IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Mole, of Farringdon Road, in the City
of London, Bootmaker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS."
Sealed the 17th November 1868, and dated the 22nd May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Mole at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd May 1868.
I, CHARLES MOLE, of Farringdon Road, in the City of London,
Bootmaker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to produce a boot into which the foot
may be introduced with great facility, which may readily be pulled off
under all circumstances, be perfectly water-tight, easily fastened, present.
the appearance of a Wellington boot without bringing the trowser very
far over the instep, give support to the back part of the foot, and prevent
the toe coming too far forward. I propose to cut the front upper with a
tongue rising above the instep to nearly the full height of the boot and
blocked to the shape of the instep, cutting the hind quarter with it or in

page_text: a separate piece. Two pieces forming the leg will extend from the centre
of the instep to the centre of the heel, and inside the heel piece I
propose to fix a tongue rising to about the same height as the tongue or
extension of the front upper above the instep, and I sew on to the heel
piece an overlap cut tapering to each end and provided with a buckle or
other fastening. In putting on a boot thus made the foot is introduced
from behind over the overlap and heel tongue and between the two leg
pieces which bend over right and left, and a slight pull on the tongue
settles the foot in the boot. The back overlap is then brought from
right and left over the leg pieces to the front of the boot, where its two
ends are fastened together over the instep tongue piece by means of a
buckle, lacing, or otherwise. The tendency of the foot in walking is to
press forward in the boot, but in a boot having a back overlap as above
described this pressure forward is met and counteracted by the tension
of the overlap, and its only effect is by bearing against the overlap to
give support where it is most required, namely, at the back of the foot
and round the ancle. One of the leg pieces may be continued round the
back and front, overlapping the other leg piece (instead of forming the
overlap in a distinct piece), and the instep tongue may be dispensed with,
although I prefer to use them, and various modifications may be made
in the several parts, the main features of my Invention being the
application to boots opening behind of a back overlap coming over the
leg pieces or formed out of one of them, its two ends drawn together in
front of the boot above the instep, whereby I relieve the foot from forward
pressure, giving support to the back tendons and ancle; also the ap-
plication of the heel tongue, without which the boot could not be readily
put on, it acting as a shoeing horn.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Mole in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
MOLE, of Farringdon Road, in the City of London, Bootmaker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the.

page_text: thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Mole, Her special
licence, that I, the said Charles Mole, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Mole, my executors,
5 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
THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Charles Mole, 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 Charles Mole, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawing forming part of this my Specification, and to the
figures and letters of reference placed thereon, similar letters of
reference being placed upon and denoting similar parts where such
parts appear or may be seen at each of the Figures respectively.
The object of my Invention is to produce a boot into which the foot
may be introduced with great facility, which may be readily pulled off
under all circumstances, be perfectly water-tight, easily fastened, present
the appearance of a Wellington boot without bringing the trouser very
far over the instep, give support to the back part of the foot, and prevent
the toe coming too far forward.
Fig. 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawing is a side elevation of a boot
made according to my Invention as it would appear when closed upon
the foot, and Fig. 2 a plan of same opened for the introduction of the
foot.
a, front upper cut with a tongue or extension 6 rising above the
instep to the full height of the boot and blocked to the shape of the
instep; c, hind quarter or heel piece; d, tongue fixed inside the heel

page_text: piece and rising therefrom until slightly above the top of the boot;
e, e¹, leg pieces; f, overlap sewn to heel piece tapering towards each end,
terminating at one end in a strap g and having a buckle h near the other
end. In putting on a boot thus made the foot is introduced from behind
over the overlapf (bent backwards for that purpose) and heel tongue d
between the leg pieces e, e', which open right and left, and a pull
heel tongue settles the foot in the boot. The back overlap is then
brought from right and left over the leg pieces to the front of the boot
where the strap end g slightly overlaps the other and is secured in this
position by the buckle h.
on the
I would here observe that my heel tongue d does not simply afford. a
means of pulling on the boot, as is the case with the loop usually applied
to boots for that purpose, but when pulled upon presents an inclined
plane, fulfilling the function of a shoeing horn and guiding the foot into
the boot. The tendency of the foot in walking is to press forward in
the boot, but in a boot having a back overlap, as shewn on all the
Figures of the annexed Sheet of Drawing, this pressure forward is met
and counteracted by the tension of the overlap, and its only effect is that
by bearing against the front of the fastened overlap it tightens it against
the back of the foot and round the ancles, thus giving support where it
is most required.
Figs. 3 and 4 shew in side elevation and in plan a modification of the
make shewn, Figs. 1 and 2. Here the front upper a and leg pieces e, e¹³,
are cut in one piece, and the piece b is no longer an extension of the
front upper blocked to shape but a piece cut to shape of instep and sewn
to the upper, and the piece i joined in to complete the leg piece e; this
piece 6 buttons on to the leg piece e and the back overlap f, fastened
by strap and buckle, but also provided with eyelet holes (shown in
dotted lines), in order that it may be laced should the buckle come off
where it cannot readily be replaced, as in campaigning.
Figs. 5 and 6 shew in elevation and in plan another modification of
my improved boot. Here the leg piece e¹, back overlap f, and instep
tongue 6 are cut in one piece, by which means I obtain a lighter boot,
and I also economise leather, there being a double thickness of leather
only on one side of the boot. The two ends of the overlap are here
shewn fastened by buttoning.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner I carry the same into practical effect, I desire it to be

page_text: distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise shape
or cut of the various parts or pieces of my improved boot as illustrated
on the annexed Drawing, as their shape may be infinitely varied
without departure from my Invention, nor to any particular mode of
fastening, using strap and buckle, button, lace, or whatever fastening
may in practice be found most convenient.
Also, that I do not claim as my Invention making a boot opening at
the back for the introduction of the foot, such boots having been pre-
viously made; but the improvements in the manufacture of boots of
which I claim the exclusive use as of my Invention are, ―
Firstly. The back overlap f, whether made in a separate piece or
cut with one of the leg pieces or with one leg piece and the front
upper a.
Secondly. The leg pieces e, e¹, whether cut separately or in one piece
with the front upper a, and completed by the joining of the piece i,
Figs. 3 and 4.
Thirdly. The instep tongue b, whether cut with the front upper and
blocked to shape, or cut to shape and sewn thereto, or cut with one of
the leg pieces.
Fourthly. The heel tongue d rising from the heel piece c and within
the back overlap f, the whole substantially as described and for the
purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Mole, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
CHARLES MOLE. (L.S.)