IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR ORNAMENTATION OF MUffs, Cuffs, AND COLLARS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ellen Johnson, of Brighton, in the County of
Sussex, Muff and Plume Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR ORNAMENTATION OF MUffs, Cuffs,
AND COLLARS."
Sealed the 26th February 1869, and dated the 8th September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ellen Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with her Petition, on the
8th September 1868.
I, ELLEN JOHNSON, of Brighton, in the County of Sussex, Muff and
Plume Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR ORNAMENTATION OF MUFFS, CUFFS,
AND COLLARS," to be as follows:-.
My Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture or
ornamentation of muffs, cuffs, and collars, which are usually made
of fur.

page_text: According to my Invention I make these several articles of pheasant
feathers applied in an entirely novel manner. In making a muff the
foundation or muff proper is first completed, and the feathers, which are
attached singly by sewing or otherwise to a silk or other backing, then
applied thereon so as to partially envelop the muff foundation. I prefer to
arrange the feathers so that they may depend or hang downwards on
either side of the muff, meeting at the top (where the smallest feathers
are placed) in a seam, which is concealed by a braid or other suitable
ornament. The long feathers, which are placed at the lower edges of the
backing on either side of the muff, tend to impart a drooping appearance
to the same.
In the case of cuffs the feathers are preferably all placed in the same
direction on the backing, the lower feathers being made to depend or
hang down on one side of the cuff, while in the case of collars the
feathers might be selected of as near a uniform length as possible or of
varying lengths as before.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Ellen Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 8th March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ELLEN
JOHNSON, of Brighton, in the County of Sussex, Muff and Plume Manu-
facturer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the.
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Ellen Johnson, Her special
licence that I, the said Ellen Johnson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Ellen Johnson, 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

page_text: THE MANUFACTURE OR ORNAMENTATION OF MUFFS, CUFFS, AND COLLARS," upon the
condition, amongst others, that I, the said Ellen Johnson, 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. Ellen Johnson, 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 (that is to say) :—
My Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture or
ornamentation of muffs, cuffs, and collars, which are usually made
of fur.
According to my Invention I make these several articles of pheasant
feathers applied in an entirely novel manner. In making a muff the
foundation or muff proper is first completed, and the feathers (which are
attached by sewing singly or otherwise to a silk or other backing) then
applied thereon, so as to partially envelop the muff foundation. I prefer
to arrange the feathers so that they may depend or hang downwards on
either side of the muff, meeting at the top (where the smallest feathers
are placed) in a seam, which is concealed by a braid or other suitable
ornament. The long feathers, which are placed at the lower edges of
the backing on either side of the muff tend to impart a drooping
appearance to the same. When. however the small or breast feathers
only are used they are made to follow the contour of the muff instead of
depending, as before described, on each side.
In the case of cuffs the feathers are preferably all placed in the
same direction on the backing, the longer feathers being made to
depend or hang down on one side of the cuff, while in the case of
collars the feathers might be selected of as near a uniform length as
possible or of varying lengths as before.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
5 performing the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention
to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,

page_text: the application of pheasant feathers for the manufacture or orna-
mentation of muffs, cuffs, and collars, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ellen Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.