IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SILK AND OTHER HATS
Year: 1877

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Antoine Berteil and Jean Louis
Toulza at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd July 1877.
ANTOINE BERTEIL and JEAN LOUIS TOULZA, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SILK AND OTHER HATS."
Silk hats have been in use ever since One thousand eight hundred and thirty,
but this manufacture has since that time undergone considerable modification, and
has received a number of improvements which have resulted in the light, elegant,
and indispensable head dress of the present day.
There is a point however in which silk hats are still susceptible of considerable
improvement, and of which wearers are continually complaining, and that is, that
the joint of the hat at A, B, C, D, Fig. 1, is too hard, it presses on and hurts the
forehead, and frequently even occasions violent headaches. By the present mode of
making the brims of silk hats, this great inconvenience cannot be avoided. In fact
this brim is composed of a substance covered with two fabrics, the whole dressed or
stiffened all throughout with gum lac, the parts being cemented or glued together,
and the surface smoothened with a hot iron. This brim is then united to the
cylindrical part, which constitutes the body of the hat. The application of the silk
covering takes place afterwards.
A silk hat made in this manner is in all its parts liable to be affected by heat,
but when cooled it acquires in the stiff parts (that is to say, in the brim and at the
joint) a hardness and rigidity equal to that of wood. This will account for the
inconveniences which we have pointed out above.
The object of our Invention is so to modify and improve the manufacture of tall,
straight hats, when made of silk, felt, or beaver, that the operation, which consists
in using the ordinary instrument for imparting to the hat the shape of the head,
will be no longer necessary, and that any hat of a suitable size will adapt itself to
all shapes of heads, even the most deformed, without even hurting or tiring the
forehead.
In carrying out our Invention (instead of a brim made of a stiff substance covered
with two fabrics, as above mentioned) we employ a brim made of felt or some other
soft and flexible fabric. This brim, which may be made separately or cut out of a

page_text: piece of felt or other suitable fabric, is very liberally supplied or coated with gum
lac at all the outer part as far as E, F, G, H, Figures 2 and 3. This admits of
giving to the brim the shape or curve desired, but it remains supple and soft at the
inner part near the joint at I, J, K, L, that is to say, at the part which immediately
touches the head. This brim is then united to the cylindrical part by the workman,
and the remainder of the work is done in the same manner as in hats with
ordinary brims.
The under part of the brim may be of felt, with a short pile or black or colored
beaver; or it may be covered with any suitable fabric.
Sometimes for hat bodies a covering of felt is employed instead of silk plush; it
will be evident however that our improvement is equally applicable to this kind
of hat, the manufacture of which does not materially differ from that of silk hats.
Having now described our Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Silk
and other Hats," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
we claim as the Invention intended to be secured to us by Letters Patent as
aforesaid,
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First, The manufacture of the brims of hats of felt or other suitable material
with a supple or soft joint covered with a silk plush above and with any suitable
fabric beneath, as and for the purpose herein set forth.
Second. The application of such brims to all kinds of tall hats, whether made of
silk, felt, or beaver.
In witness whereof, we, the said Antoine Berteil and Jean Louis Toulza, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirtieth day of June, ine year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
A. BERTEIL. (L.S.)
TOULZA.
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