IMPROVEMENTS IN LABELS OR TICKETS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
WILKINS, of No. 60, Queen's Row, Walworth, in the County of Surrey,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirteenth day of May, in the
fifteenth year of Her reign, did give and grant unto me, the said Edward
Wilkins, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege, and authority, that I, the said Edward Wilkins, my exors, adíñors,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Edward Wilkins, my exors,
adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN LABELS OR TICKETS," within that part of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
during the term of fourteen years thence next ensuing; in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso, requiring that I, the said Edward Wilkins,
shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my band and seal, and cause the same to be enrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Wilkins, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in and by this present Specification or instrument in writing,
reference being had to the several Drawings hereunto annexed, and the
several figures, letters, and characters marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists of a mode or modes of making or constructing labels
or tickets so that they may be divisible into several parts, and each part
printed or otherwise marked in any convenient manner, according to the par-
ticular use or purpose to or for which the labels or tickets and the several
parts thereof may be intended to be used or employed. These labels or
tickets may be made of cardboard, pasteboard, paper, parchment, leather,
cloth, thin sheet metal, metallic paper, or any other material upon which
words, letters, figures, characters, or devices may be conveniently printed,
written, or impressed, for the purposes to or for which those labels or tickets
may be intended to be used or employed. And one distinctive feature of my
Invention consists in this, that every part of one of my tickets or labels is
printed or marked so as to identify it when severed as part of the divisible
ticket or label from which it has been severed; and also in this, that every
such part is also printed or otherwise marked according to the particular
purpose for which it is intended to be used.
In order to shew more clearly the nature of my Invention, I will mention
some of the purposes to or for which my tickets or labels may be used or
applied, and the manner in which I prefer to make such tickets or labels
when so used or applied; thus, when my tickets or labels are intended to be
used in a shop or warehouse in which goods are sold, such labels or tickets
may be made divisible either into two or more parts, and one of those parts
may form a counterfoil or a part to be retained by the person issuing the
other part or parts of the divisible tickets or labels, or otherwise disposed of
If a ticket or label be required to be divisible into two parts, only one of those
parts may be printed or prepared for entering thereon any goods sold
by a warehouseman, shopman, or assistant to a customer, and the price of
such goods as well as a receipt or acknowledgment for or upon the payment,
thereof, or any of such particulars, or any other particulars which may be
requisite, such part to be delivered to the customer or attached to the goods
sold. The other part of such ticket or label may be printed or prepared
either in the same manner or otherwise, for writing or entering thereon the
same particulars or any other particulars which may be deemed requisite, such
last part of the label or ticket (which may form a counterfoil) being either
retained by the warehouseman, shopman, or assistant or otherwise disposed of,
according to the particular manner in which the business of the establishment

page_text: may be conducted.. If the ticket or label be required to be divisible into three
parts, one of those parts may be printed or otherwise prepared for writing or
entering thereon such particulars as already mentioned, or any of them, or any
other particulars, and the other two parts may be printed or prepared, either
in the same manner or otherwise, for writing or entering thereon all or any of
such particulars, as aforesaid. And one part of the ticket or label in such
case may be delivered to the customer or attached to the goods sold, and one
other part may be delivered to a cashier, clerk, or other person, and the other
part retained as a counterfoil in the possession of the person issuing the
other parts thereof. And thus in this or in any other similar manner the
various parts of such a divisible ticket or label may be used or made available
for the purpose of preventing mistakes or the perpetration of frauds. My
divisible tickets or labels may also be used in a similar manner in public and
other offices in which sums of money may be from time to time received or
paid for any purposes, so as to secure in every case several evidences of each
such receipt or payment, for the prevention of mistakes and frauds. And for
better securing this object by means of my tickets or labels in any case, an
account may be kept of the number of divisible tickets or labels from time
to time delivered to a warehouseman, shopman, clerk, or other person, so that
every such person may be required to account for the use or application of
each of the tickets or labels so delivered to him. And for the purpose of
facilitating the keeping of such accounts such tickets may be marked with
numbers in arithmetical progression or by letters, or otherwise, as may be
deemed most convenient. In making tickets or labels for the purposes I
have mentioned I prefer to use metallic paper or other similar material.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the said Drawings I have shewn by way of
illustration, several descriptions of my divisible tickets applicable for the
purposes which I have mentioned. Figure 1 shews a ticket divisible into two
parts, which is intended to be used in a warehouse, shop, or other place of
business in which goods may be sold; and Figure 2 shews a ticket also
divisible into two parts, and intended to be used in a booking office or
other place in which money may be received or paid from time to time for
the booking or carriage of goods. The part marked A in Figure 1 shews the
part to be delivered to a purchaser or customer or attached to a parcel of goods
sold and to be delivered to the purchaser, and before which this part of the
ticket or label is to have the intended entry made upon it of the particular
transaction to which it relates; thus,. if the transaction. shall be the scale of
articles in a retail shop, the entry or entries may mention the goods sold, the
purchaser's name, the payment of the price, and the place of delivery, as the

page_text: case may be. B is the part or counterfoil, containing a similar or some
equivalent entry, which is to be retained by the assistant warehouseman or
other person selling the goods on behalf of an employer, and to be afterwards
delivered to his employer, when he shall render an account for the day, or
otherwise, of his sales, receipts, or other transactions. If any mistake should
occur, or if the customer should desire to change any article, the part A will
be brought back to the warehouse or other place of business, when it will be
compared with the part B, from which it will have been severed, and this
liability to have the different parts of tickets compared with each other will
tend to prevent carelessness and the committing of frauds; the part A in
Figure 2, after having the intended entries made thereon by a clerk or other
person receiving the money and delivering the goods, the part B, which is to
form a counterfoil, also having the intended entries made thereon and being
retained in the custody of the person issuing the other part of the ticket or
label until he shall render an account to his employer.
In Figures 3 and 4 of the said Drawings, I have shewn tickets, each of
which is divisible into three parts, the place of division in each of the Figures
I have mentioned being indicated by dotted lines. Figure 3 shews a ticket
or label intended to be used in a warehouse or other place of business where
goods are sold, the part A (after the intended entries shall have been
made upon each of the three parts) being intended to be delivered to the
customer, the part C being intended to be delivered to a cashier or other
person receiving money for the sale of the goods, and the part B being
intended to be retained in the custody of the assistant or salesman selling
the goods, the persons holding the parts C and B, retaining them until they
shall respectively account to their employer. Figure 4 shews a ticket or
label intended to be used in the booking office of a carrying establishment;
the parts A and C (after the intended entries shall have been made on each
of the three parts being intended to be furnished to a carman or person
delivering the goods, who is to deliver the part A with the goods, and sign
the receipt upon payment of the carriage, and to deliver the part C with a
receipt for the goods upon it to a cashier or to his employer, when he shall
render an account for his disposition of the goods and the receipt of the
carriage. The part B is intended to be retained in the custody of the person
issuing the other parts of the ticket until delivered to his employer as a
check upon the carman and cashier.
Figure 5 shews a series of several tickets, each of which is a modification
of Figure 1, and is intended to be used in a shop, warehouse, or other place
of business where the transactions are simple and of a ready money character,.

page_text: and where it is only requisite to make entries of the sum of money received
and paid in each and every transaction. Each of the two parts in which
the ticket or label is divisible is therefore ruled and prepared for entries of
pounds, shillings, pence, and farthings, only. The part marked A is that on
which the payment is intended to be entered, before severance from the other
part B, and is then intended to be delivered to the customer or person paying,
and serves as a voucher for such payment either to the shopkeeper or person
receiving, and also, as the case may be, to the person, master or mistress.
sending another person or servant to make a purchase; on the other part B
the same sum is to be entered, also before severance from the other part A,
and the part B is to be retained by the person selling the goods and receiving
the money until he shall account to his employer, and serves as a register or
cheque for the respective sums received in every transaction.
My labels or tickets are also applicable as labels or tickets for parcels or
goods sent by railway or other public conveyances. Upon each part of my
labels or tickets intended for these or any other purposes to which they may be
applicable I print, mark, or impress, some word or words, letter or letters,
character or characters, device or devices, by which I intend to distinguish it,.
according to the use or purpose for which I intend to apply it, and when such
parts have any words, letters, or characters printed or impressed thercon, I,
cause each part of this label or ticket, and also a counterfoil or part from:
which those parts are to be taken (in a book or otherwise), to be printed or
impressed in the manner intended before the several parts are severed from
each other. And for greater security, I prefer in every case to impress cach
label or ticket at these places where the parts. are to be separated from each
other, and also from the counterfoil, with some letters, characters, or device,
so that one portion of such letters, characters or device may remain upon.cach
part of the several parts of the label and counterfoil, so as the better to:
identify (when necessary) each part of a label or ticket and its counterfoil as
having all originally formed part of one divisible label or ticket and its
counterfoil. Thus, supposing this divisable label or ticket to be intended.
to be used for labelling passengers' luggage to be sent or carried from the
Waterloo Station of the London and South Western Railway Company to
Southampton, such divisible label or ticket and its counterfoil may be in such.
form and printe: and marked in such words, letters, and devices, as shewn in
Figures 6 and 7 of the said Drawings hereunto annexed. In the label or:
ticket shown in each of those Figures, C is that part of the label or ticket:
which (when severed) is intended to be attached to any luggage or parcol to
be carried as aforesaid by string or otherwise, and it has therefore printed-upon

page_text: it the name of the place of its destination. D is that part of the label or ticket
which (when severed) is intended to remain in the custody of the passenger as
a voucher to enable him or her alone to obtain his or her luggage or parcel. at
the end of his or her journey, and I prefer to mark such part with the name
of the place from which the luggage or parcel has been carried or sent. E is
the counterfoil of this label, and upon which I prefer to have marked as well
the name of the place from which the luggage or parcel shall be carried or
sent, as also the place of its destination; each part of the label and also its
counterfoil being shewn in the same Figure as distinguished by or marked with
the same number. A metallic paper or some similar material will be found
convenient or advantageous, inasmuch as marks thereon can be made with
I recommend the
great facility, and cannot easily be erased or rubbed out.
identity of the porter, servant, or person receiving the label or ticket to attach
to the luggage being shewn by means of a printing stamp (or similar means)
of the distinctive number of such porter or person, to be carried by him and
used and impressed on the counterfoil of every ticket issued to him, as shewn
by (porter No. 41) on the plan, or such other number or distinctive mark as:
may be convenient; this stamp may be impressed on each part or any one
part only of the label or ticket as well as on the counterfoil, but if on the
counterfoil only it will answer the purpose. The counterfoil of every label or
ticket of this description is intended in such a case to remain in the custody.
of the railway officer or person who may issue the label or ticket, and it is
intended that the passenger shall deliver up that portion of the label or ticket
in his possession upon receipt of his or her luggage or parcel, so that the same
may be a voucher to the person who may deliver the luggage or parcel to the
passenger.
Similar labels or tickets may be used or applied as labels or tickets for
goods or parcels delivered for deposit or transmission at any warehouse, store-
house, or booking office or railway station with some slight modification, shew-
ing the specific object of delivery, for deposit, carriage, or otherwise, as the
case may be. One part of the label or ticket given on the occasion of delivery
for the purpose of transmission may be sent by post. or otherwise to any person
who may be entitled to claim such parcel or goods when it or they shall have
arrived at the place of its destination, and so form an additional security for
due delivery when there, the counterfoil as before remaining in the custody of
the person issuing the ticket. I consider the metallic or other similar material
preferable for the labels or tickets when used for any of the last-mentioned
purposes.
When any labels or tickets should be intended to be used as labels or tickets

page_text: for goods or parcels deposited in a parcel or other office or warehouse, or at a
railway station, they may be made as shewn in Figures 8 and 9 of the said
Drawings hereunto annexed. The part G of the label or ticket shewn in each
of these Figures is intended to be attached to a parcel deposited as aforesaid.
The part H is intended to be delivered as a voucher to the person making the
deposit, and the counterfuil I is intended to remain in the custody of the
officer or person issuing the deposit ticket. The part G of each of those labels
or tickets may be furnished with a piece of tape, cord, or other means by
which it may be attached to a parcel, luggage, or other article, and form a
label thereto. I prefer metallic for these labels or tickets for expedition, but
they may be of other material.
These labels or tickets may be used for labelling goods deposited in public
warehouses, for labelling umbrellas, parasols, sticks, coats, cloaks, &c. deposited
by visitors at exhibitions or other places of public resort, for labelling the
luggage of passengers travelling either by public conveyances, by land, or by
water, or for labelling goods carried by similar conveyances, and for many
other purposes. One great object intended to be attained by the use of such
labels or tickets is a protection of luggage, parcels, goods, and other articles
from being obtained from carriers or bailers, by any but those really entitled
thereto.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Wilkins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and fifty-one.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Edward Wilkins came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
T