IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND OTHER COVERINGS
FOR THE HEAD."-A communication from abroad by François Antoine
Joannon, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Merchant.
Sealed the 11th June 1875, and dated the 12th December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 12th December 1874.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS AND OTHER
COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," a communication to me from abroad by François
Antoine Joannon, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Merchant, to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to the manufacture of hats and other coverings
for the head, and consists in the employment of wood cut into thin

page_text: sheets or strips and formed into the shape of the hats or other coverings
to be produced and then napped or felted.
In carrying out this Invention, the sheets or strips of wood, having
been first rendered pliable by subjecting them to the action of steam, or
by other suitable means, are bent round or shaped and secured by
adhesive material so as to assume the form of the hat or covering
desired.
3
In the interior of the hat or other covering there is placed the lining
ordinarily employed, whilst the exterior is covered with the nap or felting.
In this latter operation the wood is covered with a coating which is
interspersed or overlaid with small fragments of wool or silk, or other
suitable substances, as in the process of napping and felting other
materials than wood. The hat or other covering thus treated presents
the appearance of the ordinary hat or covering, whilst it combines a
degree of durability, lightness, and cheapness which the present hat
cannot attain.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patont
Office on the 11th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, John.
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the 38th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors,
administrators, or 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 OF HATS AND OTHER COVERINGS FOR THE HEAD," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by François Antoine Joannon, of Paris, in
the Republic of France, Merchant, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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:-
The said Invention relates to the manufacture of hats for men, slakós
and other coverings for the head, and consists in the employment of
wood cut into thin sheets or strips and formed into the shape of the
hats or other coverings to be produced and then napped or felted.
In carrying out this Invention the sheets or strips of wood, having
been first rendered pliable by subjecting them to the action of steam, or
by other suitable micans, are bent round or shaped and secured by
adhesive material, so as to assume the form of the hat or covering
desired.
In the interior of the hat or other covering there is placed the lining
ordinarily employed, whereas the exterior is covered with the nap or
felting. In performing the latter operation the wood is covered with a
coating which is interspersed or overlaid with small fragments of wool,
silk, or other suitable substance, as in the process of napping and felting
ordinarily applied to other materials than wood. The hat or other
covering thus treated presents the appearance of the ordinary hat or
covering, whilst it combines durability, lightness, and cheapness to an
extent to which the present hat cannot attain.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the employment in

page_text: the manufacture of hats and other coverings for the head of thin sheets
or strips of wood, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.