MANUFACTURING OR MAKING OF AN ELASTIC FABRIC FROM WHALEBONE, AND OF MANUFACTURING OR MAKING OF ELASTIC FABRICS FROM WHALEBONE, HEMP, AND OTHER MATERIALS COMBINED, SUITABLE FOR MAKING INTO ELASTIC FRAMES OR BODIES FOR HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES; AND ALSO OF MANUFACTURING OR MAKING OF SUCH ELASTIC FRAMES OR BODIES FROM THE SAME MATERIALS BY THE MODE OF PLAITING
Year: 1824

page_text: GIBSON'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GIBSON, of the City of Glasgow, Woolen Draper and Hatter, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifteenth day of June last, eighteen hundred and twenty-
four, in the fifth year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Gibson, my exors, admors,
and assigns, His especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said John Gibson, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Gibson, my exors, admors, and 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 that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, His Majesty's Dominion of Wales, and Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "MANUFACTURING OR MAKING OF AN
ELASTIC FABRIC FROM WHALEBONE, AND OF MANUFACTURING OR MAKING OF ELASTIC
FABRICS FROM WHALEBONE, HEMP, AND OTHER MATERIALS COMBINED, SUITABLE
FOR MAKING INTO ELASTIC FRAMES OR BODIES FOR HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES; AND ALSO OF MANUFACTURING OR MAKING OF SUCH ELASTIC
FRAMES OR BODIES FROM THE SAME MATERIALS BY THE MODE OF PLAITING;" in
which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said John Gibson, 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 inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four months

page_text: next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, referenco being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Gibson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascertained
as follows, that is to say:-
That after having obtained whalebone cut down into threads about the
thickness of a hay straw, or coarser or finer, according to the stoutness of the
particular fabric wanted, I then boil the whalebone for an hour in a solution
of alum, or any of the alkaline substances, in the proportion of about one
pound to a gallon of water, after which it is rinsed in clear water, and then
hung up till dry. By this process the oily matter is extracted from the whale-
bone, and it is thereby rendered more elastic. I then separate the different
lengths or threads of whalebone from each other by the mode usually adopted
in separating the differont lengths of hair. The length of the threads of
whalebone generally runs from about ono to fourteen feet. The longer lengths
I make use of for the warp, and the shorter ones for the weft. I then procure
a hair cloth loom; any kind of loom may easily be made so as to answer the
purpose, but I have employed and found to answer best the hair cloth loom,
with this addition, that I use or emply a piece of cloth of the same breadth as
the particular fabric intended to be wove, and about two yards in length, in
the following manner :-I affix or attach the one end of this piece of cloth to
the cloth beam of the loom, and to the other end thereof I affix or attach a
rod made from iron or other suitable substance equal in length to the breadth
of the cloth. Any kind of cloth may be employed for this purpose, but I have
found hemp, cloth, or canvass to answer best. I then fix a number of loops of
twine or cord extending from one extremity of the rod to the other extremity
thereof at equal distances, and I attach or affix another piece of cloth to the
yarn beam of the same sort and dimensions as is fixed to the cloth beam, and
to the end of which piece of cloth I attach a rod made of iron or other suitable
substance, and fix loops of twine or cord on said rod in the same way as
done with the cloth beam, as above described. Next, I put the threads of
whalebone through the heedles of the loom, and through a reed, in the manner
usually adopted in putting yarn through the heedles and reed. I then tye or
knot the threads of whalebone in equal quantities in proportions equal to the
number of loops of twine or cord attached to the rod. The quantities of
whalebone are then fixed in the loops of twine. I adopt the same method in
fixing the warp to the yarn beam of the loom. I then put the weft in by the

page_text: Previous to using the
water for about twelve
mode usually adopted in the weaving of hair cloth.
whalebone in the weft I soften it by steeping it in
hours, as in that state it is much more easily wrought. The warp may be put
in by other modes than by using the cloth or canvass and the rod in the
manner above described, but I have found this method very useful in keeping
the whole warp at a proper and equal, tightness both in the breadth and
length. After the fabric is thus wrought or made the piece may either be
taken out of the loom and another put in to be wrought in the same manner,
or the warp of the new piece may be tied or knotted to the ends of the whale-
bone.
of the piece already wrought next to the yarn beam, after which the
knots may be drawn through the heedles and reed, and the other end of the
warp then fixed to the yarn beam in the manner already above described.
This fabric may be wrought plain, tweeled, or figured, according as may best
suit the purpose to which it is to be applied. I press it after it is wrought in
the manner adopted in pressing hair cloth, which process makes it smooth and
encreases its elasticity. When said fabric has to be applied to any purpose
where it is exposed to much perspiration or damp, in order to prevent it from-
being affected by the perspiration or damp. I dip the fabric, after it is wrought
and pressed, in any of the varnishes commonly employed in the manufacturing.
of silk hats, or the varnish may be applied with a brush or other suitable
instrument, either on one or both sides of the fabric; other kinds of varnish
may be employed and applied in the same way or in different other ways.
And touching the method I adopt in manufacturing my said fabric from
whalebone and other materials combined :-
First, as to combining it with hemp. I make use of the hemp for warp,
which I put into the loom in the common way. I then make use of the said
threads of whalebone for the weft, which I put in by the mode commonly
adopted in weaving hair cloth. This manufacture produces a fabric elastic in
the breadth only, and, when less elasticity is wanted, I put in the threads of
whalebone alternately with the hemp into the weft, or use same in more or less
proportions according to the degree of elasticity wanted. And with regard to
the mode I adopt in making a fabric elastic both ways from said materials of
whalebone and hemp combined, that is, in the length as well as in the
breadth, this I perform by putting the whalebone into the loom in the manner
first above mentioned in describing the mode of making the fabric wholly
from whalebone, leaving splits of the reed empty alternately, or more or fewar
of the splits may be left empty, according as more or less elasticity is wanted.
I then warp a-web from hemp, and put it on a separate beam, which beam
may be placed either between the other yarn beam and the heedles of immo-

page_text: diately above or below the said other yarn beam. The hemp is then put into
the splits formerly left empty in the operation of putting in the whalebone
warp. The weft is next put in in the manner adopted in weaving hair cloth,
and it may either be altogether of whalebone, or of whalebone or hemp
alternately, or of these materials used in more or less proportions. The warp
may
also be altogether of whalebone, and the weft altogether of hemp; or the
hemp may be used alternately with whalebone in equal or in different pro-
portions, but I have found them most suitable when employed in equal
proportions, both in the warp and weft. These fabrics may also be either
plain, tweeled, or figured, and they are likewise pressed, and, if necessary,
varnished previous to their being employed for any of the purposes for which.
said fabrics are suitable.
be
And touching the method I adopt in manufacturing the said fabric from
whalebone and hair combined :-I make use of threads of whalebone, such as
are used in the said whalebone fabric for the warp which I put into the loom
in the same way as when the fabric is made wholly from whalebone as above
described. The weft may then be altogether of hair or hair and whalebone
alternately used, or used in more or less proportions as may best suit the
particular purpose for which the fabric is intended, and this fabric which is
wove by the method usually adopted in weaving hair cloth, may also be either
plain, tweeled, or figured; and it is likewise pressed, and may if necessary
varnished in the manner above described. And touching the mode of manu-
facturing the said fabrics from whalebone combined with willows, this I
perform by employing said threads of whalebone in the warp and willows in
the weft, or by employing willows in the warp and threads of whalebone in the
weft, or by employing willows and whalebone alternately in the warp and weft
in equal or in different proportions, according to the degree of elasticity
wanted. Cane or other substances may also be used in combination with
whalebone, and manufactured in the same manner as whalebone and willows
combined, as above described, and the fabric thus made may likewise be plain,
tweeled, or figured, and if necessary, pressed and varnished in the manner
already described. The fabrics from whalebone combined with flax, cotton,
wool, silk, or other suitable substances, I manufacture in the manner I have
mentioned in describing above how I make the said fabric from whalebone
and hemp combined.
And my said Invention also consists in the uniting with whalebone any
two or more of said other substances above named, or other suitable substances,
which
may
be accomplished by any of the methods of making said fabrics
from whalebone and other substances above described. And with regard to

page_text: the method I adopt in making elastic frames or bodies of hats, caps, and
bonnets by the mode of plaiting, this I perform by employing the said threads
of whalebone as long as can be obtained. These I steep in water for about
twelve hours previous to using them; as in that state they can be much easier
plaited; I then provide myself with a block of the form or shape of the hat,
cap, or bonnet I intend making, upon which block I plait the whalebone
by any of the modes of plaiting commonly. practised. If less elasticity is
wanted, willows or other suitable substances may be introduced in the plaiting
in combination with the threads of whalebone.
Another mode which I adopt of making said elastic frames or bodies
is by plaiting the said threads of whalebone into pieces of fabric as large
as the lengths of the whalebone will admit, which plaiting may be accomplished
by any of the usual modes of plaiting in practice, and if less elasticity is wanted,
any of the other substances above mentioned may be introduced and plaited along
or in combination with the whalebone. Having plaited the fabric I then cut
out the side of the hat, cap, or bonnet to the proper depth and width, and
join it firmly by sewing; I next cut out the tip and brim to the proper sizes to
fit the sides already prepared; the edges are all bound firmly with cloth to
prevent them from breaking out; the tip and the brim are then sewed firmly
to the sides. The cap and bonnet I make up in the same manner as the hat.
In witness whereof, I have subscribed these Presents written on this
and the five preceding pages of stamped paper by Peter Ingram,
apprentice to John Macandrew, Solicitor in the Supreme Courts of
Scotland, at Glasgow, the Eleventh day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and twenty-four, before these witnesses, George Black,
Hat Merchant in Glasgow, and Alexander Williamson, Grocer there.
And I have likewise hereunto set my seal, time and place foresaid,
before the said witnesses.
GEORGE BLACK, Witness.
ALEX. WILLIAMSON, Witness.
Taken and acknowledged by the above-
named John Gibson, at the Council
Chambers of the City of Glasgow
in Scotland, this Eleventh day of
September, One thousand eight
hundred and twenty-four, before me,
JOHN GIBSON. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of October, in the
year of our Lord 1824, the aforesaid John Gibson came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purposee.
Inrolled the Fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred twenty-four.