Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 7th May, 1888
Complete Left, 26th June, 1888
Complete Accepted, 27th July, 1888
We WALTER HUBBARD, of Norfolk House, 15 Claremont, Furnisher, and FREDERICK
REAST, of 5 Cambridge Gardens, Hairdresser, both in Hastings, County of Sussex, do
hereby declare the nature of said Invention to be as follows:-
-
This invention has reference more particularly to improvements in the stays or
corsets for men and boys' wear described in the Specification of British Letters
Palent, No. 9368, dated 1st July 1887, and granted to me the said Frederick Reast,
and the present invention has for its object to construct or adapt the stays or corsets
shewn, with reference to fig. 2 of the said specification so that the same besides
forming a brace or support shall supply the place of a pair of braces and shall, at the
same time, form pads or protectors for the kidneys.
According to our first improvement the back portions of the stays, and the pro-
longations thereof forming a girth, are now provided with tabs, arranged at suitable
intervals apart, to correspond with the brace buttons on a pair of trowsers, and these
tabs are furnished with button holes for the purpose of engaging with such buttons,
thereby forming at the same time a pair of braces and a pair of stays or corsets.
These tabs may, be made of leather, tape, india-rubber or other suitable fabric; or if
preferred spiral springs, chains and loops may be substituted for the said tabs.
According to our second improvement the back portions of the stays or corsets are
provided with pockets, forming pads, and these are, by preference, cut in a piece with
the fabric forming the back portions of the said stays or corsets, they being stiffened
by the bones of the stays or corset extending to the bottom edges thereof. These
pads depend to such a depth as to effectually cover and protect the kidneys, and they

page_text: may be made of wool silk, wash-leather, or other appropriate fabric. They may be
stuffed or filled suitable medicative materials; or if desired they may be made of
any suitable medicative material. Or they may contain the elements of a galvanic
battery, arranged in chain or other desired form. When galvanic elements are
employed care must be taken to form the pads or pockets of such a material as will
allow the passage of the galvanic electricity.
The above improvement, although described with reference to a pair of stays or
corsets of the kind hereinbefore alluded to, may likewise be applied to stays or corsets,
of all descriptions, for womens' wear.
ERNEST DE PASS, Fel. Inst. P.A.,
68, Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the Applicants.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or Connected with Stays or Corsets for Men and
Boys, Part of which Improvements is also Applicable to Corsets
for Women.
We, WALTER HUBBARD, of Norfolk House, 15 Claremont, Furnisher, and FREDERICK
REAST, of 5 Cambridge Gardens, Hair-dresser, both in Hastings, County of Sussex,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in the following statement
(reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures
marked thereon) that is to say:-
This invention has reference more particularly to improvements in the stays or
corsets for men and boys' wear described in the Specification of British Letters Patent
No. 9368, dated 1 July 1887, and granted to me the said Frederick Reast, and the
present invention has for its object to construct or adapt the stays or corsets shewn
with reference to fig. 2 of said specification, so that the same, besides forming a brace
or support shall supply the place of a pair of braces, and shall, at the same time, form
pads or protectors for the kidneys.
According to our first improvement the back portions of the stays, and the pro-
longations thereof, forming a girth, are now provided with tabs arranged at suitable
intervals apart to correspond with the brace buttons on a pair of trowsers, and these
tabs are furnished with button holes for the purpose of engaging with such buttons,
thereby permitting the article to act at the same time as a pair of braces and as a pair
of stays or corsets.
According to our second improvement, the back portions of the stays or corsets
are provided with depending pockets forming pads or protectors for covering the
kidneys.
We may however apply either or both improvements to a pair of stays or corsots
constracted according to our invention, as occasion may require.
And in order that our invention may be readily understood, we proceed to describe
the same fully with reference to the accompanying drawing which shews in plan view
a pair of stays opened out and embodying our improvements.
A, A', are the portions forming the body of the stays proper, and a a¹ are the
prolongations thereof which form a girth, as described in the specification herein-
before alluded to, and are secured around the waist by means of buckles.
c, c, c¹, c¹,
c', c', are the tabs which are furnished with button holes or hooks, and are retained by
hooks d, or eylet holes secured to the body portions and prolongations of the stays or
corsets as shewn. These tabs are arranged at the requisite distances apart so as to
readily engage with the buttons, hooks, or eylet holes on the trowsers, so that the
trowsers are kept up in the same manner as with an ordinary pair of braces. The
tabs c, c, engage with the buttons, hooks, or eyelet holes at the back of the trowsers,
and the tabs c², c², c², c', engage with the buttons, hooks, or eyelet holes on the front
of the trowsers. These tabs which are furnished with a series of holes or hooks in

page_text: order that they may be adjusted to suit various lengths of trowsers, may be made of
leather, tape, india-rubber, or other suitable fabric; or if preferred, spiral springs,
chains, and loops may be substituted for the said tabs.
We further provide each side of the back part of the stays or corsets with a strong
steel blade D, for the purpose of giving support to the spine of the wearer.
f,fare the pockets constituting the pads or protectors for the kidneys; they are
cut or formed in a piece with the fabric forming the back portions A, A, of the stays
or corsets, and the stiffening bones of these latter extend to the bottom edges of said
pockets. These pockets depend to such a depth as to effectually cover and protect the
kidneys, and may be made of wool, silk, or wash-leather, or other appropriate fabric,
and may be stuffed or filled with any suitable medicative materials. Or, if desired,
they may be made of any medicative material. Or they may contain the elements of
a galvanic battery, arranged in chain or other desired form. When galvanic elements
are employed care must be taken to form the pockets of a suitable material which will
allow of the passage of the galvanic electricity.
This improvement although described with reference to a pair of stays or corsets of
the kind hereinbefore referred to, and shewn in the drawing, may be applied to stays
or corsets of all descriptions.
In some cases we may combine an abdomen protector with the girth. This
arrangement is shewn in dotted lines in the figure, and is lettered B. When so
combined it forms a piece with the girth and may be stiffened by prolonging the bones
or stiffeners thereof.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same may be performed, we declare that what we
. claim is :-
1. The combination, with a pair of stays or corsets of the kind referred to, of the
tabs (or their equivalent) arranged at intervals apart thereon and furnished with
button holes, eylets, or hooks so as to serve as a substitute for braces, as herein before
described and as shewn with reference to the drawing.
2. The combination, with a pair of stays or corsets, of the depending pockets
composed of a suitable fabric, or stuffed with medicative materials, or containing the
elements of a galvanic battery, and constituting pads or protectors for the kidneys,
substantially as hereinbefore described and as shewn with reference to the drawing.
3. In a pair of stays or corsets, of the kind referred to, the combination of the tabs
(or their equivalent) furnished with button holes, eylets, or hooks, and acting as
braces, and of the depending pockets, prepared as set forth and arranged to form
pads or protectors for the kidneys, all substantially as hereinbefore described and as
shewn with reference to the annexed drawing.
Dated this 26th day of June 1888.