IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FASTENING OF ENVELOPES AND LETTERS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Gammon, of No. 9, Cloak Lane, in the
City of London, Solicitor, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
FASTENING OF ENVELOPES AND LETTERS."
Sealed the 14th January 1859, and dated the 22nd July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Gammon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd July 1858.
I, CHARLES GAMMON, of No. 9, Cloak Lane, in the City of London, Solicitor,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE FASTENING OF ENVELOPES AND LETTERS," to be as follows:-
I construct two pieces of metal or other suitable material of such form that
one piece can enter or latch into the other, but cannot be again withdrawn. I
attach one of these pieces to one flap of the envelope, and the other piece to
the other flap, or to the other flaps. The envelope is fastened by placing the
two parts of the catch together, and it cannot again be unfastened without
destroying it. I prefer to attach the second piece of the catch in such manner
that it secures all three flaps of the envelope, so that the envelope may be
quite, secure without trusting to any gum or cement. The parts of the catch

page_text: may be attached by eyelets or rivets. These fastenings are applicable to
envelopes of every description, and may also be applied to letter paper, so as
to fasten letters without envelopes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Gammon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st January 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
GAMMON, of No. 9, Cloak Lane, in the City of London, Solicitor, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Charles Gammon, Her special licence that I, the said
Charles Gammon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Gammon, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE FASTENING OF ENVELOPES AND LETTERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles Gammon, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 Charles Gammon, 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, that is to say :-
The Invention consists in an improved mode or means of fastening envelopes
and letters without wax or wafers or other adhesive material. In fastening
envelopes and letters the fastening is not required to be capable of resisting
actual violence, as the envelope or letter can always be opened by tearing the

page_text: paper, and it is necessary that it should be capable of being opened by the
person to whom it is addressed. It is only necessary, therefore, to fasten the
envelope or letter in such a manner that it may not be accidentally opened
and that any attempt to open it may be readily detected.
My improved fastening consists of a small catch or fastening, made of metal
or other suitable material, and consisting of two parts, one of which is attached
to one flap of the envelope, and the other to the other flap or flaps. The catch
or fastening is so constructed that when one part of it is inserted in the other it
is secured, and cannot be again withdrawn without destroying, or disfiguring,
or injuring the whole or some part of it to such an extent as to show that the
envelope or letter has been opened or tampered with. The fastenings to be
used may be made in any convenient form, but in every case my object is so
to construct the parts of the fastenings that when once secured they cannot be
withdrawn from each other except by using such a degree of violence as will
injure the fastening, or the letter or envelope to which it is attached, in such a
manner as to ensure detection. Any convenient description of spring catch
may be adopted as a fastening, provided it be made without any means of
acting upon the spring so as to unfasten it.
The accompanying Drawings show how a fastening may be constructed
according to my Invention, and attached to an envelope.
Figure 1, Sheet I. is a view of the back of the envelope with the fastening
attached; Figure 2 is a section of the same through the fastening; Figure 3
is a front view of one portion of the fastening, furnished with what may be
called a tongue, capable of being forced into a sheath in the other portion of
the fastening; Figure 4 is a section, and Figure 5 is a back view of the same;
Figure 6 represents a piece of thin sheet brass or other metal for forming the
tongue part of the fastening; Figure 7 is a front view of the other or sheath.
part of the fastening; Figure 8 is a section, and Figure 9 is a back view of
the same; Figure 10 represents a piece of thin sheet metal for forming this
part of the fastening; Figure 11 is an elevation, and Figure 12 is a section
of a rivet or eyelet for attaching each part of the fastening to the envelope, as
shewn in Figures 1 and 2. The thin piece of sheet metal shewn in Figure 6
is bent so as to form a spring, fixed upon the end of the tongue as shewn in.
Figure 4, and this part of the fastening is rivetted by means of an eyelet or
rivet to the upper flap A of the envelope. The piece of metal shewn in
Figure 10 is folded so as to make a sheath of the form shewn in Figures 7,
8, and 9, with the edge or mouth turned over at one side, and it is rivetted by
an eyelet or rivet to the lower flap B, and I prefer to make the rivet pass also

page_text: through the two side flaps C, D, which are then made to lap over each other
for that purpose. To secure an envelope by means of a fastening made as
shewn in the Drawing, it is only necessary to slip the tongue portion of the
fastening into the other part or sheath. The spring, which is formed on the
tongue portion, springs down as it is pushed into the sheath, and then springs
up again and catches against the turned over edge or mouth of the sheath,
and thus prevents the tongue from being drawn out of the sheath. The
envelope can then only be opened by tearing the paper, or by unfolding the
sheath, or otherwise injuring the parts in such a manner as to insure detection.
The folded parts of the sheath may be soldered or otherwise connected for
greater security if desired, but for ordinary purposes this is unnecessary. Each
part of this fastening may be attached to the flap or flaps of an envelope by
passing a portion of it through a slit or hole in the paper, and securing the
end or otherwise, in lieu of employing eyelets or rivets.
I employ these fastenings for envelopes of all descriptions, and also for
sheets of letter paper and note paper, so as to secure them when folded into
letters without envelopes. Thus, it is frequently required to send jewellery
and other small articles through the post, for which purpose envelopes of
various forms may be used. Figure 13, Sheet II. is a plan, and Figure 14
is a section of an envelope constructed of card, or other suitable material, in
the form of a box C and cover B, hinged to the box at b. A is a flap
attached to the box, and carrying one portion of the catch or fastening, while
the other portion is attached to the cover. By inserting one portion of the
catch into the other the envelope is secured.
Figure 15 is a plan, and Figure 16 is a section of another envelope of
slightly different form. The cover B slides on the box or caso C, and is
secured by two catches or fastenings on each side. In some cases compound
fastenings may be used. Thus, Figure 17 is a plan of an envelope with a
tongue on each of its four flaps, and four sheaths, or a quadruple sheath fixed
in the centre, or not fixed at all. This quadruple sheath may be placed or
fixed on the cover B in Figures 13 and 14, and the tongues may be attached
to flaps secured to the bottom of the box C, or forming part of a detached and
separate envelope inclosing the box and cover. These fastenings may be made
of brass, or tinned brass, or copper, or of silvered or gilt metal, or other
suitable material. They may also be stamped with initial letters, or with
crests or coat of arms, and may be otherwise ornamented.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood, that what I

page_text: claim is, securing envelopes and letters by means of spring fastenings, which
cannot be opened without producing such an amount of injury to the envelopes,
letters, or fastenings, as will ensure detection, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Gammon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
CHARLES COWPER,
20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, London.
C. GAMMON. (L.S.)