THE PRESS-JACK.
A press-jack such as the tailors use, is made of two hardwood boards, thirty-five inches long, one inch thick, planed both sides and edges and cut egg-shape; the wide end being eight inches in width, and the narrow or small end, four inches wide, one forming the top and the other the bottom.
Between the top and bottom are screwed two blocks of solid wood, four by four inches, and six inches high. The first one is screwed to the top and bottom, three inches from the large end, and the second block is screwed to the top and bottom, seven inches from the large end, thereby leaving a space to the small end, of twenty-eight inches, for convenience in handling the garments while pressing.
The top of the press-jack is left perfectly plain and smooth; the bottom, however, is padded for convenience for pressing with ten-ply of wadding, cut the same shape of board or bottom of press-jack. Over this place a piece of white heavy drilling, drawn tight over the wadding to keep in place and tacked all around the edges with brass head tacks. Cut cotton off evenly around the edges beyond the tacks. This completes the press-jack and is ready for use.
The press-jack as tailors term it, is used for the pressing of clothes, and is also useful to lay clothes on while cleaning.