IMPROVEMENTS IN HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
RICHARD JOHNSON, of the firms of Messieurs Johnson and Company, of Regent
Street, and Messieurs Griffiths and Johnson, of Old Bond Street, both in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighteenth day of June, in the ninth year of ller reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Richard Johnson, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Alfred Richard
Johnson, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred
Richard Johnson, 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, and in
all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and also in the Islands of
Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN HATS, CAPS, AND BONNETS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said Alfred Richard Johnson, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
Is to be performed, to be urolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chan-
cery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Alfred
Richard Johnson, hereby declare that the nature of the said improvements,
_and_the_manner in which the same are to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
My Invention consists,―
Firstly, in the employment of a new composition for stiffening the bodies
or foundations of silk hats, and cementing together the parts of such bodies
or foundations, and in the manner of forming such bodies or foundations
when the said composition is used. I prepare the composition in manner
following I make a solution of shellac in spirits of wine or other suitable
solvent, and while it is in a warm state I add to it warm solution of gutta
percha in proportions varying from one part of gutta percha for every six
parts of shellac to one part of gutta percha for every twelve parts of shellac.
When the composition so prepared becomes cold it is wholly free from that
brittleness which belongs to shellac solution by itself, is very pliable, and
softens readily without running when subjected to the warm ironing processes
herein-after mentioned. I prefer using the gutta percha in the proportion of
about one to ten of the shellac, and do not recommend that it should be used
in a less proportion than one to six or more than one to twelve, but it may
be employed with more or less advantage in almost every variety of proportion,
and I do not therefore limit myself to any particular proportions. The calico,
mushin, silk, or other description of fabric which is to form the body of the
hat is first thoroughly saturated with the said composition, and then stretched
on a fiame and set to diy. When diy, the cloth is cut up into sides, tips,
and other requisito pieces, and formed into a body by blocking as usual.
The body is then coated evenly with the composition, and when that is dry
it is done all over with a warm iron (in the way usual in hat making).
The remaining processes of varnishing, laying on, and ironing the silk,
shag, or plush, and finishing, are then gone through in the ordinary manner.
Secondly, my Invention consists in the formation of the bodies of or
foundations of hats, caps, and bonnets of a new combination of substances
possessing much greater lightness than any heretofore in use for that purpose
I employ for my principal material the pith of a species of sedge which is known
in the East Indies by the name of Shola, and is, as I am informed and
believe, the Eeschynomene Aspera of Linnæus. I slice it into strips of any
required thickness, and form cach piece of the body of the hat, cap, or bonnet,

page_text: of a number of these strips laid alongside of one another and united into one
by cementing to them on both sides pieces of Jaconet muslin, or any other slight
fabric
I prefer to use for my cement the composition described under the
first head of this Specification, but any other cement that will unite pith and
cloth together may be employed.
Thirdly, my Invention consists in constructing hats, caps, and bonnets in
such manner that the air inside may be kept either cool or warm, according
to the pleasure of the wearer. I effect this by means of two appendages:-
First, by means of a small valve which is inserted in an aperture made in the
crown of the hat, cap, or bonnet, and is capable of being opened or closed,
and that either wholly or partially; and, secondly, by means of an air piece
inserted in the back of the bat between the body and leather part of the lining
(technically called "the leather,") and containing a number of passages which
are always open to the external air. When the top valve is open there is a
continuous curient of cool air flowing from the passages of the back air piece
up into the interior of the hat, cap, or bonnet, and out through the top valve,
whereby any accumulation of heated air over the head of the wearer is
entirely prevented; and should the temperature of the weather make it
desurable to have this current diminished, this is readily effected by the partial
closing of the top valve. When again the top valvo is wholly closed the
heated an accumulates as usual inside the hat, but only to a limited and not
Juous extent, for as soon as it becomes in excess of the external atmo-
sphenc pressure it escapes downwards through the passages in the back air
piece The top valve may be made of various convenient forms, but that
which I prefer as most generally suitable is represented in Figures 1 to 5
(both inclusive) of the annexed Drawings. Figure 1 is an elevation of an
enlarged scale of the valve, Figure 2, a vertical section of it; Figure 3, a
top plan, and Figures 4 and 5 two different sections on the line Z, Z, of
Figure 1. A is a circular metal stud which is inserted from the outside
through the aperture in the crown of the hat or cap or bonnet, and rests by
the rim a, a, upon the outer surface of the crown. A washer (Figure 6) is
then slipped over the under part f of the stud, and that part pressed back, as
shewn in Figure 4, against the washer. The stud is thus firmly secured in
its place. B is a circular orifice in the centre of the top of the stud, and b, b,
side apertures, which I form by cutting away the body of the stud in the
manner shewn in the sectional view Figure 5, and through which apertures
the heated air escapes, as indicated by the arrows. C is a plug, by means
of which the orifice B on the top of the stud may be wholly closed, or the
side apertures b, b, be partially closed, according as a change of temperature or

page_text: the coming on of rain or snow may render advisable. This plug is raised or
lowered by a screwed spindle e tapped through the bottom of the stud, and
acted upon by means of a button I, which is held fast by a nut i In
Figure 4 the valve is shewn as fitted to the crown of the hat, cap, or bonnet,
and the plug C as screwed up into the orifice B. In Figures 3 and 5 the
plug C is represented as being open, and the heated air as escaping through
the apertures B, b, b, into the atmosphere. The construction of the back
air piece is represented in Figures 7 and 8, Figure 7 being an elevation of so
much of the back part of a hat as is necessary to shew this addition, and
Figure 8 a plan of the hat, the better to display the course of the air passages.
It is made of a thin piece of cork P, with a number of grooves on the inner
face of it, which is inserted between the body of the hat, cap, or bonnet R and
the leather S. The leather is brought over the top of the air piece, and
perforated on the edge (just inside of the stitching), with holes h, h, to
correspond with the grooves of the au piece. The air piece may be attached
either to the leather before it is sewn in or to the body of the hat, but I
prefer the former method as being the more convenient. Instead of the air
piece being.confined to the back part of the hat, as represented in Figures 7
and 8, and before described, it may be carried all round; or half round, or to
any other extent deemed expedient, but in general an air piece of the size
shewn in the Drawings will be found sufficient.
Fourthly, my Invention consists of a new covering for the outsides of hats,
to be used in place of beaver or silk. It consists of an elastic fabric, which
may be formed in three different ways -First, the warp may be composed of
threads of caoutchouc, wholly or partially countered or covered with threads
of wool or silk, or by a mixture of wool and silk, or partly of caoutchouc
threads as aforesaid and partly of threads of wool or silk or a mixture of
wool and silk, and the shoot or weft may be composed of thi cads of wool
or silk, or a mixture of wool and silk; or, second, the warp may be of wool or
silk, or a mixture of wool and silk, and the shoot may be of threads of
caoutchouc, wholly or partially countered with threads of wool or silk, or a
mixture of wool and silk, or partly of threads of caoutchouc and partly of
threads of wool or silk or a mixture of wool and silk, or, third, the threads
of caoutchouc may, whether employed as warp or woof, may be used in an
uncovered state. The countering or covering of the threads may be effected
by any of the methods in ordinary use for the countering of thread or twine
The fabric may also be woven either in end or selvage pieces, or in circular
or endless pieces of any requited size by any of the machines or methods now
in use for such purposes, but when woven in circular or endless pieces the

page_text: warp used must be either of wool or silk or a mixture of wool and silk, and the
weft may consist either wholly of threads of caoutchouc, covered or uncovered,
or partly of threads of caoutchouc, covered or uncovered, and partly of threads
of wool or silk or a mixture of wool and silk; and such 10 all cases where the
caoutchouc thread covered or uncovered is used, whether as waip or woof in
combination with other threads, it is to be so woven in that the wool or silk
threads or mixed threads of wool and silk shall be thrown out to one or other
face of the fabric. When the sides and brims of hat coverings are cut out of
end or selvage pieces, they are joined by stitching before putting on, and
allowance made for the clasticity of the material; but I find it preferable to
have the fabric woven in circular and endless pieces of sizes which, when a
little expanded, will correspond with the sizes of the tips and biims, so that
when drawn or stretched over or upon their respective foundations they will
form coverings without any seams.
And fifthly, my Invention consists in forming morning and other hat and
cap bands of the elastic fabric last herein-before described. I prefer making
them circular without seams in the same way as the sido pieces for bat
coverings before described, but they may also be made of end pieces stitched
together, and in both cases they must be woven at top and bottom with what
are technically known by the name of covered selvages, as distinguished from
aw) in order to prevent them from cuiling.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention in the several
paits thereof, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that
what I claim is as follows
I claim first, the employment, in the formation of the bodies or foundations
of hats, caps, and bonnets, of the new composition fist herein-before described,
and the mode also herein-before described of forming such bodies and founda-
tions when the said composition is used.
Second, I claim the formation of the bodies of hats, caps and bonnets
of a combination of shola, pith, cloth, and cement, secondly herein-before
described.
Third, I claim the constructing of hats, caps, and bonnets with valvular
apertures in the top and permanent apertures in the under part, as before
described, however the said valvular apertures may be formed or whatever
part of the top they may be placed, and whether also the said permanent
apertures in the under part extend all round the hat or round a portion
of it only.
Fourth, I claim the employment of the new elastic fabric fourthly before
described as a covering for hats, caps, and bonnets. And,

page_text: Fifth, I claim the formation of mourning and other hat bands of the said
elastic fabric, as fifthly before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Richard Johnson, have hereunto
set my-hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December, One thousand