IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Wild, of Windsor; in. the County of Berks
Tanner and Currier, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES."
Sealed the 30th December 1856; and dated the 1st July 1856:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Wild at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st July
1856.
I, ALFRED WILD, of Windsor, in the County of Berks, Tanner and Currier,.
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF. BOOTS AND SHOES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to boots and shoes made with welts, and is designed.
for rendering the same more durable than heretofore. The principal improve-
ment consists in employing two rows of sewing for connecting the welt to the
upper, ," instead of only one row of sewing, as heretofore commonly practised
in the manufacture of boots and shoes. The second or inner row of sewing
is parallel to the ordinary outer row, and about half an inch therefrom, the
"upper" being cut larger than usual, so as to come flush with the inner edge
of the welt. By the use of the above-mentioned additional row of sewing,
it will appear obvious. that boots and shoes thus made are stronger than

page_text: ordinary boots made with welts, and consequently more durable, for supposing
the outer or ordinary sewing to be either worn of cut, the additional inner
row of sewing will still hold the upper and outer sole firmly together, whereas,
under ordinary circumstances, the boot or shoe would be unwearable. In
other respects the boot or shoe is made in the usual way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Wild in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
WILD, of Windsor, in the County of Berks, Tanner and Currier, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Wild, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred Wild, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Wild, 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 BOOTS
AND SHOES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Wild,
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 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, taat I, the said Alfred Wild, 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 relates to boots and shoes made with welts, and is designed
for rendering such articles more durable than heretofore. The principal

page_text: improvement consists in employing two rows of sewing for connecting the
welt to the upper, instead of only one row of sewing, as heretofore commonly
practised in the manufacture of boots and shoes. The second or inner row
of sewing is parallel to the ordinary outer row, and about half an inch
therefrom, the "upper" being cut larger than usual, so as to come flush with
the inner edge of the welt. By the use of the above-mentioned' additional
row of sewing it will appear obvious that boots and shoes thus made are
stronger than ordinary boots made with welts, and consequently more durable,
for supposing the outer or ordinary sewing to be either worn or cut, the
additional inner row of sewing will still hold the upper and outer sole firmly
together, whereas, under ordinary circumstances, the boot or shoe would be
unwearable. In other respects the boot or shoe is made in the usual way...:
In order to explain my said Invention as complétely as possible; I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Drawing
annexed to these Presents, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference
marked thereon respectively, as follows:→
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 exhibits a boot or shoe in course of manufacture according to my
improved method, a portion of the outer being removed so as to expose to
view the inner sole and welt of such said boot or shoe, and a portion of the
upper, shewing my improved mode of connecting such parts together; Figure
.2 is a partial transverse and vertical section through the line A, B, at Figure 1;
Figure 3, a portion herein-after referred to.
At each of the foregoing Figures similar letters of reference are employed
to denote corresponding parts, in so far as such parts appear or can be seen
at, each of such said Figures. respectively. A, A', are the upper leather and
lining of a boot or shoe, which may be lasted or shaped in the usual way.;
but for the purposes of this Invention it is necessary to cut the said upper
full half an inch deeper all round than the ordinary upper leathers of boots
and shoes; B is the insole, made of a superior quality of leather, by preference,
-the shoulder. of a hide, instead of a light piece of offal leather as usually
employed. This insole I round or shape to the last in the manner commonly
practised; the upper leather and lining are then strained or lasted, and the
welt C placed against the upper, and temporarily connected thereto by steel
nails. I have before stated that I cut the upper leather A full half an inch
deeper all round than usual, and this I do to enable me to use a broad welt
and a double row of sewing for connecting the said welt to the upper and the

page_text: insole, instead of using a narrow welt and a single row of sewing, as heretofore
practised in the manufacture of sewn boots and shoes; and having bevilled
the welt, as at Figure 2, I proceed to connect the said welt permanently to the
upper and insole of the boot or shoe by sewing in the following' manner :—
Supposing the insole to be moderately stout, I channel or score the same, as
at a, a, Figure 3, equidistant from the edge as far as the welt extends' as a
guide for the awl, and I next proceed to sew the outer edge of the welt to
the upper and insole in the ordinary way of sewing; having done this, I then
channel or score the insole about a quarter of an inch from the inner edge
of the welt C, as at 6, b, Figure 3, and proceed to produce the second row of
sewing; and in this manner and by these means I connect the welt to the
upper and insole, and thus strengthen and protect the outer row of sewing
from ripping or becoming unsewn. The space within the inner edge of the
welt I make good and level with "filling," either in one solid piece of leather
or several small pieces, but I prefer the former, as being more substantial;
I then proceed to connect the outer sole and the heel to the boot or shoe, and
otherwise finish the same in the usual way.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my said
Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Boots and Shoes,"
together with the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, I hereby declare my Invention to consist in, and I claim
the manufacturing of boots and shoes with a broad welt, and a double row
of sewing for connecting the same to the upper and insole; as above stated,
by which I render boots and shoes considerably more durable than heretofore.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Wild, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this First day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE, Agent for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross.
ALFRED WILD. (L.S.)