Showing posts with label Izannah Walker Patent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Izannah Walker Patent. Show all posts

Izannah Walker Doll Patent

 Dixie's Note:
There was some discussion recently in a doll making group about Izannah's patent, so I thought it would be good to post a transcribed and searchable version of the Izannah Walker Patent that can be found at Google Patents.   You can view Izannah Walker's original patent here.
Patent description below.
===========================

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Izannah F. Walker, of Central Falls, in the county of Providence and State of rhode Island, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in the Manufacture of Dolls: and I do herby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of referenced marked thereon.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a representation of a transverse section of my doll.  Fig. 2 is a view of my press.  Fig 3 is a view of my die: and Fig. 4, a view of my doll completed. 

This invention has relation to the manufacture of dolls; and it consists, mainly, in the secondary or double stuffing next the external or painted layer, whereby, with a sufficiently soft surface, the tendency of the paint to crack or scale off is obviated.

In the construction of my doll I usually employ a press, A, of  ordinary construction, provided with upper and lower dies, of suitable shape, to form the front and back of the face, neck and chest, and sometimes the body of the doll.  In the dies I place several thickness of cotton or other cheap cloth, treated with glue or paste, so that they will adhere together and hold the shape impressed upon them by the dies.  When these cloth forms are dry and a layer of cotton batting or other soft filling is carefully laid over them, covering the whole or the head and neck portions only, as may be desirable, and then, in turn, covered with an external layer of stockinet or similar webbing.  The latter is then fastened to the features of the cloth forms by stitches or paste, and they are then placed again in the press.  After they are taken from the press the forms are filled with hair, cotton, or other stuffing, and a piece of wood having been centrally and longitudinally laid between the two for stiffening they are tightly pressed together and secured by sewing, pasting or gluing their edges to each other.  The finishing is then done by painting the face and other parts neatly with oil-paint. 

In the drawings, the letter A. designates a form of press which may be used.  B represents the upper die-plate with the dies for pressing the sections into form.  “a” indicates the outer webbing; b, the outer or secondary layer of stuffing; c, the inner layers of cloth, glued or pasted together, and mainly giving forms to the parts; d, the inner or hard stuffing; and e, the stiffening-rod.  C indicates the doll completed, by painting and the attachment of limbs.  These parts, if thought desirable, may be made with the advantage in a similar manner to that above set forth for making the head, neck and body.

My doll is inexpensive, easily kept clean, and not apt to injure a young child which may fall upon it.  It will preserve its appearance for a long time, as the soft secondary stuffing under the stockinet or external webbing enables it to give under pressure, so that the oil paint will not scale off.  At the same time the inner an dmore compact stuffing prevents ordinary pressure from forcing the surface in to such an extrent as to crack the paint. 

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is ---

In the manufacture of dolls the combination, with the external webbing, the internal cloth forms and the inner packing, of the secondary or outer stuffing between said forms and said webbing, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

                                    IZANNAH  F. WALKER.

Witnesses:
      ROWLAND H. FRY,
      G. F. CROWNINGSHIELD

Izannah Walker's Patent Anniversary


Today, November 4th, is the anniversary of Izannah Walker applying for a patent for her dolls. She had been making dolls a long while, and we don't know why she took so long to apply for a patent. But it's interesting that she did, and in her own name, too!

Applying for a Patent in 1873

If the oral tradition concerning Izannah Walker is true, she had likely been making dolls since the 1840's. Monica Bessette owns a tintype dating to 1858 which shows a child holding an Izannah Walker doll. If Izannah had been making dolls by 1858, why did she wait at least 15 years to apply for a patent?
Women were allowed to patent inventions under the Patent Act of 1790, but in many states women could not legally own property independent of their husbands. This might have been a barrier for some women applying for patents. What’s the point of applying for a patent if you can’t own the company that makes the profit from your invention? To get around this, when women had ideas, the patents were applied for in the name of a brother or father, to keep the invention and possibility for profit within the family.
Rhode Island at the time was restrictive regarding suffrage for white males, never mind women and people of color. By the early 1840s the voting population of males had been reduced by one half of the population, because men were required to own $134 freehold in order to vote. It is likely that this restrictive suffrage environment might have made it challenging for the small business owner in Rhode Island. This is the climate in which Izannah, a woman, lived, invented and created.
Many of you who read this blog are women who have small businesses of your own. You are doll makers, shop owners, pattern makers. You understand the amount of thought, creativity and follow-through it takes to be a working artist and business person. Imagine trying to run your business and not be allowed to own it. Imagine developing an idea and having to pass it off as your brother’s or father’s invention. In 1869, the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed in New York. I wonder what newspapers Izannah read, and if news of this movement fueled her views about her own work and life?
The fact that Izannah did eventually apply for the patent in her own name tells us something about Izannah. At the age of 56, she was successful enough to take the time and money to pay a lawyer to apply for a patent. It tells us that she thought it was important to claim her creation as her own. And perhaps her application of a patent in her own name makes a statement about women as contributors in the American society in which she lived.

Recent Posts

Izannah Walker Chronicles Pictures



Blog Archive

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
This site began on January 1, 2008 as a way to share pictures of original Izannah Walker dolls with those who love them. It's come a long way! Thank you to all of you who have come here to read and research.