IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOAS, MUPPS, Currs, FLOUNCES, AND TIPPETS
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
RITCHIE, of Gracechurch Street, in the City of London, and EDWARD BOWRa,
of the same place, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the First day of October, in the fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
George Ritchie and Edward Bowra, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that we, the said George Ritchie and Edward Bowra,
our exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said George Ritchie
and Edward Bowra, our exors, adññiors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOAS, MUPPS, Currs,
FLOUNCES, AND TIPPETS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that we, the said George Ritchie and Edward Bowra, or one of us, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
George Ritchie and Edward Bowra, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is
to say):-
Our Invention relates, first, to a mode of manufacturing boas, muffs, tippets,
and flounces, by (in place of ordinary padding) filling them with air, which
may be contained in bags, or any other suitable recipients, whereby we are
enabled to obtain a greater degree of elasticity, and give to them a degree
of bouyancy which, in the event of an accident happening to the wearers by
falling into the water, would be the means of supporting them.
And, secondly, our Invention consists in a mode of manufacturing that
description of cuffs which are attached to the bands of the sleeves of gentle-
men's shirts and ladies' habit shirts, which are also called wristbands.
I will first describe the mode which we adopt in manufacturing boas with
air bags according to our Invention; and it will be evident that the same mode
of manufacture will be found to be applicable to muffs, tippets, and flounces,
and will readily be applied by an ordinary workman accustomed to the packing
or filling of such articles. The skin or outer-fabric of which the boa is to be
made being properly prepared, we take small bags filled with air, of about
four inches long by about two inches in diameter, depending upon the size of
the boas, and place them within the central part thereof, and close them over
in the ordinary way. The bag containing the air may be made of any suitable
air-tight material. Although we have spoken of filling the boa with small bags
containing air, we do not confine ourselves thereto, as our Invention may be
applied by having the whole of the inner part of the boa made of air-tight
-material, and inflating the same; or we use small india rubber inflated balls
for that purpose.
We will now describe the mode of making cuffs, which, according to the
'old plan, are joined to the end of the sleeve (or band at the end thereof) of
the shirt, as is well known. Our improvement consists in making what we
call a double cuff, one of which is made to turn under during the time the
other is being worn, the advantage of which is, that should the shirtcuffs
become dirty without having the convenience of changing the shirt, the dirty
one can be turned up and the clean one brought down. The cuffs may be
attached to the wristband of the shirt by sewing, or may be made to button
on, according to the taste of the wearer, or be fastened on by a slit being made
in the band and passed through, or by any suitable means.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, we would have it understood that what we claim as our
Invention is,
First, the mode of packing or filling boas, muffs, tippets, and flounces with
air, as herein described.
And, secondly, we claim the mode of applying double cuffs to the wristbands
of shirts, as herein-described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Ritchie, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.