Monday, February 18, 2008

Stapler of the Week Archive- El Casco M-1CA

El Casco M-1CA yellow and chrome finish

Upon leaving my last job, I half-jokingly hinted that my "gold watch" gift should be a gold-plated El Casco stapler. I realized the $200+ price tag was well beyond the non-profit budget I'd grown to know so well. It was only fitting that my stapler desires should go unfulfilled as my explorations into the world of staplers began when I was denied a new stapler as I started my employment there. A new stapler wasn't in the budget then either. My wife soothed my disappointment by giving me five vintage staplers, one for each day of the week, thus seeding the Stapler of the Week collection.

El Casco started out making fine revolvers in the 1920's in Spain. Their website states that the depression following the market crash of 1929 caused the company to diversify its products, "
adding well-crafted stationary articles to their arsenal." Each product comes with a life-time guarantee which accounts for the high price-tag. I haven't found another example of the M-1 in yellow and I'm unable to determine what it might have originally cost. I'm guessing it was in the $80 range, so this may be the most valuable stapler in the collection...and perhaps the most cute.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, February 18, 2008.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Stapler of the Week Archive- Neva Clog B-100

Neva-Clog B-100 chrome finish

Neva-Clog B-100 Box printed cardboard

Neva-Clog B-100 chrome finish, Made in Germany

I found a couple of examples of the B-100 stapling plier which I referenced in the Stapler of the Week on October 17, 2007. The top example is of US manufacture and the bottom made in Germany. This is a new area to explore. I also have an example of a desktop Neva-Clog manufactured in Germany which seems to be the earliest Neva-Clog in the collection.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week February 7, 2008.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Rexel No 560 Beaver

Rexel No 560 Beaver off-white, grey and chrome finish

When my wife and I first moved to New York, I came across this stapler while enjoying the hospitality of friends. I sheepishly asked if they would allow me to feature it in the Stapler of the Week and the next time I saw them, they donated it to the collection. Since then, I have been trying to find more information on this, the first English stapler featured.

Like Swingline, Rexel is the English stapler brand that falls under the ACCO corporate umbrella. I imagine that Rexel too was a company unto itself before becoming a subsidiary. Rexel staplers have numbers to identify them such as the No 560 above, but they also had nicknames like Beaver, Gazelle and Bambi. The newer Rexel model names seem to draw from astronomic or mythological sources. Perhaps these names help the English bond with their staplers as they possibly did in the states (Tatum T-155 "Little Buddy".) It's certainly enabled me to get to know the No 560 and perhaps in time I'll know it well enough to refer to it by it's nickname.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, February 7, 2008.