or the
strips of wood may be prepared by lapping them round with a band of calico
or muslin, or with cotton yarn, or in some cases two or more strips of wood
may be used with a small rib of steel enclosed between them, the whole being.
secured together by lapping with calico or muslin, or cotton yarn, as before..
mentioned.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Osborne in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
OSBORNE, of 5, Bow Church Yard, Cheapside, in the City of London, send
greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Osborne, Her special licence, that I, the
said William Osborne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Osborne, 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 LADIES' PETTICOATS, UNDER SKIRTS, AND DRESSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Osborne, 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
Letters. Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Osborne, 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 has for its object improvements in stiffening ladies' petti-
coats, under skirts,, and 'dresses, and consists in using for this purpose thin
strips of wood of the description usually employed for making hat boxes; this
material may be used by enclosing the strips in the hem of the petticoat,
under skirt, or dress, or by attaching them to other parts of the garment; or
the strips of wood may be prepared by lapping them round with a band of
calico or muslin, or with cotton yarn, or in some cases two or more strips of_
wood may be used with a small rib of steel enclosed between them, the whole

page_text: being secured together by lapping with calico or muslin, or cotton yarn, as
before mentioned.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
The thin shavings or narrow strips of wood, whether with or without
narrow strips of spring steel between them, are by preference covered by
binding the parts together with narrow bands of calico or other fabric, or
with yarn or thread wound spirally thereon, and such materials so made up
are introduced into or enclosed in hems, or confined tucks or parts around a
garment, such as a petticoat or skirt or other garment. But it is preferred
to make under garments or skirts for the purpose in warp machines, in such
manner as to produce slack courses of stitches or loops suitable for receiving
the springs or hoops above mentioned, or, in fact, any suitable construction of
springs or hoops suitable for distending garments. For this purpose an under
bar of guides is used, carrying threads or yarns, which in the working of the
machine are caused to float at the back of the fabric, and hollow sheaths or
spaces are thus made to receive the springs or hoops, as will readily be under-
stood by a workman acquainted with the construction and working of warp
machinery. In some cases I use not only an additional gymping bar, but
also an additional bar for making the solid strips, and in such case the
gymping bar as before is used to lay the threads at the back of such strips.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Osborne, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
WILLIAM OSBORNE. (L.S.)