MANUFACTURING BONNETS, HATS, AND OTHER ARTICLES PARTLY OR ENTIRELY FROM THE LEAVES OP THE PALM TREE OR OTHER FLAT OR THIN MATERIAL,
Year: 1859

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Waite at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents with his Petition and Declaration
on the 8th July 1859, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WAITE, of York House, No. 48, Baker Street, Portman Square, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "MANUFACTURING
BONNETS, HATS, AND OTHER ARTICLES PARTLY OR ENTIRELY FROM THE LEAVES
OP THE PALM TREE OR OTHER FLAT OR THIN MATERIAL," and have petitioned Her
Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her
Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn declaration that
I am the true and first Inventor thereof:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Waite, do hereby declare that
the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully describes
and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in manufacturing the article wanted without plaiting
or weaving, and for which purpose I take the leaf of the palm tree after it has
been cleansed, bleached, or dyed, or any other thin and flat material which I
am about to use, and I cut it into pieces of a proper shape and size, I prefer the

page_text: pieces to be from half to three quarters of an inch in width at the widest part,
but I do not confine myself to the width; I then cut them to the length and
shape required for the particular part of the bonnet or hat, or other article of
which they are to form a part, I then bend or shape each piece as I require
it, I then proceed to join the pieces together so as to make (either with or
without a form or foundation first being made for the article I am about
making) a bonnet or hat or other article by placing the second piece so as to
overlay the edge of the first, the third piece to overlay the edge of the second,
and in like manner till I have completed the article I am making, or I lay
the pieces side by side, and then lay on another piece to cover the joint; this
is the mode I prefer, but I do not confine myself to exactly this mode, I fix
each piece to its place by sewing or by gum, or any other adherent. I make
bonnets or hats, or other articles, and the trimmings or ornaments of the same
material according to the above description, or part of bonnets or hats or other
articles, according to the above description, and the other part of articles so
made, I make of velvet, silk, or other fabric.
And having now described the nature of my Invention, and how the same
is to be performed, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not claim
to make bonnets and hats or other articles from leather unless the bonnet or
hat or other article be made partly of the leaf of the palm tree, or some other
flat thin material not plaited or woven, but what I claim is to make bonnets
and hats or other articles, and the trimmings or ornaments for bonnets and
hats or other articles without plaiting or weaving, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Waite, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.