Suspenders With Slotted Leather End Tabs and a Union Cord (Silberman, 1899)

"The desideratum is a strong and neat connection of the union-cord A with the back ends of the two shoulder-straps B."

Cut two shoulder straps of 35 mm elastic webbing (ours) to the notebook's length plus turnings, and seal the cut ends with a few stitches so they do not fray.

For each strap cut a leather tab shaped like his Fig. 2, about 40 x 70 mm (ours). Cut a cross-slot g across the middle, as long as the fabric loop is wide, and crease the tab across along the slot so its two ends come together.

Cut a strip of strong cotton, fold it lengthwise with the raw edges in and stitch it, then fold it at the centre to make loop i. Push the two ends through the tab's slot from the fold side so the folded loop projects below the slot, his Fig. 3.

Put the strap's back end between the two ends of the fabric loop, and both between the two ends of the folded tab (his Fig. 4). Sew rows of stitches k across the tab, through both sides of the tab, both ends of the loop and the strap; then sew another row k' round the tab's edge, apart from the loop, so the tab is held to the strap directly (his Fig. 5). Make an awl hole for each stitch in the leather.

Make the union cord A of strong cord with a loop j at each end, each loop linking one strap's fabric loop. Join the middle of the cord to the back loop cord h with a short elastic strap e, sewn round both, and make the back cord h with a loop at each end for the back trouser buttons (all lengths ours).

He leaves the front ends to "any preferred form of loops for attaching to the trousers". Ours: fold a leather tab over each strap's front end, stitch it through, and punch and slit a buttonhole in it for the front trouser button.

Button the back loops and front tabs to the trousers. The straps should hold the trousers up with the elastic only slightly stretched; shorten the straps at the front if they sag.

**Abraham Silberman** of Baltimore, US 632,972, dated 12 September 1899, filed 7 July 1899. He claimed the shoulder straps "each having its back end provided with a folded-leather end tab, f, having a cross-slot, g, in the fold, and a fabric loop, i, also folded and inserted through the said cross-slot", and the union cord linking the loops. He gives no sizes or strap material: the elastic webbing, all sizes, the leather and cotton, and the front tabs are ours.