AN IMPROVEMENT IN PURSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Johnson, of the Firm of Johnson and Booth,
' and now of the Firm of Johnson and Rowe, of Horse Shoe Court, in the
City of London, Manufacturers, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN PURSES."
Sealed the 23rd March 1860, and dated the 29th September 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
September 1859.
I, WILLIAM JOHNSON, of the Firm of Johnson and Booth, of Horse Shoe
Court, in the City of London, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN PURSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in constructing purses with a secret compartment, by
forming a frame in that part of the purse which is afterwards covered over
by the folding flap or flaps, by forming receptacles for containing gold and
other valuables at the back of the frame, and by the employment of a tablet
or sheet of ivory, or other opaque substance, which is made to slide in the
frame and over the receptacles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Johnson in the Great Seal Patent. Office on the
29th March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JOHNSON, late of the Firm of Johnson and Booth, and now of the Firm of
Johnson and Rowe, of Horse Shoe Court, in the City of London, Manu-
facturers, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Johnson, Her special licence that I, the said William
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Johnson, 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 PURSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Johnson, 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 William Johnson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked. thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention has for its object the contriving of purses in such manner
that certain pockets or receptacles thereof intended for containing coin or
other articles may be concealed or secreted when the purse is opened. For
this purpose, according to my Invention, a sliding tablet of ivory or other
opaque or nearly opaque material is placed over the pockets or receptacles to
be concealed, in such manner that they may be completely hidden by the
tablet when the latter is slidden into place, but may be exposed to view, and
their contents immediately attainable or accessible when the tablet is drawn
or slidden out.
The Drawings more particularly explain my Invention and represent the
manner in which the same may carried into effect.
Figures 1 and 2 are plans, and Figure 1ª perspective view of a porte-
monnaie or purse to which my improvement is applied. a, a, are pockets or
receptacles for receiving sovereigns or other coin, and intended as pockets to
be secreted or concealed; 6 is an ordinary tablet of ivory, for example, which
may be readily slidden or drawn by its button 6¹ in and out of the grooves,
b

page_text: recesses, holding flanges, or frame,c, c; G, G', are the ordinary pockets or
pouches of the purse. In the position shown in Figures 1 and 1* the purse
is laid open so as to get at the pouches G, G₁, but the pockets a, a, are
completely concealed from view by the tablet b, and constitute as it were secret
receptacles. But in the position shewn in Figure 2 the tablet is drawn nearly
out of the holding edges c, c, and the pockets a, a, are thereby exposed to
view, so that coin may be readily placed in or taken out of them; on opening
the purse the ordinary larger pockets or pouches G, G', (whereof those G are
behind the pockets a, as shewn,) are immediately accessible without having to
expose the pockets a, a; f is a flap as usual.
Figures 3 and 4 are plans, and Figure 3ª perspective view of a portemonnaie
or purse, exemplifying a modification of my Invention. a, a, are the pockets
to be secreted; 6 is a tablet, which, instead of sliding in and out of recesses or
flanges as in Figures 1 and 2, is set in a border binding or frame c connected
to the portemonnaie by a flexible junction hinge or part c¹, so that the tablet
may be turned or laid over or upon the pockets a, a, in a similar manner
to the laying of one leaf of a book over another, and when so lying over and
concealing the pockets a, a,. as shewn in Figures 3 and 3ª, may be secured
in that position by inserting a pencil d into loops e, e, attached one or
more to the inside of the back of the purse, and the other or others to
the outer edge of the tablet frame or binding c, in a manner similar to the
mode of fastening the edges of a note book by a pencil; or the tablet may
be secured in such position by a snap or other mode of fastening; thus
the pockets a, a, would be completely.concealed by the tablet when the purse
is otherwise opened to get at the ordinary pockets G, G³, as shown in
Figure 3, while on the other hand they can be exposed to view by with-
drawing the pencil or opening the fastening, as the case may be, and raising
or turning back the tablet as in the position shewn in Figure 4. The pouches
G, though lying behind the pockets a, a, are immediately accessible and in
view on opening the purse without having to expose the pockets a, a, (see
Figure 3).
Figures 5 and 6 are plans, and Figure 6ª perspective view exemplifying
another modification in which the secret pockets or receptacles a, a, are placed
at the back of the other or larger and ordinary pockets or pouches G of the
portemonnaie, which pouches G constitute what may be called the body of the
purse; and are connected to the back of the purse by a flexible part e¹, so
that they may with the pockets a at their back be turned together to the right
or left like the page of a book, and may thus be laid over or upon the inner
surface of the back of the portemonnaie, on which is fixed a tablet b, and when

page_text: in that position as shewn in Figure 5, the pockets a would be completely
concealed, and would lie over and in contact with the tablet b; but the
pouches G would of course be in view and accessible; the pouches G may be
secured in that position by inserting a pencil d into loops e, e, attached to the
tablet binding, and to the part G, or by a snap or other mode of fastening; on
withdrawing the pencil, or opening the fastening, and turning back the part G,
the pockets a, a, would be exposed to view as in the position shown in
Figures 6 and 6º. G¹ is an ordinary pouch at the outside of the part G.
In respect of their ordinary or usual pouches, the purses may be con
structed with pockets, pouches, or receptacles for coin, stamps, and other
articles in the usual manner of constructing portemonnaies or purses; and
although I have shown the receptacles a, a, for holding coin, they may be
used or adapted for holding postage stamps, tickets, small writing instruments,
or other small articles as are commonly carried in pürses or cases on the
person. I do not confine myself to any particular number or precise shape of
pockets a, a, as the same admits of variation without 'departing from my
Invention.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same may be performed, I declare that I lay no claim to the
exclusive use of receptacles or pockets of the description shewn in the
Drawings at a, a, considered apart from the application and combination
thereof, in the manner and for the purpose herein described; and I lay no
claim to the use of a sliding or other tablet in portemonnaies or purses apart
from the application and combination thereof, with receptacles to be secreted
thereby, as herein shewn and described; but what I claim under the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the constructing of purses with
pockets or receptacles concealed or secreted when the purse is open, in
the manner herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Johnson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
SAMUEL ROWE.
WILLIAM JOHNSON. (L.S.)