CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BONNETS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Burt Smith and Edward Smith, both of Regent
Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN BONNETS."
1.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Burt Smith and
Edward Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 13th February 1854.
We, JOHN BURT SMITH and EDWARD SMITH, both of Regent Street, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN BONNETS" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a new mode of making bonnets so as to enable.
them when out of-use to be capable of being laid flat in a box, whereby they
occupy considerably less space than heretofore, and consequently form a much
more convenient package for travelling, and are less liable to be injured in the
event of the box being crushed. And we effect such said improvements in the
following manner, or any modification thereof, that is to say:-To the sides or
edges of the crown and curtain of the bonnet loops are affixed, and to the sides

page_text: of the front and corresponding part of the bonnet buttons are affixed, and
employed for connecting the crown to the front-part of the bonnet when in use.
And it is this mode of connecting and detaching the front and back parts of a
bonnet which admits of its being laid flat when out of use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said John Burt Smith and Edward Smith in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
BURT SMITH and EDWARD SMITH, both of Regent Street, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth-day-of-February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Burt Smith and Edward Smith, Her special licence that we,
the said John Burt Smith and Edward Smith, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Burt Smith and Edward
Smith, our 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
BONNETS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, 'the said John Burt
Smith and Edward Smith, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 we, the said John Burt Smith and Edward Smith,
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:
Our improvements relate to a new mode of: making bonnets, and are designed
with a view of rendering such articles of dress more portable when out of use

page_text: than bonnets as heretofore constructed, and this we effect by attaching loops,
buttons, strings, and other appurtenances to certain parts of bonnets.for the pur-
pose of connecting together such said parts in this manner, instead of by sewing,
as commonly practised. And thus we enable the bonnet when out of use to be
laid flat in a box made expressly for its reception, thereby forming a much
more convenient and secure package for travelling with than the bonnet boxes
as heretofore constructed. But in order to explain our said Invention as
completely as possible, we now proceed to describe the best means we are
acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect, reference being had
to the illustrative Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and
letters of reference marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 exhibits a drawn silk bonnet made according to our said Invention,
and as it would appear when out of use and laid flat for packing in a box.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the aforesaid bonnet as it would appear when
ready for use. Figure 4 is a top plan view of the box which we employ for
packing bonnets in, constructed according to our said Invention. Figure 5 is
an edge view of the above-mentioned box with its cover complete. Figure 6
exhibits a bonnet made according to our said Invention of Tuscan straw or
other rigid material, and as it would appear when out of use and laid flat for
packing in a box. Figure 7 is a side elevation of the above-mentioned bonnet as
it would appear when being put into position for use. At each of the foregoing
Figures we employ similar letters of reference to denote corresponding parts in
so far as such parts appear or can be seen at each of the Figures respectively.
At Figures 1, 2, 3, A, A, is the front of the bonnet; B, the crown thereof;
C, the curtain. These parts are permanently connected together by sewing
the front part A of the bonnet to the back B thereof, along or near their edges,
between numbers 1 and 2 or thereabouts, and the remaining portions of the
bonnet, which for the purposes of our said Invention, are not connected together
by sewing, as commonly practised, we connect together by loops, buttons,
strings, and other appurtenances in the following manner, that is to say:-
We connect the sides or edges of the crown and curtain to the front of the
bonnet by loops a and buttons b, and the back and curtain of, the bonnet
(which are divided to enable the bonnet to lie flat) are in like manner connected
together by loops and buttons c and d, and strings e and f, or instead of attach-
ing a loop and button to the curtain, as above mentioned, a piece D of small
tubing made of india-rubber or gutta percha may be affixed to one part of the

page_text: curtain, and to the other part a small piece of whalebone E, as at Figure
thus it will be seen that. by inserting the whalebone into the "tube Duit
will be firmly held therein by ticing the strings e and f, and the parts+D'and E
being elastic will adapt themselves readily to the required curvature of the
bönnet, and thus preserve 'the shape of this part whilst the bonnet is in use.
We would here remark, that although this'-mode of constructing "bonnets
applies more particularly to drawn silk bonnets and bonnets in which the back
or crown thereof is made of silk or other similarly flexible materials, at the
sámė time we do not intend to limit or confine ourselves to the use of such
said materials, but propose employing the same principle of construction in
manufacturing bonnets made wholly or partially of a rigid material, such as
Leghorn, chip, straw, Tuscan, felt, beaver, or other similar material, observing
that in using these last-mentioned materials in and for the manufacture of
bonnets according to our said 'Invention, we proceed as follows: We form
the front of the bonnet A, at Figures 6 and 7, in two or more parts A and A';
which we connect together by attaching pieces of elastic thereto, and on the
inner side thereof, as at a, a, Figure 6, and the crown B, we form in one part
and connect it to the front Aby pieces of elastic b, b; similar to those above
mentioned, which are hidden by the head lining of the bonnet, and we employ
the following arrangement for Bringing the several divided parts above men-
tioned into proper position for use. It will be seen upon referring to Figure 6
that there are pieces of elastic tubing C; C, placed along the bottom, edge, and
on the inner side of the front parts A', to which parts they are attached by
sewing, and there is another and short piece of elastic tubing D attached to
the lower edge of the crown B of the bonnet, through which pass two strings
c, c, a hole being made in the tubing D at d for that purpose. These strings
pass also through the before-mentioned pieces of tubing C, C, and have their
ends securely affixed to the 'front of the bonnet, as at e, e, Figure 6. By this
arrangement' it will appear evident that by supporting the bonnet inside' with
one hand, and with the other hand pulling the strings at A, the detached parts
of the bonnet' marked severally A, A', B; will be readily brought together and
may be secured in the desired position by tieing the strings c, c. We would
also remark that for the purposes of our said Invention we propose to make
foundations of bonnets of whalebone and cane, either separately or in com
bination, in lieu of wire, 'as 'heretofore generally practised; and further, if
necessary, loops and buttons may be employed along the edges of the divided
parts of the bonnet for bringing such parts closer together, and finally trimming
may be disposed over the points of junction of "such' said "divided parts" to

page_text: conceal the same from view. Thus it will be seen that we are enabled to
make bonnets of rigid materials, and capable of being packed into a very small
compass without materially affecting the shape of the bonnet.
Having now described the nature and object of our said Invention of
"Certain Improvements in Bonnets," and in what manner the same is to be
and may be performed, we would remark, in conclusion, that what we claim is,
the constructing of bonnets in the manner set forth for the purpose of enabling
the same when out of use to occupy less space than heretofore by being folded
or laid flat, as represented by the Drawing, and above more particularly
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Burt Smith and Edward Smith,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twelfth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
BENJ
BROWNE,
at the Office for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square.
JOHN BUKI SMITH. (L.S.)
EDWARD SMITH.
(L.S.)