AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHIRT COLLARS AND WRISTBANDS.
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Richard Laurence, of Southampton Street,
in the City of Westminster, Shirt Collar Manufacturer, for the Inven-
tion of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHIRT COLLARS AND
WRISTBANDS.'
"
Sealed the 24th October 1856, and dated the 9th May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Richard Laurence
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th May 1856.
I, FREDERICK RICHARD LAURENCE, of Southampton Street, in the City of
Westminster, Shirt Collar Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHIRT COLLARS
AND WRISTBANDS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing collars and wristbands with two
thicknesses of material at a certain part of the collar and wristband, where it
is desirable for either of them to yield, in the case of collars, to the movements
of the head and neck of the wearer, and of more than two thicknesses in the
upper part of the collar and wristband, the additional material being inserted
between the two first-mentioned thicknesses, whereby great firmness and stiff-
ness are imparted to those parts which appear above the cravat, and to the.
end of the wristband; while in the case of collars, greater ease and comfort.
are afforded to the wearer than with collars as ordinarily made.

page_text: I find it preferable to carry two thicknesses of material upward from the
band, and to enclose between them, at any distance from the band, two or more
thicknesses of material, and continuing them upwards to give substance and
rigidity. Instead of the two thicknesses commencing upward from the band,
they may be carried some distance down into it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Richard Laurence in the Great Seal Patent Office
.on the 8th November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
RICHARD LAURENCE, of Southampton Street, in the City of Westminster, Shirt
Collar Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Frederick Richard Laurence, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
Richard Laurence, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Frederick Richard Laurence, 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
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHIRT COLLARS AND WRISTBANDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Richard
Laurence, 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, that I, the said Frederick Richard Laurence, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-

page_text: My Invention consists in manufacturing collars and wristbands with two
thicknesses of material at a certain part of the collar and wristband, where it is
desirable for either of them to yield (in the case of collars, to the movements of
the head and neck of the wearer), and of more than two thicknesses in the
upper part of the collar and wristband, the additional material being inserted
between the two first-mentioned thicknesses, whereby great firmness and stiff-
ness are imparted to those parts which appear above the cravat, and to the
ends of the wristband; while in the case of collars, greater ease and comfort
are afforded to the wearer than with collars as ordinarily made.
I find it preferable to carry two thicknesses of material upward from the
band, and to enclose between them, at any distance from the band, two or more
thicknesses of material, and continuing them upwards to give substance and
rigidity. Instead of the two thicknesses commencing upward from the band,
they may be carried some distance down into it.
I am aware that a shirt collar has been registered by one Dare, of Picca-
dilly, in which one thickness of material has been made to support two other
thicknesses above the band; but the one thickness has been found not to be
sufficient to support the upper parts without wrinkling, and either nipping the
neck on the inside or forming a fold to catch the cravat on the outside, besides
which such collars are found not to be sufficiently durable.
The Drawings hereunto annexed shew the manner in which I carry my
Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a front or back view of the inner lining; Figure 2, a section
through the line a, b, of the same. This and all the following sections are kept
open for shewing more clearly the manner in which the parts are put together.
Figure 3, a plan, and Figure 4; a section, of the inner lining turned over;
Figure 5, a view of the collar with two thicknesses of material stitched to the
back of the inner lining, as shewn at Figures 3 and 4; Figure 6, a section of
the same; Figure 7, a plan, and Figure 8, a section, shew the same as
Figures 5 and 6, turned inside out, ready for being stitched round the edges,
and for being united to the bands. Figure 9 is a view of the collar complete,
with the band stitched thereto, and Figure 10, a section of the same. The
same letters of reference indicate similar parts in all the Figures.
A is the inner lining, formed of two pieces of material stitched together at
c, c; this, when folded over, as seen in Figures 3 and 4, forms at bottom, as
far as the selvage extends, four, and above that point, two thicknesses of mate-
rial. The selvage marked d, d, is left to form an extra thickness for attaching.
the collar to the band, or it can be turned up underneath the lining, as desired.
Two pieces of material, the same shape as one of the pieces composing the inner

page_text: lining, are next stitched to the top and sides, from e to f. The whole is then
folded over, when the collar will assume the shape and appearance represented
in Figures 7 and 8, the dotted lines, shewing where the various thicknesses of
material terminate, viz., that marked g to h, two thicknesses; from i to j, six;
k to l, four; and m to n, eight. The neck band B is now sewn on at
at g,
in Figures 9 and 10, when the collar is complète.
As I form wristbands in a similar manner to shirt collars, they will require
no separate illustration or description.
The collar can be worn as an ordinary upright or as a turn-down collar.
Although I have described and represented the number of thicknesses of
material I prefer to use in the upper part of the collars or wristbands, yet I
do not confine myself to the number mentioned, for it is obvious the same can
be altered without departing from the Invention.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the constructing of
collars and wristbands with two thicknesses of material between the band and
upper part, which is formed of more than two thicknesses, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Richard Laurence, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
.FREDK RICHD LAURENCE. (L.S.)