IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIRTS
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Bristow Hunt at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th May
1870. A communication from abroad by Isaac Merritt Singer, of
Paris, in the Empire of France.
I, BRISTOW HUNT, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIRTS," (a communication to me from
abroad by Isaac Merritt Singer, of Paris, in the Empire of France) to be
as follows:
This Invention relates to improvements in shirts designed for the use
of either males, females, or children, and will constitute what is proposed
to be termed a "truss shirt" the object being to secure to the wearer
much more comfort and ease than has been hitherto attained.
The Invention consists in so shaping and arranging or connecting the
tails or flaps of the shirt that they will form about the lower part of the
body a kind of what may be termed a "breech clout"
or breech piece,
in such a manner for males that they will support the private parts or
generative organs and keep them from chafing the thighs and prevent
the back and front of the shirt from working up.

page_text: One mode of forming and constructing the tails of the shirt according
to these improvements and the mode of fastening them to the shirt body
is to make the front tail or flap of the shirt to extend down about five
inches below the navel, and the hind flap long enough to pass down over
the buttocks, through between the legs, and up about half way between
the generative organs and the navel, the part that passes through between
the legs should be narrowed to some fourteen inches (more or less) in
width. Loops of tape are sewed on the end of the tail near the corners,
and loops are also sewed on the waist of the front of the shirt about
ten inches more or less apart, then by putting a string or a piece
of tape through one of the loops on the tail of the shirt and also through
the one directly above it, that is, attached to the waist of the shirt on
the front and the other piece of string or tape in the other corresponding
loops, and by pulling on the said strings thus put through the loops
that are attached to the waist and tail of the shirt, the end of the tail
of the shirt will be drawn upwards towards the waist and the middle
or centre of the shirt tail will be gathered up quite snugly while the
edges of the tail a little nearer its end will be drawn up between the
generative organs and the thighs, thus forming as it were a bag to hold
them comfortably. When the hind tail of the shirt is drawn sufficiently
tight by the lacing strings or tapes they must be tied or buttoned, or a
buckle may be used or friction slide, or any of the well-known means
used for similar purposes, or buttons or straps may be sewed on the shirt,
or button holes may be worked into the shirt, or straps with buttons
or button holes, or with buckles or friction slides as the wearer may
prefer. If more room is necessary for the generative organs, then a slit.
can be cut in the tail of the shirt opposite the parts and a piece or pieces
cut in such form as required and inserted in the slit to form a larger
bag or holder for such parts. A long slit must also be cut in the back
of the shirt extending from the waist down to about half way between
the end of the rectum and the private parts for the convenience of the
wearer, or if this mode be found inconvenient for the wearer, one of the
fastenings either on the right or left hand side may be loosened, and
then the hind tail of the shirt can be pulled sideways entirely out of the
way for the same purpose.
According to another modification of the Invention the hind part of
the shirt is made to extend down about to the waist, while the front
tail will extend down to the lower part of the body, through between the

page_text: legs, then up over the buttocks and up the back to the waist of the
wearer, and there will be attached to the waist of the shirt. The long
slit is made to commence near the end of the tail where it is fastened
at the hind part of the shirt and extends down the back around the
buttocks through between the legs to the point as described in the first
modification, that is, about half way from the end of the rectum to the
private parts, but for females and children the slit is made to extend up.
the front of the body to near the navel. The front tail should be some
fourteen inches wide, more or less, and a bag can be formed in it for the
generative organs by inserting a piece, as previously described. Either
of these arrangements will support the private parts whether they are
deseased or not, and will therefore answer all the purposes of a truss, in
fact, much better. There will also be a hole cut through the front of
the shirt for males. This will not be necessary when the hind tail is
used because in that case when used by males the front end of the tail
can be pressed down when required. Or the hind tail may extend up
to the waist of the front of the shirt and button directly to the waist,
and, if so, a hole will be provided to save the trouble of undoing the
fastenings.
A further modification of the Invention is somewhat similar to the
previous modes described, differing however in the shape and position of
the attachment of the tail of the shirt to the shirt itself. The end of the
tail of the shirt after passing through between the thighs will be made
wide enough to be fastened to the body of the shirt on either side near
the point of the hip bone by buttons and button holes or by any suitable
means of fastening. And this will be so whether the front or hind tail
be the one that passes through between the thighs. The length of the
slit and the mode of enlarging the bag is just the same as herein-before
described.
All of these modifications connected with the tails of shirts as
previously described can be a continuation of the bodies of the shirts
made out of the whole cloth, or they may be sewed on to the bodies of the
shirts, or they may be attached or detached at will by hooks and eyes
or buttons and button holes or any suitable means of attachment.