Stapler of the Week Archive- El Casco 85 CT

El Casco 85 CT steel chrome finish

El Casco 85 CT box cardboard printed label

The 85 CT is another amazing El Casco stapler. It may not be the gold plated version, but this chrome plier, like the M1-CA, is quite a statement. My first thought was how closely it resembles the Neva Clog Junior. The 85 CT's construction is a bit more substantial, but it is produced for a luxury market, whereas the Junior was manufactured with utility in mind. The box provides a useful lesson for stapler enthusiasts, because as the art of stapling maybe a universal language, it helps to know the corresponding word for what it is you're speaking.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, March 14, 2009.

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.