AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR ADDITION TO VICTORINES, BOAS. COLLARS, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES OF DRESS FOR FEMALES."
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Trippett Holden, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
OR ADDITION TO VICTORINES, BOAS. COLLARS, AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES OF
DRESS FOR FEMALES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Trippett Holden
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 25th March 1861.
1. JOHN TRIPPETT HOLDEN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick.
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN OR ADDITION TO VICTORINES, BOAS, COLLARS, AND OTHER LIKE
ARTICLES OF DRESS FOR FEMALES," to be as follows:---
My Invention consists of the introduction of a spring into that part of a
victorine, boa, collar, or other like article of dress for females, which is worn
round the neck. The spring which I employ consists of a strip of tempered
steel, or other elastic material bent into a nearly elliptical form, so as to cause
the article of dress in which it is inserted to clip the neck with a gentle pres-
sure, and thereby secure the said article of dress to the neck of the wearer.
In putting on or taking off the article of dress it is only necessary to open or
expand the parts worn in front of the neck, which may be done by the exer-
tion of a very slight force, when the article of dress may be put on or taken
off. When it is put on it closes and secures itself about the neck imine-
diately it is loosed from the hands. Although I prefer to insert the spring
inside the article of dress, yet it may be fixed outside with the same effect.
My Invention is applicable to all articles of dress for females which are
worn around the neck.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Trippett Holden in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
TRIPPETT HOLDEN, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Trippett Holden, Her special licence that I, the said John
Trippett Holden, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Trippett Holden, 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 ferm 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR ADDITION TO VICTORINES, BOAS, COLLARS,
AND OTHER LIKE ARTICLES OF DRESS FOR FEMALES,"
upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Trippett Holden, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 John Trippett Holden. 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 thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the introduction of a spring into that part of a
victorine, boa, collar, mantle, or other like articles of dress for females, which
is worn round the neck. The spring which I employ consists of a strip or
wire of tempered steel, or other elastic material bent at its middle into an
elliptical or nearly elliptical form, so as to cause the victorine, boa, or other
article of dress in which it is inserted to clip the neck with a gentle pressure,
and thereby secure the said article of dress to the neck of the wearer
said spring may be plain throughout, or a portion of it may be corrugated to
give greater elasticity. Instead of making the spring of a single strip of metal
The

page_text: or other elastic material, the said spring may be made in three or more pieces
jointed together, as herein-after more particularly explained and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1 represents an edge view of a spring for a victorine or boa, made
according to my Invention, the said spring being represented in its normal
shape, that is, the shape it assumes when unconstrained. Figure 2 represents
the same in the shape it assumes in the victorine or boa when the ends of the
spring are separated from one another, in order to put on or remove the vic-
torine or boa from the neck. Figure 3 represents a front view of the said
spring, showing the shape it assumes in the victorine or boa when the said
victorine or boa is removed from the neck of the wearer; and Figure 4 repre-
sents a victorine closed or fastened to the neck with a spring made according.
to my Invention, the position and shape the spring assumes being indicated in
dotted lines.
a. b, c, Figure 3, is a spring for a victorine, boa, or mantle, the said spring
being made in three pieces, the ends b, c, being jointed at b, c, to the middle
piece a. By the use of the said jointed ends b, c, of the spring, the said spring
more readily accommodates itself to the figure of the victorine, boa, or mantle
than it would were it unjointed. The middle part a of the spring is corru-
gated at d. The spring having been covered with soft leather or other soft
material, the middle part a is inserted and fixed by sewing in that part of the
victorine or boa which surrounds the neck when worn, and the jointed ends
b, c, are introduced and fixed into the pendant and crossing sides of the vic-
torine or boa, as will be understood by an inspection of Figure 4. Although I
prefer to make the spring for victorines, boas, and mantles jointed and corrugated
as represented in the Drawing, yet the said spring may be made of an uncorru-
gated continuous strip of metal or elastic material with nearly the same effect.
In springs for mantles I prefer to place the joints at the points marked din
Figure 3. In putting on or taking off the victorine, boa, or other article pro-
vided with my Invention, it is only necessary to open or expand the lower ends
of the spring, as illustrated in Figure 2, which opening is effected by the
exertion of a very slight force, when the victorine, boa, or other article
may be put on or taken off. When the victorine, or boa, or other article of
dress is put on, immediately it is released from the hands it assumes the shape
represented in Figure 4, and the victorine or boa closes and secures itself
about the neck of the wearer. When the victorine or boa is not required on
the neck it can be thrown on to the shoulders, the spring clipping the person
securely and preserving the victorine or boa from being lost; and when the

page_text: victorine or boa is carried on the arm the spring closes upon it, and holds it
securely thereon.
When my Invention is applied to collars or neck ribbons lined with fur or
otherwise, I use an unjointed corrugated spring bent into an elliptical form,
and insert it into the collar or ribbon. When my Invention is applied to
mantles I insert the jointed and corrugated spring into that part of the mantle
which surrounds the neck, the ends of the spring extending a short distance
down the front of the mantle. Although I prefer to insert the spring inside
the article of dress, as described, yet it may be fixed outside with the same
effect. And although I find in practice that a spring made in three pieces and
jointed together answers very well, yet the said spring may be made in more
than three pieces jointed together; for example, for mantles, or such like
articles, where the springs extend some distance down the front of the said
articles.
My Invention is applicable to all articles of dress for females, which are
worn round the neck. By the use of my Invention the victorine, boa, or
other article of dress is self-fastening, and when used with victorines or boas a
uniformity of warmth not only to the throat but also to the chest is obtained,
the jointed ends of the spring causing the pendant ends of the victorine or
boa to be pressed into close contact with the figure or bust of the wearer.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my
Invention, the improvement in or addition to victorines, boas, collars, and other
like articles of dress for females, herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing, that is to say, introducing into the said victorines,
boas, collars, and other like articles of dress a spring of an elliptical or nearly
elliptical form, by which said spring the victorine, boa, or other article of dress
is made self-fastening, and clips the neck of the wearer with a gentle pressure.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Trippett Holden, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
HAL KRY