IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OP HATS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
SIMPSON, of Farnham Place, Gravel Lane, Southwark, in. the County of
Surry, Hat Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twelfth day of September, in the eighth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred
Simpson, Her especial licence, that I, the said Alfred Simpson, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Simpson, my exors, adñiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OP HATS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said Alfred Simpson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention; and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
cnrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said Alfred Simpson, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to
consist in the application of new compositions for the stiffening of hat bodies
for what are called silk and velvet hats, whether made of felted materials, such
as stuff or wool, or of woven materials, such as are used for what are called
gossamer hats, and the application of which compositions requiring great heat
I make use of metal hat blocks, and some other apparatus made of metal, in
order to resist the heat to which they are exposed. And in further compliance
with the said proviso, I, the said Alfred Simpson, do hereby describe the
manner in which my said Invention is to be performed by the following state-
ment thereof, reference being had to the Drawing annexed, and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
First, as regards wool or stuff bodies.-The body is first blocked on a block
made of sheet iron, as shewn at Figure 1 (a wooden block will not auswer the
purpose owing to the great heat employed in this process); it is then dipped
in water and drained for about one minute, and one of the two following
compositions is then rubbed on the hat body with a common painter's brush.
One of these compositions, and which I call No. 1, is made of the following
ingredients in the following proportions:-Forty gallons of cold linseed oil,
twenty-nine pounds of crude litharge, twenty-seven pounds of powdered
Turkey uinber,, nineteen pounds of white lead, and five pounds of china
clay sifted very fine, boiled together slowly for six hours, thinning the
mixture when necessary and cold with turpentine. For the other com-
position, which is for the finer sorts of silk and velvet hats, and which
I call No. 2, I add six quarts of the composition already described to
eight ounces of gum copal (any other gum, gum resin, or resin which will
mix with oil will do as well), I always use gum copal, such gum copal being
first melted down in an iron pot, and the former composition being then
gradually added whilst in a boiling state thereto, stirring the mixture until
completed, and thinning this last-mentioned mixture when necessary and cold
with turpentine. I use both these compositions about the thickness of cream.
After the composition has been rubbed on the hat body an iron band, as
shewn at Figure 2, is placed round the body at that part where the hat-band
is worn to keep it in shape whilst drying. The hat body is then placed on a
curved sheet-iron plate, as shewn at Figure 3, and that part of the body which
is to form the brim spread out upon the iron plate, but the brim is not covered
with either of these compositions, but stiffened and finished in the ordinary
way. The whole is then placed in the drying stove for six hours, the stove

page_text: being heated to not less than one hundred and seventy-five degrees of
Fahrenheit. The hat body on its block and plate, with the band round it,
is shewn at Figure 4. When the hat body is taken out of the drying stove
it is taken off the iron block by the aid of the iron tool shewn at Figure 5,
and placed on a wooden block of the form of the hat, and rubbed over with
pummice stone to make it smooth; it is then pasted over with common
hatters' paste, made of flour, resin, beeswax, and water; the hat body is then
varnished in the usual way with common hatters' varnish. The silk or velvet
is then placed on the body and the hat is finished off as in the ordinary
manner. By my process, and more particularly by the use of my compositions,
the hats are rendered more elastic and durable. It will only be necessary
further to state, that in hats having the crown wider at the top than the
bottom, it is necessary to have the metal hat block made as shewn in the
Drawing annexed, m, m, being set thumb screws, and n, n, an ear with two
slots, so that when required to withdraw the block from the hat body these set
screws may be unscrewed and the block squeezed together till the two edges
T, T, pass by one another, thus lessening the diameter of the block and
enabling it to be withdrawn from the hat body.
And now as regards hat bodies made of woven materials, and commonly called
gossamer hats, I first dip the woven material of which the side of the hat body
is to be made, into water, and then brush it over on both sides in its wet state
with either of the compositions No. 1 or No. 2. I then prepare the metal block
for its reception by rubbing it over with sweet oil to prevent adhesion; and to
prevent the sweet oil from damaging the side of the hat body I wrap the block
round with thin paper or thin silk, which latter substance I prefer in some cases,
as herein-after explained. Having prepared the metal block in this manner the
side of the hat body is framed upon it in the ordinary way, taking care to let
the material lap over about half an inch. Note, neither the top of the hat
or the brim are to be rubbed over with the compositions. The side of the hat
body on the metal block must now be placed in the drying stove for three
hours, and subjected to a heat not less than one hundred and seventy-five
degrees of Fahrenheit. In making this kind of hat neither the metal band
nor the curved sheet-iron plate are used, because the brim is added afterwards
in the usual way of making such hats. At the end of the three hours the side
of the hat body on its block may be removed from the stove, and taken off its
block while warm by means of the iron tool before described; and if paper
has been used to wrap the block with it will come off the block, adhering to
the material of which the side of the hat body has been made, and must

page_text: remain attached to it, and must be treated with fuller's earth or some such
detergent material to get rid of the grease; but if silk has been used to wrap
the block with its texture is strong enough to admit of its being stripped off
while warm from the material of which the side of the hat body is made, and
so leaves a much lighter and more ventilating materil for the side of the hat
body. When the side of the hat body has been removed from the metal
block, if found not to be sufficiently dry it may be returned to the oven
without the block and kept there till perfectly dry, when it may be taken out
again, and should then be blocked on a wooden block, and the tip or top
fastened on and the brim added, and the hat finished off in the usual way in
which such hats as are called gossamer hats are finished off, except that some-
times, for the sake of extra lightness, I use the material known in the straw-
making trade as "tissue straw" for the tip or top of the hat. By my process,
and more particularly by the use of my compositions, I am enabled to make
what are called gossamer hats of lighter materials, and more elastic and durable.
And having now described the nature of my said improvements, and the
manner of performing the same, I hereby claim as my Invention,-
First, the application of the compositions for stiffening hat bodies herein-
before described in the manufacture of what are called silk and velvet hats,
whether the said bodies be made of what is called stuff or wool, or other felted
material, and also the application of such compositions to the sides of what
are called gossamer hat bodies made of any suitable light woven fabric.
And, secondly, the use of a sheet-iron or metal block, a sheet-iron or metal
curved plate, an iron or metal band, and an iron tool, as herein-before
described, all of which are rendered necessary in the manufacture of such of
the hats herein-before described as are not called gossamer hats, and the first
and last of which are rendered necessary in the manufacture of such of the
hats herein-before described as are called gossamer hats, by the high degree
of heat used when my said compositions are applied, as also the use of what is
called tissue straw in the manufacture of tips or tops of hats.
And such my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used for the purpose of manufacturing what
are called silk or velvet or gossamer hats, within that part of Her said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her said
Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare
this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this my
said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve or
disguise, with the said proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent contained; wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Simpson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-five.