CERTAIN NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIRT COLLARS AND BOSOMS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Vernon Augustus Messinger and Virgil Jackson
Messinger, of Boston, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United
States of America, for the Invention of "CERTAIN NEW AND USEFUL
IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIRT COLLARS AND BOSOMS."--A communication by
Celius Edgar Richards, residing at North Attleboro, in the said State.
Sealed the 22nd December 1865, and dated the 12th October 1865.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Vernon Augustus Messinger
and Virgil Jackson Messinger at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition and Declaration, on the 12th October
1865, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment
Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT
KNOWN that we, VERNON AUGUSTUS MESSINGER and VIRGIL JACKSON
MESSINGER, of Boston, of the State of Massachusetts, of the United
States of America, are in possession of an Invention of "CERTAIN NEW AND
USEFUL IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIRT COLLARS AND Bosoмs," and we do hereby
declare the nature thereof, and the manner in which such are to be
performed, to be fully described in the following Specification, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings making part thereof, and exhibited
in two Sheets, one of which is marked Sheet 1, and the other Sheet 2.
Of such of the said Drawings as are exhibited in the said Sheet 1,

page_text: Figure 1 is the representation of the shirt collar and bosom-as stamped
from a sheet and preparatory to being folded; Figure 2 is a front view of
'the same as folded and provided with the cravat bow, fastening cord, and
fastener, as herein-after described; Figure 3 is a vertical section taken
through the collar, bosom, fastening cord, and fastener. The nature of
such part of this Invention as is exhibited in the Drawings of Sheet :1
consists, first,-in a false shirt collar and bosom as stamped in one piece
from a sheet of paper or its equivalent; second, in a combination com-
posed not only of such a collar and bosom, but a cravat bow, a cord, and
fastening, substantially as herein-after described. And the nature of the
remainder of this Invention, or such of it as is exhibited in the Drawings
of Sheet 2, consists as follows:-First, in the collar as having its inner fold
of a width less than that of its outer fold, and also as provided with a back
button-hole fly to extend from either fold; second, in the construction of
the bosom, viz., with wings separated from the collar, and to extend from
the bosom parts, and while in use to go underneath the collar, substantially
as herein-after explained.
In describing this Invention we shall first explain that part or those parts of
it exhibited in the Drawings of Sheet 1. In the said Drawings, A denotes
a shirt collar as made with two bosom extensions B, B, extending from it
in manner as represented, each of the said extensions being provided with
two eyelet holes a, b, or a¹, b¹, arranged near its inner edge, one of such holes
being close to the collar, while the other is at the lower part of the bosom.
In wearing the collar and bosom extensions the latter are to be lapped-on
one another so as to bring their holes in conjunction, that is, so that those
of one side or extension shall be directly on those of the other. The
fastener, which is shown at C, is next to be passed through the two upper
holes from the front of the bosom, after which it is to be carried down
and passed through the two lower holes; next the cord D should be
drawn tightly, so as to draw the cravat bow E or its carrier F-close up to
the collar. The said cravat bow is a common bow of cloth, fastened
either directly to the elastic cord D or to a carrier F, made of paste-
board and covered with cloth, and applied at its middle to one end of the
cord D. The said cord D may or may not be elastic, it being at its
opposite end attached to the fastener C, which, as represented in the
Drawings, consists of a tube c, notched, as shown at d, and provided with
n sliding needle e, so fitted and adjusted to the tube as to be capable
of being slid back and forth longitudinally therein, as a pencil is in its
case. This needle slides across the notch d lengthwise, the end of

page_text: the case or tube of the needle being formed with a conical point f, to
enable it to be readily passed through the holes of the two pieces B, B.
The fastener, after the cord may have been drawn through the bosom in
manner as above described, is to be fastened to the shirt of a person,
similar to the method of fixing a bosom pin thereto. The cord and fastener
serve to close the bosom and the collar close in front, and they also operate
to keep the bow in its proper place. The said collar and bosom or new
article of manufacture is intended to be stamped from a single piece of
material, which may be paper or pasteboard suitably prepared in imitation
of linen or other fabric of which shirt collars and bosoms are usually
made.
Having thus explained such parts of the Invention as are represented in
Sheet 1, we shall now proceed to describe such as are exhibited in Sheet 2
of the Drawings, of which Figure 1 is a front elevation, Figure 2 a side
view, Figure 3 a section, and Figure 4 a rear view of a paper shirt collar
and bosom made in accordance with this Invention, and in a folded state,
or that in which they are while being worn by a person; Figure 5 is
a representation of them as they are cut from a sheet of paper, and pre-
paratory to being folded. In the said Drawings of Sheet 2, A denotes the
collar, and B, B, the two attached parts composing the bosom.
Instead of making the collar with each of its folds of an equal width, we
form it with the inner fold a of about one-third of the width of the outer
fold b; and from the middle of the rear part of the outer fold we extend a
button-hole piece or fly, as shewn in the Drawing. And furthermore we form
each half or part B of the bosom with a wing d, to extend therefrom and go
underneath the front parts b', 6', of the collar, in manner as shewn in the
Drawings. The upper end of the wing d is separate from the collar, there
being a space c between the two, the same being so that the wing may
adapt itself to the shape of the breast in the immediate vicinity of the
collar bone. Those parts of the bosom which are below the wings d, d,
may be quite narrow, and so as to readily fit to the breast of the wearer
without breaking. With the collar and bosom so made a much better fit
to the person can be obtained than were we to make a collar in the ordinary
way, and the bosom without the wings d, d, to extend up underneath the
collar.
Having thus described the improvements in false collars and bosoms,
what we claim as of this Invention therein may be thus stated,―
First, we claim a false shirt collar and bosom as stamped or made in one
piece from a sheet of paper or its equivalent.

page_text: Second, we claim a combination consisting of such a collar and bosom so
made in one piece, and a cravat bow, cord, and fastening, substantially as
represented in Sheet 1 of the Drawings, and as herein-before explained.
Third, we claim the collar substantially as represented in Sheet 2, that
is, with its inner fold (a) made of a width less than that of the outer
fold b, and also as provided with a back button-hole fly c, to extend from
either fold, as specified.
Fourth, we claim the bosom as constructed with the wings d,d, arranged
to project from it, substantially in manner as described.
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this
2nd day of September 1865.
VERNON AUGUSTUS MESSINGER. (L.s.)
VIRGIL JACKSON MESSINGER.
(L.S.)