Stapler of the Week Archive-Swingline Speed Stapler

Swingline Speed Staper No 4 flat black finish

This is another stapler on loan from the Jack Pavlik collection. A similar Swingline model was featured in the Stapler of the Week on March 22, 2007. A similar finish can be found on a 1938 Swingline Speed Stapler No 3 featured by the Early Office Museum. I think you can find out a lot by looking at variations in paint and materials. What can I discern from the comparison of these two staplers? The design of the stapler didn't really change but the finish does. This flat black finish can also be found on typewriters and other office items (some of which I own) of the same era. The green version of the Speed Stapler No 4 seems to be a later version. The plastic has changed from black bakelite to a much glossier more refined plastic with the Swingline name inset into the top. In describing the green stapler, I made references to a WWII period drama we had been watching and I can only imagine the change in color perhaps references this event. Perhaps they had a few cans of green paint left over after the dust settled and thought, "Let's use it up on these staplers."

Excerpt from Stapler of the Week July 7, 2007.