CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND CLOGS BY THE APPLI- CATION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS HITHERTO UNUSED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1819

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ARCHER DEACON, of Pilgrim's Hatch, in the Parish of South Weald, in the
County of Essex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His late most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, called England, bearing date at Westminster, the First
day of November, in the sixtieth year of His reign, give and grant unto me,
the said William Archer Deacon, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William
Archer Deacon, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, during the term of years
therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in
all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS, SHOES, AND CLOGS BY THE APPLI-
CATION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS HITHERTO UNUSED FOR THAT PURPOSE;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that if I, the said William Archer
Deacon, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled
in His Majesty's Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted,

page_text: shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the same, relation
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Archer Deacon, do hereby declare that my aforesaid Invention of
Certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Boots, Shoes, and Clogs, consists
in the use and application of whalebone or whalefin in different forms and
states of preparation either to the exterior or interior of the soles of the same,
which I prepare, use, and apply as is herein-after particularly set forth and
explained (that is to say):-
Those whalebones or whalefins which are the most flat and smooth upon
their external surfaces are to be selected, and these are to be sawed across the
direction of their fibres into pieces of convenient length for working in the
vice, as herein-after mentioned.
I shall in the first place describe the means by which I prepare the
material which I use or work into the interior of the sole, and which is merely
the hard external shell or skin of the whalebone or whalefin deprived of its
soft and fibrous inside, and to obtain which each of the pieces so transversely
cut as aforesaid must be split breadthwise, and as nearly in the middle
as possible, so as to divide it into two sheets or flat pieces, each of about
half the original thickness or substance, by means of a knife and mallet,
the whalebone or whalefin being previously placed in a common vice. The
pieces so produced by splitting are then to be placed separately in the vice,
and the core or interior fibrous part is to be cleared away by splitting out
the fibres as far as possible, which will be easily effected by a smaller knife,
until the remaining part is reduced to about the thirty-second part of an inch
in thickness, or until very little remains but the hard shell or external glossy
part of the whalebone or whale-fin. This last operation requires care, and
that a small part only of the fibres should be removed at once, least the
external smooth side should be injured. This being done, the thin lamines or
pieces so abtained are to be placed on a flat board or work bench with their
smooth sides downwards, and there 'secured by a screw or other clamp while
the remaining fibres or inequalities are removed by rasps or files, and the
whole is made tolerably smooth, and of nearly uniform thickness. In this
state it is cut into proper lengths for the soles of boots, shoes, and clogs, and is
to be raised, and applied as follows:-After having blocked and rounded the
inner sole in the same way as is usual when a cork sole is to be used, a piece
of the above prepared whalebone or whale-fin is to be cut to the size and
shape of the inner sole, but rather smaller than larger; and in the heel end
of this a notch must be cut which will answer best if made in an angular

page_text: form, as marked at A in the annexed Drawing, for the purpose of permitting
it to lay hollow for forming what is called a seat for the heel of the wearer.
This done, all the external edges must be rubbed with sand, glass, or emery
paper to remove the sharp or wiry edge. It is then to be soaked in hot
water, and will then be ready to be worked into the boot, shoe, or clog in the
following manner: Take a piece of basil or other tuff but flexible leather of
sufficient size to cover the sole or bottom of the last, and to extend about
three quarters of an inch beyond it in all sides. This leather forms the
internal visible lining of the boot, shoe, or cloth, and at the same time serves
to cover and hold down or confine the sole of prepared whalebone or whalefin.
This leather is, therefore, to be laid first upon the sole of the last, and the
prepared whalebone or whalefin sole being laid upon it, the inner sole of
leather next follows; and these are all to be fastened upon the last by means
of small iron tax put as near the edge or feather of the inner sole as possible;
in order that the holes they necessarily make may come near to the sewing at
the edges of the sole; for they might split, and would be otherwise detrimental
to the prepared whalebone or whalefin if they passed through the central
parts of it, and would permit wet or moisture to penetrate through it. From
five to seven such tacks will be sufficient for a good workman, and I place
them one on each side of the joints marked B, B, in the Drawing, Figure 1,
one also on each side of the waist at C, C, and from one to three at the too
part, as at D, D, D. I now begin to last the boot, shoe, or clog with a wax
thread in the same way as boot or shoe makers brace the toe part of a
boot or shoe down to the inner sole, but no nails or tax must be used
save only, as above described, for the reasons before mentioned; and these
are to be drawn out in lasting, and placed in their original positions, if
required for holding down the upper leather. The shank piece which is
used in the soles of boots is to be fastened down to the inner sole by small
copy or iron tax, but great care must be taken that they do not pass through
the inner sole into the prepared whalebone or whalefin. The split left is to
be stitched on, as also the piece sole, which is to be stitched on to the joint of
the outsole. The outsole is to be fastened at the toe part to the welt by
passing a waxed thread through it, instead of nailing it to the last, as usually
practised by the trade. And, lastly, the outer sole and top piece are then
stitched on in the usual manner. A few copper, brass, or iron brads are also
used in the top piece, to make it more solid. These are used instead of pegs,
but care must be taken that they are so short as not to pass through the inner
leather sole, as no tacking holes occur in the soles above described, so the use
of the punch becomes unnecessary, nor must it be used. The material which

page_text: I apply externally to the soles and heels of boots and clogs is whalebone or
whalefin that is not split. and prepared as aforesaid, but to be used in its
entire state, being cut into the required shapes by a fine saw or other conve-
nient tool, and made level, and finished by rasps or files. The soles should be
formed or covered by several pieces, disposed as at E, F, G, H, Fig. 2, and
holes must be drilled round the external edges of such pieces to receive the
screws, nails, or rivets, by means of which they are to be firmly attached to
the bottoms of ordinary boots, shoes, or clogs, or to those above described,
with an interior sole of whalebone or whalefin, as will sufficiently appear by
the Figure.
No part of my aforesaid Invention, therefore, goes or extends to the sowing,
screwing, or otherwise fixing the parts of boots, shoes, or clogs together, but
merely to the introduction and use of prepared whalebone or whalefin as an
internal sole, and to the use of it in its natural state externally.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Archer Deacon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, One thousand
eight hundred and twenty.