CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Husband, of the City of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, Hat Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Husband at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th November 1867.
I, RICHARD HUSBAND, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HATS," to be as follows:-
Whereas in ordinary hats the under side of the brim being covered and
finished with paramatta or other cognate material, the inner edge of the
said material is fastened roughly and without any regard to appearance
inside the band of the hat body, and is then hidden from view by the leather
or pad which lines the hat. In my improvements the leather or pad does not
fit to the band of the body all round the bat but at the part intended for
the forehead is left unseen and forming a shorter are of larger radius stands
backward from the corresponding curve of the hat so that between the leather
and the hat there is in front a vacant crescent-shaped space through which
air can pass as up a flue into the hat when on the head. At this part of the
hat, before fixing the leather, my improvements provide that the inside of

page_text: the band and as much more of the wall of the body as necessary be finished
like the under side of the brim, and by preference with the same material
in unbroken continuity. The same improvements may be applied in any and
as many other parts of the inside of the hat where usually lined with leather
as may be required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Husband in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD.
HUSBAND, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Hat
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Husband, Her special license that I, the said Richard Husband,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard
Husband, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF HATS," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the
said Richard Husband, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 I, the said Richard Husband, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Whereas in ordinary silk hats the under side of the brim is covered with
paramatta or other cognate material, and the inner edge of the said material
is fastened to the inside of the band of the body without any regard to its
appearance there, and is then hidden from view by the leather which

page_text: forms part of the hat lining. In my improvements the leather does not fit to
the band of the body completely round the hat, but at the part intended
for the forehead is left unsewn and making an arc shorter in sweep and
of larger radius than the corresponding arc of the hat is contracted in scope
so that between the two conterminous front curves, that of the hat and that
of the leather, there is inclosed a vacant crescent-shaped space through which
air can pass as up a flue when the hat is on the head. At this part of the
hat my improvements provide that the inside of the band of the body be
finished with a covering like the under side of the brim, and by preference
with a continuation of the same covering prolonged over the inside edge of
the brim, and finished in like manner as far as required for sightliness, regard
being had to the fact that the open space there between the leather and the
The leather at the part
body will permit of the covered part being seen.
unsewn is fortified by a lining of silk, or linen, or other material cemented
on the back thereof.
Having thus stated the nature of my improvements, I proceed to explain
how the same are to be carried out, that is to say:-
The bat to which the improvements are to be applied is first finished
as usual everywhere except the under side of the brim. For the covering
and finishing of the latter, and for the purpose of my improvements, I take
a square piece of paramatta or other suitable material of a size sufficient
to extend over the whole space comprised within the brim's exterior circum-
ference. The under side of the brim and the inside of the band of the
body must be coated with spirit or other varnish as in ordinary use for
the purpose of sticking the covering material to the body in these parts.
The covering material must be so diagonally placed on the under side of the
brim that the front end of the brim shall have its curve within one of the
four angles of the cover while the rear of the brim has its curve within
that other of the said four angles which is diagonally opposite to the first.
In other words the covering material must be so placed that a line drawn
through the long diameter of the brim would approximately bisect the angles
formed by the warp and weft of the said covering. This diagonal arrange-
ment of the cover on the brim is required to secure the elasticity necessary
to fitting in its proper place the part which is to be laid down inside the
band as berein-after described. To fix the covering to the under side
the usual means are employed in the usual manner and the outside
surplusage of the cover is cut away. The next operation is to cut away
the surplus from the inside, and in doing this care must be taken to leave
at the front end of the oval for the head an undetached piece or apron to

page_text: turn down between the temples to a depth lower than elsewhere of one or
two inches, or more or less, according to taste. The fitting and fastening
of the covering inside the band of the body is effected as usual except
at the front part, where the overlapping apron must be exempt from slitting
and puckering and must be laid smooth by pressure from the hand, advantage
being taken of the elasticity above mentioned. The sticking varnish
employed is the same as usual and laid in the usual manner and to the
extent necessary to hold the apron. The under side of the brim and the
front of the inside of the oval for the head having been finished as above
described it remains that the hat be lined. The side and tip lining are
made and fastened in the usual way with this difference only that at the
front part the fastening is effected by a sticker laid lengthwise so as to cover
the upper edge of the side lining and the lower edge of the apron the whole
length of the latter. The sticker consisting as usual of calico or similar
material gummed on one side should on the other side be of the same color
as the brin cover or as the side lining, and should be about four inches
long by about three-quarters of an inch deep. In ordinary hats the head
Heather is in length coextensive with the inside of the band of the hat, and
at its upper edge sewn thereto all round the oval. In my improvements
on the contrary the leather is cut about three-eighths of an inch shorter
than for an ordinary hat, that is to say, so short that when sewn to the band,
as it must be all round except between the temples, it will there not reach
the band but cross the oval by a shorter curve, the apex of which will be
about a quarter inch from the apex of the band. The leather must there
for about four inches in front be left unsewn, and the effect is that between
the curve so made by the unsewn part of the leather and the conterminous
curve of the body there is formed an effective channel for ventilation. The
unsewn part of the leather when the hat is in wear fits to the forehead,
and under the heat and pressure to which it is then subject would be
liable to stretch and close up the space intended for ventilation. To prevent
this the leather before it is fitted to the hat as at the part in question and
for two inches more on the outer side of each temple its back mounted with
a lining of linen, tape, or ribbon laid thereto upon a coating of spirit varnish.
The upper selvage or edge of the tape at each end of the unsewn part is
sewn with the leather to the hat and the resistence to stretching is thereby
increased.
The result of my improvements is, that in the hat to which they are
applied there is between the body and the leather at the part intended for
the forehead an avenue for ventilation, of which avenue the body part is

page_text: elegantly covered with material the same as and in unbroken continuity with
that which covers the inside of the brim.
I claim the last-mentioned peculiarity and its combination with a leather,
the correlative part whereof is suspended unsewn and curves farther within
the oval, and my claim extends to the same combination of arrangements
whether the part of the hat affected be the front, or the rear, or either
side, and whether there be one or two or several parts so arranged within
the same hat, and whether paramatta and leather or other respectively
suitable substitutes be employed in the position indicated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Husband, hath hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
RICHARD HUSBAND. (L.S.)
RICHARD HUSBAND. (L.s.)