IMPROVEMENTS IN CASES EMPLOYED TO CONTAIN VISITING OR ADDRESS CARDS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Michael Lee, of Number 55, Cross Street,
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Jeweller, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASES EMPLOYED TO CONTAIN VISITING OR ADDRESS
CARDS."
Sealed the 2nd March 1869, and dated the 7th September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Michael Lee at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th September 1868.
İ, HENRY MICHAEL LEE, of 55, Cross Street, Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Jeweller, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASES EMPLOYED TO CONTAIN VISITING OB
ADDRESS CARDS," to be as follows:
My Invention relates principally to card cases particularly adapted to
be used by females, but is applicable also to card cases to be used by
males, and consists of certain novel modifications of the proportions and
forms of the said cases, whereby each case becomes suitable to be worn
on the person as an article of jewellery, or as an ornament, or as an

page_text: appendage to any article of dress. To this end I reduce the proportions
of the cases as compared with the cases ordinarily used, as, for example,
I make the cases suitable for cards of two inches in length by one inch
in width, or thereabouts, 'the precise size being a matter of choice within
*certain limits, as will be readily understood, the size given herein-above
being that which I have found to be very suitable to my purpose. I
make the said cases of gold, silver, aluminum, or other similar metal, or
of an inferior metal plated or covered with a superior metal, or of wood,
ivory, bone, leather, or any other metal substance or material as
⚫ordinarily employed, or which may be found suitable to the purpose;
and I ornament the said cases externally by means of engraving, chasing,
piercing, enamelling, or other suitable means, or by the application of
buhl, marquetrie, mosaic, procious or ornamental stones, pearls, steel
studs, or-other suitable materials; and I sometimes furnish.the-said cases
with fringes, pendants, chains, drops; or I take any other means to
decorate the said cases, such as are ordinarily employed in the manu-
facture of jewellery, or as may be found suitable. The said cases are
each fitted with a lid, cover, or flap to open in any suitable manner to
obtain access to their contents, and are fitted to be worn as brooches,
waist buckles, bracelets, or other suitable or similar articles of adorn-
ment, or are fitted with chains to be suspended from the neck, or from a
watch guard, or from the wrist, or are otherwise made suitable to be
worn as an ornament to the person, being at the same time readily
accessible. I sometimes form one side of the case into a tablet for the
. recordance of memoranda, or fit a tablet thereto, a tube to contain a
pencil being fixed to any suitable part of the case. I also sometimes
apply a spring or springs at the bottom of the case for the purpose of
thrusting the cards a sufficient distance out of the case to enable them
to be readily withdrawn therefrom. And, further, I sometimes make one
-side or both sides of the card case suitable to contain miniature portraits
in manner similar to ordinary lockets; or I form a recess on one side or
on both sides of the said case to contain aromatic vinegar, perfumes,
or perfumed materials, snuff, or other liquids or substances employed for
like purposes, the said recess being fitted with a lid, the said lid being
perforated in some cases.

page_text: SPECIFICATION In pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Fav
filed by the said Henry Michael Lee in the Great Seal Patent Office-
on the 6th March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY'
MICHAEL LEE, of 55, Cross Street, Manchester, in the County of Lan--
caster, Jeweller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her,-
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the year-
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-.
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give-
and grant unto me, the said Henry Michael Lee, Her special license that
I, the said Henry Michael Lec, my exccutors, administrators, and.
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Michael Lee, my executors,.
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agrec with, and no,
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term.
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, excrcise, and.
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CASES EMPLOYED TO CONTAIN VISITING OR ADDRESS CARDS," upon the condition>.
amongst others, that I, the said Henry Michael Lee, 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 P, the said Henry-Michael Lee, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-.
My Invention relates principally to card cases, particularly adapted to
be used by females, but is applicable also to card cases to be used by.
males, and consists of certain novel modifications of the proportions and
forms of the said cases, whereby they become suitable to be worn on the::
person as articles of jewelry, or as ornaments, or as appendages.to any

page_text: article of dress. To this end I reduce the proportions of the cases as
compared with the cases ordinarily used, as, for example, I make the
cases suitable for cards of two inches in length by one inch in width, or
thereabouts, the precise size being a matter of choice within certain
limits, as will be readily understood, the size given herein-above being
that which I have found to be very suitable to my purpose. I make the
said cases of gold, silver, aluminum, or other similar metal, or of an
inferior metal plated or covered with a superior metal, or of wood, ivory,
bone, leather, or any other metal substance or material as ordinarily
employed, or which may be found suitable to the purpose; and I orna-
ment the cases externally by means of engraving, chasing, piercing,
enamelling, or other suitable means, or by the application of bull,
inarquetrie, mosaic, precious or ornamental stones, pearls, steel studs,
or other suitable materials; and I sometimes furnish the said cases with
fringes, pendants, chains, or drops, or I take any other means to decorate
the said cases, such as are ordinarily employed in the manufacture of
jewelry, or as may be found to be suitable. The said cases are each
fitted with a lid, cover, or flap to open in any suitable manner in order
that access to their contents may be obtained, and are fitted to be worn
as brooches, waist buckles, bracelets, or other suitable or similar articles
of adornment, or are fitted with chains to be suspended from the neck, or
from a watch guard, or from the wrist, or are otherwise made suitable to
be worn as ornaments to the person, being at the same time readily
accessible. I sometimes form one side of the case into a tablet for the
recordance of memoranda, or fit a tablet thereto, a tube to contain a
pencil-being sometimes fixed to any suitable part of the case. I also
sometimes apply a spring or springs at the bottom of the case for the
purpose of thrusting the cards a sufficient distance out of the case that
they may be readily withdrawn therefrom. And, further, I sometimes
make one side or both sides of the card case suitable to contain miniature
portraits in manner similar to ordinary lockets, or I form a recess on one
side or on both sides of the said case to contain aromatic vinegar, per-
fumes, or perfumed materials, snuff, or other liquids or substances
employed for like purposes, the said recess being fitted with a lid, the
said lid being perforated in some cases.
In order that the said Invention may be fully understood I have
supplied to accompany this Specification a Sheet of Drawings repre-

page_text: the full size and having letters of reference marked thereupon, to which
said Drawings I will in this place refer.
Fig. 1 is a front view of a card case specially adapted to be worn by
females, Fig. 2 being a view of the case with the front part removed, in
order to shew the interior, and Fig. 3 a side view thercof, representing
the case as when opened. In Fig. 1 the case is represented as being
made of metal, as, for example, of brass gilt, and as being ornamented
by chasing and by the addition of pendants. The said case is also fitted
with a chain provided with a hook, or swivel, or other equivalent, in order
that it may be suspended from the watch guard or from the brooch, or
from any other suitable part or portion of the wearer, or her apparel, or
appendages. When the case is worn in manner as indicated above
it will readily be understood that the said case will usually be more
accessible than when carried in the pocket or in any other receptacle,
and at the same time the said case will be an article of ornament and
personal adornment.
In Figs. 2 and 3, a is a three-sided frame, which is fitted into the
interior of the case and rests upon the spring b at the bottom of the
case, the cards resting upon the lower part of the said frame, the action
being such as that when the hinged flap c is opened the spring forces
the frame out of the case to a certain extent, and the ends of the cards
being thus thrust out of the case one or more of them can be more
readily withdrawn than when the spring is not employed. When the
hinged flap is shut down it bears upon the outer ends of the frame and forces.
the said frame into the case. In Fig. 2 a chain differing in pattern from
the one shown in Fig. 1 is represented, and an ornamental "pencil case"
is shewn as suspended between the two portions of the said chain.
Fig. 4 is a front view of a card case fitted to be worn as a brooch,
Fig. 5 being a view of the outer framo detached, and Fig. 6 a side
view of the said brooch, illustrating the method of obtaining access
to the cards. The card case d forms the central portion of the brooch,
and is hinged to the lower part of the frame e, as shewn at Fig. 0; being
retained in position in the said frame by a suitable spring or catch at the
upper end of the frame or case. When it is desired to withdraw a card
from the case the said case is turned outwards from the frame, as shewn
at Fig. 6, in which position access may be had to the cards.
Fig. 7 is a view of a card case fitted with tablets for the recordance of
memoranda, the said Figure representing the tablets as when open,

page_text: Fig. 8 being a plan view of the top of the case, and Fig. 9 a longi-
tudinal section taken through the card case and the tablets. The tablets
may be formed of ivory or of any other suitable material, and are fitted
to the back or to the front of the card case as may be preferred. In the
Drawing two tablets are shewn, one fitted to the back of the case and
the other fitted in a frame hinged thereto, the back and edges of the said
frame corresponding with the rest of the case. If preferred onc tablet
only or a number of tablets, more than two, may be fitted to a casc. A
tube f to contain a pencil is provided, but in some cases a pencil case is
attached in manner as shewn in Fig. 2.
Fig. 10 is a front view of a card case of a smaller size than those
previously described, the said case being specially adapted to be worn by
males, and to be suspended from a watch guard, Fig. 11 being a side
view of the said case, and Fig. 12 a second front view thereof. In this.
example access is obtained to the cards by turning the hinged bottom
of the case outwards, as shewn by the dotted lines in Fig. 10. The case
is so formed as to be used both as a card case and as a locket, the front
or back of the said case being fitted with a hinged lid which can be
opened, a space being provided for the insertion of a portrait, as shewn
at Fig. 12, which represents the case as when the locket is opened.. I
would here remark that a similar arrangement may be employed in
connection with any of the card cases previously or yet to be described.
Fig. 13 represents a card case so. fitted as to be employed also as a
vinaigrette, Fig. 14 being a view of a longitudinal section through the
card case and the said vinaigrette. The side of the case, shewn in Fig. 13,
is fitted with a perforated hinged lid or cover, shewn at g in Fig. 14, the
said lid when closed leaving a space between itself and the body of the
card case sufficient to contain one or more slips of bibulous. paper, or a
quantity of any other suitable absorbent material, as shewn at h, which
said paper or other material is or may be charged with the acid ordinarily
knows as aromatic vinegar, or with any other volatile scent as may be
desired.
Figs. 15 and 16 are two views of a bracelet with a card case attached.
In this example it will be seen that the rectangular portion of tho
bracelet marked k in the two views is formed as a card case, the lid or
cover of which is arranged to open in manner similar as is shewn in
Fig. 10. The central portion is or may be formed as a locket, as in the
example illustrated at Figs. 10 and 12.

page_text: Figs. 17 and 18 are two views also of a bracelet, but representing a
flexible bracelet, the said bracelet being drawn as when unclasped aud
extended in a straight line. The said bracelet is fitted with a card
case m, as in the last example.
Figs. 19 and 20 are two views of a belt buckle with portions of a
waist belt attached. On this example the central portion of the buckle
is formed as a card case, the arrangements for obtaining access to the
cards being similar as in some of the examples previously described.
Although the arrangement shewn in Figs. 2 and 3 for pushing out the
cards to a certain extent when the case is opened is only mentioned in
reference to the form of case therein illustrated, the said arrangement or
a modification thereof may be applied to any or all of the other forms of
cases herein described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, together with
methods of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be
distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise designs
and combinations as illustrated in the attached Drawings and as herein
described, as it will be evident that the designs, arrangements, and
adaptations of the card cases may be greatly varied so long as the main
feature of my Invention is retained, that is to say, the adapting of card
cases to be worn on the person as ornaments, articles of jewelry, or
appendages, in manner substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Michael Lee, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.
HENRY MICHAEL LEE. (L.S.)
Signed and sealed by the said
Henry Michael Lee, in the
presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent to the Petitioner,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.