IMPROVE- MENTS IN SHIRTS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter McIntyre, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SHIRTS."
Sealed the 5th July 1864, and dated the 13th January 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter McIntyre at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th January 1864.
I, PETER MCINTYRE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN SHIRTS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the making of shirts in an improved manner
so as to be economical in getting up, convenient in putting on or off, and
comfortable in fit and wear.
And in practising the Invention, instead of making the shirt to open down
the front, as most usual, it is made to open at one side of the neck band and
along the shoulder. The opening may be at either the right hand or left
hand shoulder. It is preferred to make the breast piece or fore body to

page_text: slightly overlap the back piece at the opening, but if wished the back piece
may overlap the breast piece. In either case there is attached to the under-
lying part an internal continuation or flap, the lateral edge of which is attached
to the side of the breast piece if it is the overlapping part, or to the side of
the back piece in the other case. The lateral edge of this flap may be
conveniently sewn in at the junction of the arm piece with the breast or back
piece.
The flap is an important feature of the Invention, as it secures the proper
adjustment on the shoulder and the general fit of the shirt quite independently
of the button fastening at the neck band. One fastening at the neck band is
quite sufficient, but more may be applied if wished. The opening may extend
from the neck to the junction of the arm piece with the shoulder, or it may be
of any less extent that may be sufficient for the passage of the wearer's head.
Instead of the flap a strap attached at its upper end to the underlying edge of
the opening may have its lower end attached to the breast or back, the object
being to bind the part on the shoulder down to the arm hole or to a part near
it. The front of a shirt made in the manner described remains entire, and it
can therefore be dressed or starched and ironed more easily and economically
than an ordinary front which is in two parts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter McIntyre in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th July 1864.
TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
MCINTYRE, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Manufac-
turer, send greeting.
It
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, 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 Peter McIntyre, Her special licence that I, the said Peter
McIntyre, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Peter McIntyre, 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,

page_text: use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SHIRTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Peter McIntyre, 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 Peter McIntyre, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the making of shirts in an improved
manner, so as to secure economy in manufacturing, putting together, and
dressing the same, convenience in putting on or off, and comfort in fit and
wear.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing the
same may be properly understood I have hereunto appended a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing a shirt
as made with a modification of my improvements.
In practising my Invention instead of making the shirt to open down
the front, as most usual, or down the back, it is made to open at one side
of the neck band and along the top of the shoulder towards the junction
of the same with the sleeve. This opening may be made at either the
right hand or left hand shoulder to suit the taste or convenience of the
wearer.
Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a front view of the shirt complete
as made with the opening at the left hand shoulder, the opening being
shown buttoned up; Figure 2 is a similar view, but representing the
opening as unbuttoned; Figure 3 is a front view with the breast piece or
fore body A, represented as unsewn, round and below its junction with
the sleeve B, and as turned over to show the parts covered by it; Figure 4
represents the back piece C of the shirt with the fore body and sleeves
removed. I prefer to make the breast piece A to slightly overlap the back
piece C at the opening 1, 2, (Figure 1), but if wished, the back piece C
may be made to overlap the breast piece at that part.

page_text: I would here remark that by the terms breast piece or fore body I mean
not only the inserted front or bosom plaits, but the entire front of the body
of the shirt, and that by the term back piece I mean the entire back of
the body of the shirt: To the underlying part at the opening 1-2, that
is, to the edge of the back piece C, in the modification shown in the
Drawings, there is attached an internal continuation or flap D, (Figures 3
and 4, and indicated by a dotted line at d, in Figures 1 and 2,) and the
lateral edge E of this flap D is attached to the side of the shirt, being
conveniently sewn in at the junction of the breast piece and back piece, just
below the sleeve. The arm of the wearer before entering the sleeve is
passed under this flap D, that is, between it and the back piece C, in the
example represented in the Drawings. If the edge of the breast piece A
is the underlying part at the opening 1-2, then it is to it that the top of the
flap D is attached, and in that case the arm of the wearer is inserted between
the flap and the breast piece.
The flap (D) is an important feature of my Invention as it secures the
proper adjustment on the shoulder and the general fit of the shirt quite
independently of the button fastening at the neck band opening (1-2).
One fastening at the neck band is sufficient, but more may be applied, whilst
buttons may be altogether dispensed with if wished. The opening 1-2,
may extend from the neck band along the shoulder to the junction of the
sleeve C with the body of the shirt, or it may be of any less extent that
may be sufficient for the passage of the wearer's head. Instead of the
flap D there may be substituted a strap such as is indicated by the red
lines in Figure 4, this strap being attached at its upper end to the under-
lying edge of the opening 1-2, at the shoulder or neck, and having its lower
end attached at E, or to the breast piece or back piece, the object being
to bind the part at the shoulder down to the bottom of the arm hole or to
a point near it. The front or bosom of a shirt made in the manner herein-
before described remains entire, and it can therefore be washed, starched, and
ironed more easily and more economically than an ordinary front which is in
two parts.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is or may be performed I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described and delineated, and
that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
making of a shirt to open at the shoulder with an internal flap or strap

page_text: connecting the underlying edge of the opening with the other side of the
shirt, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter McIntyre, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square,
Glasgow.
PETER MCINTYRE. (L.s.)