IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STRAW AND OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF HATS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Amsden, of St. Albans, in the County
of Hertfordshire, Straw Hat Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STRAW AND OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF HATS
"
Sealed the 1st May 1860, and dated the 22nd November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Amsden at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd November 1859.
I, BENJAMIN AMSDEN, of St. Albans, in the County of Hertfordshire, Straw
Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STRAW AND OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF HATS AND
BONNETS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the munufacture of hats
and bonnets made of straw, chip, or other materials liable to break or wear at
the edges, whereby the edges of the same are better protected from injury and
wear than heretofore, and by which a more finished and ornamental appear-
ance is obtained thereto. For this purpose I form an edging for a hat or
bonnet by enclosing a lay or other cord in a narrow tape or band (by preference)
of japanned cambric, leather cloth, or other suitable fabric or material may be
employed for this purpose. The two edges of the tape or band of japanned

page_text: cambric or other fabric, are folded together and sewn or cemented so as to
enclose the cord longitudinally. The edging thus prepared is applied as
a finish to the outer rim or edge of a straw, chip, or other hat or bonnet
(the edges of which are liable to break or wear) by sewing or otherwise
securing the flat part of the same to the under or inner edge or surface of the
hat or bonnet when finishing the same at the time of manufacture, so that the
corded edge shall just project and appear beyond the edge of the outermost
plait or edge of the hat or bonnet; the flat part of the edging may then be
enclosed by laying another plait or band of other material over it on the inside
edge of the hat or bonnet, so that the corded part of the edging will be left
exposed, by which a very superior finish will be given to the edge of a straw,
chip, or other hat or bonnet, and this corded edging will afford great protection
from injury and wear to the edges of hats and bonnets made of straw, chip, or
other materials which are liable to break or wear at the edges, besides giving
a highly finished and ornamental appearance thereto, such edgings being made
of any desired color.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Amsden in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
AMSDEN, of Saint Albans, in the County of Hertfordshire, Straw Hat
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Benjamin Amsden, Her special licence that I, the said Benjamin
Amsden, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Benjamin Amsden, 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 STRAW AND OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF HATS
AND BONNETS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Benjamin
Amsden, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under

page_text: 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 Benjamin Amsden, 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 :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of hats
and bonnets made of straw, chip, or other materials liable to break or wear at
the edges, whereby the edges of the same are better protected from injury and
wear than heretofore, and by which a more finished and ornamental appearance
is obtained thereto. For this purpose I form an edging for a hat or bonnet
by enclosing a lay or other cord in a narrow tape or band (by preference of
japanned cambric) leather cloth, or other suitable fabric or material may be
employed for this purpose. The two edges of the tape or band of japanned
cambric or other fabric, are folded together, and sewn or cemented so as to
enclose the cord longitudinally. The edging thus prepared is applied as a
finish to the outer rim or edge of a straw, chip, or other hat or bonnet (the
edges of which are liable to break or wear) by sewing or otherwise securing
the flat part of the same to the under or inner edge or surface of the hat or
bonnet when finishing the same at the time of manufacture, so that the corded
edge shall just project and appear beyond the edge of the outermost plait or
edge of the hat or bonnet; the flat part of the edging may then be enclosed by
laying another plait or band of other material over it on the inside edge of the
hat or bonnet, so that the corded part of the edging will be left exposed, by
which a very superior finish will be given to the edge of a straw, chip, or other
hat or bonnet, and this corded edging will afford a great protection from injury
and wear to the edges of hats and bonnets made of straw, chip, or other
materials which are liable to break or wear at the edges, besides giving a
highly finished and ornamental appearance thereto, such edgings being made
of any desired color.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
practised, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.

page_text: applied thereto; Figures 4 and 5 shew a plan and section of part of the corded
edging separately. a, a, show several rows of ordinary straw or chip plaits,
connected together to form a hat or bonnet by sewing, as is well understood;
b is a narrow tape or band (by preference of japanned cambric) leather cloth,
or other suitable fabric, having a lay or other cord enclosed therein by sewing
or otherwise. The folded edges of the tape or band 6 are sewn or otherwise
secured to the outermost plait with the corded edge outwards, and over the
inner edge of the folded tape or band 6, thus attached I sew or otherwise
secure another plait a', so as to enclose the tape or band b, with the exception
of the corded edge, between two plaits, the corded edge projecting outwards so
as to form a finished edging to the hat or bonnet, and to protect the outer
edges of the straw or chip of which a hat or bonnet is manufactured from
being broken or injured when in wear, to which they are very liable when not
so protected.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Amsden have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
JAMES HITCHCOCK.
BENJAMIN AMSDEN. (L.S.)