AN IMPROVED BOOT OR SHOE WITH A WOODEN SHANK PART AND A FLEXIBLE FORE PART TO THE SOLE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Davenport Godfrey, of Milford, in the
County of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, U. S. A.; for the Inven-
tion of "AN IMPROVED BOOT OR SHOE WITH A WOODEN SHANK PART AND A
FLEXIBLE FORE PART TO THE SOLE."
Sealed the 8th April 1862, and dated the 19th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Davenport
Godfrey at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,,
on the 19th November 1861.
I, BENJAMIN DAVENPORT GODFREY, of Milford, in the County of Worcester,
5 State of Massachusetts; U.S. A., do hereby declare the nature of the
Invention for "AN IMPROVED BOOT OR SHOE WITH A WOODEN SHANK PART AND Á
FLEXIBLE FORE PART TO THE SOLE," to be as follows:-
The object of my present Invention is to produce a boot or shoe which will
be durable and at the same time comfortable to the wearer, and which can be
made at a less cost than boots or shoes having leather soles and heels; and
my Invention consists in making the shank or rear part of the sole which does
not require to bend of wood, and the front part of the sole of a more flexible
material, such as vulcanized india-rubber or leather.
I am aware that boots and shoes have been made with an entire sole of
-wood, but this was so stiff and unyielding as to be uncomfortable to the
wearer; also, that soles have been made entirely of india-rubber or gutta-

page_text: percha, but these were more costly and heavier than the wood; also, that a
heel and shank of metal has been tried, but was also heavy and soon wore
bright and was unsightly. I have found that by combining a wooden after
part of the sole with a front part of a flexible or yielding material, such as
vulcanized rubber or leather, I avoid the objections just stated, and am
enabled to produce a boot or shoe possessing the advantages of lightness,
cheapness, comfort, and durability in an eminent degree. The wooden shank
also has this advantage over one of leather that its stiffness prevents the boot
or shoe from breaking down in the hollow of the foot, as frequently occurs,
particularly in a low priced article.
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Davenport Godfrey in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
DAVENPORT GODFREY, of Milford, in the County of Worcester; State of
Massachusetts, United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Benjamin Davenport Godfrey, Her special licence that I, the
said Benjamin Davenport Godfrey, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Benjamin Davenport Godfrey, 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 ex-
pressed, 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 "AN IMPROVED BOOT OR SHOE WITH A WOODEN SHANK
PART AND A FLEXIBLE FORE PART TO THE SOLE," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Benjamin Davenport Godfrey, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Davenport Godfrey, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-"
Fig. 1 is a view of a shoe; Fig. 2 a longitudinal vertical-section through
the same.
The object of my present Invention is to produce a boot or shoe which will
be durable and at the same time comfortable to the wearer, and which can be
made at a less cost than boots or shoes having leather soles and heels; and
my Invention consists in making the shank or rear part of the sole, which
does not require to bend, of wood, and the front part of the sole of a more
flexible material, ás vulcanized india-rubber or leather.
I am aware that boots and shoes have been made with an entire sole of
wood, but this was so stiff and unyielding as to be uncomfortable to the
wearer; also, that soles have been made entirely of rubber or gutta percha,
these were more costly and heavier than the wood; also, that a heel and
shank of metal has been tried, but this was also heavy, and soon wore bright
and was unsightly. I have found that by combining a wooden after part of.
the sole with a front part of a flexible or yielding material, such as vulcanized
rubber or leather, I avoid the objections just stated, and am enabled to produce
a boot or shoe possessing the advantages of lightness, cheapness, comfort, and
durability in an eminent degree. The wooden shank also has this advantage
over one of leather, that its stiffness prevents the boot or shoe from "breaking
down" in the hollow. of the foot, as frequently occurs, particularly in a low
priced article.
That others skilled in the art may understand and use my Invention, I will
proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.
In the said Drawings, A is the upper, a the inner sole, which is put on in
the usual manner; to this is attached, by rivets c or otherwise, a sole i, of
india-rubber, which extends back a little beyond the ball of the foot; on this
sole is cemented the outer sole b, of vulcanized rubber, the rear end of which
is chamfered off at e. The rear part B of the sole is made of wood, stained
or blacked; it is bevelled off at its front end to match the rear end of the
piece b,-and-the-joint-is-secured together by screws g, 'the-piece B being
attached to the inner sole by screws 1, or by nails.
In the shoe shown in the Drawings the shank and heel are in one piece,
but if desired the outer lifts of the heel may be of rubber or of leather-
secured to the wood; and instead of the front part or sole b-being made of.

page_text: rubber, this part may be of leather, the wooden shank and heel still making
a great saving in cost of materials and labor of making overshoes, in which
the whole sole is made of leather. When a leather front part is used, it may
be attached directly to the inner sole a in the usual manner, and the thin
rubber sole i may be omitted. My Invention may also be applied to boots!
or shoes without heels, for example, to those intended for ladies' wear. The
upper A, instead of leather, as shown, may be made of cloth or other suitable
material.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention, and explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the 1
above recited Letters Patent I claim a boot or shoe the rear part of the sole
of which is made of wood, and the front part or tread of a more flexible
material, such as india-rubber or leather, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Davenport Godfrey, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the 22nd day of March, in the year
of our Lord 1862.
Witness,
THOS. R. ROACH,
BENJ. DAVENPORT GODFREY. (L.S.)
13, Exchange Street,
Boston, Mass., U. S. A.