Although paper dates back to the early Chinese Han dynasty (206 BC-220AD) the need for something to organise and securely hold the sheets together took sometime to develop. As the limitless length of the scroll became chopped into sheets, which were then sewn together with ribbon, a faster and less skilled means of organising documents became necassary.
This somewhat seemingly simple task has challenged inventors and engineers alike. And along this bizarre and this winding journey there has been some interesting results.
Throughout the Middle Ages sheets of paper has been stitched together with ribbon or sealed with hot wax. This was the highly skilled and time consuming trade which could only be afforded by royalty and the church, these techniques slowly evolved into book-binding.
But as society produced more and more multipage documents and had less time and didn't require the formality of a leather bound book-binding, another option was required. A cheap fast and skills method that anyone could use.
The first example of the need to employ a single item of metal dates back to 18th century France. King Loiuse XV (15th) needed a right royal solution. The answer was hand crafted gold and bejewelled bindings each stamped with the Royal Emblem. This insignia may have been to prevent tampering or forged letters being inserted into the Royal document.
King Loiuse XV (1710-1774)
A rope and hot pressed seal, perhaps wax or metal would be wrapped around parchment documents to secure them.
*Note: I must confess as an industrial historian having searched through many historical websites, looking for a chronological path towards the development of the paper stapler. I do find it odd, that nothing happened from 1774 until 1884, a gap of over a hundred and ten years. The creative minds of European inventors simply stopped for over a century.
Samual Slocum
Samual Slocum was an American inventor from Poughkeepsie, New York State. He was born in Jamestown the sone of Peleg slouch and Anne Slocum. He was raised in Usquepaugh, a small village in South Kingston where sometime in 1772 invented the first pin with a head to stop the metal stitch falling through the fabric. Samual was the sixth of eight children and worked as a carpenter before he decided to move to London and become a pin maker. During sandals time in London, England, he invented a machine to manufacture pins. These metal pins later became flathead pins, similar to staples. He later moved back to Poughkeepsie, NY and formed a manufacturing company, Slocum and Jillion, which invented a "machine for sticking pins in paper". The patent was filed in September 30, 1841, Patent #2275.
On August 7, 1866, the Novelty Paper Fastener was patented by the Patent Novelty Mfg Co. It allowed a single staple to be loaded and was used to mainly bind papers or books, but also carpet, furniture or boxes. Staples for the fastener were manufactured by the P.N. Mfg Co. in several sizes: 3/16 inches, 1/4 inches, 3/8 inches, and 1/2 inches.
On July 24 1866 a paper fastener was patented by George McGill invented a small bendable brass paper fastener (U.S. patent #56,587). In 1867 he received another patent (U.S patent #67,665) for a metal press to insert the fastener into paper. This invention was shown at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
George McGill
The first 'workable' solution came from George W. McGill, patented 18th February 1879. The McGill's Patent Single Stroke Staple Press had it's limitations too. The staples had to be loaded one at a time!
The need for a paper riveting system was on the increase and the first British patent was filed by Charles Gould 1868 for a wire stitching machine that could be used to bind magazines. Gould's invention used uncut wire, the wire was cut leaving a pointed edge which could be forced through layers of paper, the ends were folded down trapping the paper layers behind it. This is considered the birthplace of the modern single stroke stapler. However the story does not end here.
In the same year Albert klutzier patented a type of 'paper-clip' that used a single large staple to fasten paper together, however the ends were not crimped. This involved another hand process which took valuable time in the modern office of the day.
Henry R. Heyl filed a patent entitled "Improvement in the device for inserting Metallic Staples" in 1877 in Philadelphia. His invention both inserted and crimped the staple in one motion.
followed a series of development. The lipless stand machine cut a 'tongue' of paper and folded it through and tucked it in. The next design improvement enabled multiple staples to be loaded at one time in the form of strips.
E.H Hotchkiss #1 Desktop Stapler-Norwalk, Connecticut.
In 1895 the E.H. Hotchkiss company of Norfolk, Connecticut produced the modestly titled #No 1 Paper fastener. The mechanism employed a wired together staples and became so popular its generic name was "the Hotchkiss" much like the Hoover is the slang term for the vacuum.
Then during the 1920's a stationary wholesaler Jack Linksy founded the Parrot Speed Fastener Corporation opening in Varick street, New York and Long Island City in 1931. Eight years later the company changed its name to Speed Products. The stapler later renamed as the "Swingline" would change the world of stapling forever and the top loading mechanism has remained largely unchanged since 1937. In 1956 the company was renamed Swingline and in 1947 produced the 747, the most popular product they produced. The company was sold for $210 million in 1970 and swingline became a division of ACCO, under fortune Brands in 1987.
The staple remover was invented in 1932 by William G. Pankonin of Chicago, Illinois-U.S. Patent #2,033,050. The image above is not the exact patent drawing but it gives an indication of the concept.
The Electric stapler was patented October 10th 1967 by George E. Manganaro.
Some examples of early staplers:
ACE Pilot Model 404
Hotchkiss Zephyr Model 101A Art Deco Stapler.
Another riveting read by #selfiecomichero
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