IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ROWLAND CROOK, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Hatter, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eleventh day
of September, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fifteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Rowland Crook, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
John Rowland Crook, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Rowland Crook, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Row-
land Crook, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Rowland Crook, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof (that is to say):-
6:
My said Invention has particular reference to the class of hats known by
the appellation of "silk hats," and has for its object to make them lighter,
softer, more elastic, and better ventilated than heretofore, and consequently
easier of wear and more durable. And the manner of carrying this Invention
into effect is as follows:-Instead of making the crown, the body, and the brim
of the hat, as is now commonly done, of three separate pieces, each of two or
three thicknesses of calico (or some other flexible material), and cementing
the whole together by a solution of shell lac (a process technically called
priming "), I make all these parts, or, in other words, the entire foundation of
the hat, of one single entire piece without any seam or joining, and that piece
of one thickness, except at the edges and at other places where strengthening
pieces are introduced, as hereafter explained. Or I make the body only of
one piece of one thickness as aforesaid, and the crown or brim of a separate
piece or pieces. The material which I use for the body and brim is palm leaf,
or, as it is sometimes called, "Brazilian grass" plait, but for the brim I
prefer willow on account of its greater stiffness and porousness. The
palm leaf or Brazilian grass is first roughly plaited into the form of
the intended hat, cap, or bonnet, then soaked in boiling water, and finally
moulded on a block into the form desired to be permanently given to it. To
facilitate the moulding of the piece of plait into the proper form, I cut out a
small piece from the centre, or part corresponding with the centre of the
crown, when the hat is made up, and fill it up with a piece of scaleboard, mill-
board, calico, or other suitable stiff but light material. To strengthen the
hat in those places most exposed to wear, such as the edges of the brim and
crown, and thus enable it the better to retain any given shape, I cement to
the foundation at these parts pieces of tape or strips of net, or some other
suitable binding material. When the foundation of the hat has been thus
blocked out and strengthened at the points most exposed to damage, the
whole is varnished over, and then covered with silk or cotton plush in
the manner now commonly followed. The palm leaf or Brazilian grass is
rendered repellent of water by steeping the grass or other substitute, before or
after plaiting, in some waterproof composition, such as soap and alum or copal

page_text: varnish; as to the use of which waterproof compositions, however, I make no
claim.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as of my
Invention, in regard to the manufacturing of silk hats, caps, and bonnets, is
the making of the foundation of the hat of one entire piece of palm leaf or
"Brazilian grass," rendered water-repellent by the means aforesaid, and
without seam or joining or need of "priming," and of one single thickness
throughout, except at the edges and other places where strengthening pieces
are requisite, as before specified, or making the body only of one piece of one
thickness, as aforesaid, and the crown or brim of a separate piece or pieces.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Rowland Crook, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
JOHN ROWLAND (L.s.) CROOK.
Enrolled the Eleventh day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.