Ar IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE POR CURLED HAIR FOR UPHOLSTERING AND OTHER PURPOSES AND PROCESS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathan Weston Blanchard, of Dutch Flat,
California, United States of America, for the Invention of "Ar
IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE POR CURLED HAIR FOR UPHOLSTERING AND OTHER
PURPOSES AND PROCESS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF."
Sealed the 19th April 1870, and dated the 3rd November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathan Weston
Blanchard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 3rd November 1869.
I, NATHAN WESTON BLANCHARD, of Dutch Flat, California, United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR CURLED HAIR FOR UPHOLSTERING AND OTHER
PURPOSES, AND PROCESS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF,
follows:-
The fibre which I use is obtained from a plant which grows in great
profusion on the Pacific coast, and especially in California and Mexico,
and which is known as the "soap root" or "soap plant" ("phalan-
gium pomaridianum"). This plant has a
This plant has a bulbous root, which is
saponaceous in its character; surrounding the bulbous root is a heavy

page_text: body of fibre, not unlike cocoa-nut fibre. This plant or root is pulled
from the ground, and the outside covering of fibre stripped from the
inner bulb. In this state the fibres are bound together so as to form a
mat or bunch of hairy substance. This mass is then run through a
picker or other device for separating the fibre, from which it emerges in
the form of long and coarse hair of a brown color and of great strength.
The fibre is then placed in a cauldron or other vessel, which is filled
with water, and in which a quantity of soft soap or other alkaline or
saponaceous substance is introduced. The quantity of soft soap which
I use is about in the proportion of one pint of soap to one gallon of
water. I prefer soft soap, or what is called home-made soap, as the
fibre is found after being treated thereby to be less harsh than when
strong alkalies are used in its preparation. Fire is then applied under
the cauldron, and the fibre is boiled for about two hours, more or less,
after which it is taken from the cauldron and passed through clean water
until it is thoroughly washed. The fibre is then spread out upon any
surface and dried, and then again passed through a picker or other
device for separating it or reducing and untwisting any parts which may
have become knotted or entangled during the above described process.
At this stage of the process the fibre will be long and straight, and
the next operation is that of curling it, in order to render it elastic.
This is done in the usual manner of making curled hair, that is to say,
it is twisted into the form of or in the same manner as a strand of
rope; the twist is made as hard as possible, so that the strand may be
easily kinked up its entire length by passing it through and over a horn
or other body to bend the strand when the hard twist throws it into a
kink. The kinking is an important part of the process, being the
principal cause of the curl. The twisted fibres or ropes are then boiled
for one or more hours in the same solution as that in which the fibre is
first boiled to set the fibres in the twist and curl they have received.
The rope thus formed is afterwards thoroughly dried in a baking oven
or in the sun. The ropes are then untwisted and picked in a manner
similar to that employed for opening and picking curled hair, and the
material is then ready for use. This fibre or artificial curled hair
possesses all the elasticity and strength of the best quality of hair
usually employed for upholstering and stuffing purposes, and it can be
manufactured and produced at a very small cost when compared with
the ordinary curled hair of commerce.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Nathan Weston Blanchard in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 2nd May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL COME, I, NATHAN
WESTON BLANCHARD, of Dutch Flat, California, United States of
America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto. mc, the said Nathan Weston Blanchard, Her special
license that I, the said Nathan Weston Blanchard, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Nathan
Weston Blanchard, 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 "AN IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR CURLED HAIR FOR UPHOLSTERING
AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND PROCESS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Nathan Weston
Blanchard, his 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 Nathan Weston Blanchard, 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 :-
The fibre which I use is obtained from a plant which grows in great
profusion on the Pacific coast, and especially in California and Mexico,
and which is known as soap root or soap plant (phalangium pomari-
dianum). This plant has a bulbous root, which is saponaceous in its
character; surrounding the bulbous root is a heavy body of fibre, not
unlike cocoa-nut fibre. This plant or root is pulled from the ground, and

page_text: the outside covering of fibre stripped from the inner bulb. In this state
the fibres are bound together so as to form a mat or bunch of hair-like
substance. This mass is then run through a picker or other device for
separating the fibre, from which it emerges in the form of long and
coarse hair of a brown color and of great strength. The fibre is then
placed in a cauldron or other vessel, which is filled with water, and
in which a quantity of soft soap or other alkaline or saponaceous
substance is introduced. The quantity of soft soap which I use is
about in the proportion of one pint of soap to one gallon of water. I
prefer soft soap, or what is called home-made soap, as the fibre is
found after being treated to be less harsh than when strong alkalis
are used in its preparation. Fire is then applied under the cauldron,
and the fibre is boiled for about two hours, more or less, after which
it is taken from the cauldron and passed through clean water until it
is thoroughly washed. The fibre is then spread out upon any surface
and dried, and then again passed through a picker or other device
for separating it or reducing and untwisting any parts which may
have become knotted or entangled during the above described process.
At this stage of the process the fibre will be long and straight, and
the next operation is that of curling it in order to render it elastic.
This is done in the usual manner of making curled hair, that is to
say, it is twisted into the form or in the same manner as a strand of
rope; the twist is made as hard as possible, which enables the strand to
be easily kinked up its entire length by passing it through and over a
horn or other body to bend the strand, when the hard twist throws it
into a kink. The kinking is an important part of the process, being the
principal cause of the curl. The twisted fibres or ropes are then boiled
for one or more hours in the same solution as that in which the fibre
is first boiled to set the fibres in the twist and curl they have received.
The rope thus formed is afterwards thoroughly dried in a bake oven or in
the sun. This boiling of the ropes or twisted fibres in soap and water is a
great improvement over the usual manner of boiling in water only; and
this is a pecially new and improved manner of retaining the softness,
pliancy, and elasticity of the fibres after they are twisted and prepared
for use. The ropes are then untwisted and picked in a manner similar
to the opening and picking of curled hair, when the material is ready
for use.
This fibre or artificial curled hair possesses all the elasticity and
strength of the best quality of hair usually employed for upholstering
and stuffing purposes, besides it can be manufactured and produced

page_text: at a very small cost when compared with the common curled hair of
commerce.
Having thus described my Invention, what I olaim and desire to
secure by Letters Patent is,-
First. A substitute for curled hair, obtained from the plant or bulb
specified.
Second. Treating the fibre above described in the manner substantially
as specified to prepare it for commercial uses,
In witness whereof, I, the said Nathan Weston Blanchard, have
heretofore set my hand and seal, this Second day of April, A.D.
One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witnesses,
NATHAN WESTON BLANCHARD. (L.S.)
JAMES LEWIS GOULD.
GEORGE BATES HOBBS,