AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COLLARS FOR MENS' WEAR
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Speight, of 5, Saint John Street Road,.
Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, for the Inven-
tion of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COLLARS FOR MENS'
WEAR."
Sealed the 17th April 1863, and dated the 31st October 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Speight at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st October 1862.
I, GEORGE SPEIGHT, of 5, Saint John Street Road, Clerkenwell, in the
County of Middlesex; Manufacturer, do hereby, declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COLLARS FOR
MENS WEAR," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object an improvement in the manufacture of
collars for mens' wear, and consists in a novel mode of combining therein
linen or other textile fabric with paper or cardboard, whereby a collar of
effective appearance, and suitably flexible or elastic character may be produced
with considerable economy in cost of production. For this purpose I form
the portion of the collar, called the band, of paper or cardboard, and I form as
a separate piece therefrom a "top" of paper or cardboard; these two pieces I
connect or unite by a "top" or piece of linen or other textile material, which

page_text: covers the paper or cardboard "top" on the side which is exposed to view;
when the collar is in wear, a part of the said linen or other textile "top" also
forms what may be called the joint, bend, or hinge (or flexible portion
between the two paper or cardboard portions, allowing the "top" to be turned
down in turn-down collars, or to set up in stand-up collars); the top is thus
formed of two materials, an inside and an outside portion, one of paper or
cardboard, and the other of linen or other textile fabric; the latter is pasted
or otherwise attached to the band, preferably at their nearest margins, and I
prefer to connect the linen or other textile "top" to the paper or cardboard
"top" by turning the edges or margins of the former over the corresponding
edges or margins of the latter, and there pasting or otherwise attaching them
together, whereby a better edge is obtained. By these means a portion of the
collar which, when in wear, requires from the play of the neck or head con-
siderable flexibility so as to yield without breaking (and which portion is that
exposed to view): together with the part which forms the hinge, bend, or joint,
will be of linen or textile material. I generally form or cover the parts at the
ends and middle of the band, where are the button-holes, with tabs or pieces of
linen or other textile fabric. In producing the collar I in many cases prefer
to wash the textile fabric in the piece, and to starch or dress it when the two
materials are combined. The two paper or cardboard portions of the collar.
may sometimes be in one piece.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Speight in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th April 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
SPEIGHT, of 5, Saint John Street Road, Clerkenwell, in the County of
Middlesex, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Speight, Her special licence that I, the said George
Speight, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Speight, 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

page_text: 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 COLLARS FOR MENS' WEAR," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Speight, 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 George Speight, 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
statenient thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,. and. to
the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
My Invention has for its object an improvement in the manufacture of
collars, and consists in a novel mode of combining: therein linen or other
textile fabric with paper or cardboard, whereby a collar of effective appearance
and of suitable flexibility at the bend will be produced with considerable
economy in cost of production. For this purpose I form the portion of the
collar called the "band" of paper or cardboard, and I form as a separate piece
the portion called the "top" of paper or cardboard also. These two pieces I
connect or unite. by a "top" or piece of linen or other textile fabric, which
covers the paper or cardboard "top" on the side which is outermost when the-
collar is in wear; a part of the said linen or other textile "top" also forms.
what may be called the joint, bend, or flexible portion between the two paper
or cardboard portions (allowing the top to be turned down in turn-down
collars, or to be set up in stand-up collars); or the two paper or cardboard
portions of the collar, that is to say, the paper or cardboard" band" and "top"
may be in one piece, the paper or cardboard "top" being covered with a "top"
or piece of linen or other textile fabric on the side which is outermost when
the collar is in wear. The "top" is thus formed of two materials, an inside and
an outside portion, one of paper or cardboard, and the other of linen or other
textile fabric; the latter is pasted or otherwise attached to the band at the
nearest margin. I fix or connect the piece or "top" of linen or other textile
fabric to the paper or cardboard "top," and I turn the edges or margins of
such piece or top of linen or textile fabric over the corresponding edges or
margins of the paper or cardboard top, whereby a superior edge is obtained.
By these means the portion of the collar which, when in wear, requires on
"

page_text: account of the play of the neck or head, considerable flexibility so as to yield
without breaking (and which portion is when in wear exposed to view) will
.be of linen or textile fabric, I cover the parts at the ends and middle of the
band, in which are the button-holes, with tabs, patches, or pieces of linen or
other textile fabric.
.
The accompanying Drawings shew a collar manufactured according to my
. Invention.
Figures 1 and 2 are views of opposite sides of the collar, shewn in
an extended or unbent state; Figure 3 shews it as it appears when in
wear.
.
In this example the paper or cardboard band and top are in a single piece
A, B, but the Invention may be applied in like manner when the band and
top are in separate pieces. A is the "band" or portion which comes in direct
.contact with the neck, and B the "top" or part which is turned down in turn-
down collars, and stands up in stand-up collars. a is the bend or crease
formed (as usual) by bending or folding the collar; C is a strip of linen or
other textile fabric cemented or fixed to the top B, so as to cover one side or
-surface thereof, namely, that which is outermost when the collar is in wear;
the edges or margins c, c, of this strip C are turned over to the opposite side
.of the top B, that is to say, these edges are turned over the corresponding
-edges of the top B, and fixed thereto, thus producing a neater and more
durable edge than by the old method, in which the edges of the paper and
linen were left raw. The strip C extends a little below the bend a, and is
attached to the upper margin of the band A, and thus only covers a very
small portion of such band. Where the surfaces of C, c, are in contact with
those of B and A, they are firmly attached to them by starch or other adhesive
agent. d, d', are tabs or patches of linen or other textile fabric attached to
the band A at the parts where the button-holes are to be formed, so as to
strengthen those parts; the end tabs or patches d, d, also extend over, and
are fixed to a part of the margin c, and their edges are turned over and fixed
to the opposite side of the band, thereby producing a neat edge, and binding
the whole firmly together. For fixing or cementing these tabs or patches I
use starch or other adhesive agent.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that what I claim as new in
the manufacture of collars is as follows:-
First, the improved collar herein-before described in so far as regards the
combination therein of portions of linen or other textile fabric with portions of
paper or cardboard, in manner described.

page_text: Second, the mode of obtaining an improved edge by turning the edge or
margin of the strip or "top" of linen or other textile fabric over the edge or
margin of the "top" of paper or cardboard as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Speight, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
M. HENRY,
Patent Agent,
84, Fleet Street,
London.
G. SPEIGHT. (L.S.)