Reinforcing Laps



After Jacob Davis patented his rivets overalls improvement there was an influx of similarly-minded patents. With all these patent requests you would think seam reinforcements was suddenly fashionable after 1873. Rivets and cloth material used to strengthen a seam was of course a utilitarian idea at the time and patent would have been a great marketing tool for workwear brands and manufacturers.

Below is a drawing from an 1874 patent granted to Jacob Greenbaum, apparently for the Greenebaum Brothers outfit in San Francisco. The idea is to reinforce stress points on seams that tend to rip using a material "of any desired fabric." I wonder if using leather, as some vintage overalls have, would have infringed upon this patent.

Billiken Man Jeans Update

In the Billiken Man Jeans post I quoted the "recreation of interlock sewing machines to produce the union special stitches which was considered impossible before." I mistook this to be referring to a chainstitch but "interlock" actually refers to the overlock stitches on the pocket bags and inseam. Below are pictures that show this overlock stitch.











Big thanks to a certain Glenn from NY for the education.