IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Philip Holland at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
November 1874.
I, PHILIP HOLLAND, of Brixton Road, in the County of Surrey,
Bootmaker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BOOTS AND SHOES," to be as follows:―
Boots as also shoes which have high fronts as ordinarily constructed
(except of the elastic side piece kind), are made with an opening down
the centre of the front which is closed and fastened up by means of laces
passed through holes or by buttons and button holes, the buttons being
placed on one side of this opening, and the holes on the other side
thereof, which arrangements are subject to the following disadvantages:-
In the case of the laced boots when laced up the direct pressure on
the instep of the foot (the most sensitive part of the foot), the process of
lacing causing hardness from continual lacing, also decreasing the
flexibility of the boot or shoe; likewise by the increasing number of
substances required to make the lace holes strong, thus disfiguring the
instcp.

page_text: In the case of button boots, that is, where the holes are on one side
and the buttons on the other, one objection is that the boots are not
perfect in fitting, because there is no direct fastening on one side of the
boot, and consequently button boots get out of shape quicker than others.
Also button boots cannot be made smaller or larger without removing|
the seam out of the centre and destroying increasingly the fit of the boot;
also button boots cannot be worn on either foot, which is a great
objection in the case of childrens' boots or shoes, and the buttons come
off repeatedly in consequence of the great strain necessary to button
boots as ordinarily made, which require great force in order to properly
effectuate the same. Now in order to obviate these defects I construct
boots or shoes provided in the uppers with tabs or projections with button
holes therein. These tabs or projections on each side of the centre of
the boot are made so as to overlap alternately one side to the other, and
catch or fasten to buttons on cither side. These tabs or projections
might if perferred be made separate from the uppers, and I prefer to
attach said tabs or projections to the uppers in the ordinary process of
screwing, so that these tabs or projections form an alternate button fly.
By tlie adoption of these tabs or projections fitting alternately on either
side of the boot, the strain is equally divided on either side, forming a
direct fastening without pressure on the instep, and by this means greater
facility of buttoning is obtained, and less liability of the buttons coming
off. Also the peculiar formation of the tabs or projections admit of the
same being removed to alter size of the boot, thereby avoiding the
necessity of removing the buttons, which at present must be done when
the buttons have to be altered, and adopting these tabs or projections
admits of the boot being worn on either foot.
Although I have mentioned only buttons, hooks, studs, or their
equivalents may be used in my Invention.