Stapler of the Week Archive- Arrow JT-21 & JT-21M

Arrow JT-21 steel chrome and hammered teal finish 

Arrow JT-21M steel chrome and teal finish

In my first year of college, I bought an Arrow T-50 after learning how to stretch my own canvases.  It was the first stapler that I owned, years before they became an object of study.  The Arrow JT-21 is the light-duty version of the Arrow professional line of tackers.  After stretching several semesters of canvases with the heavy-duty T-50, my younger self probably would've much preferred the easier action of the JT-21.  

The Arrow Fastener Company was founded by Morris Abrams in 1929.  He sold staples from his New York apartment and later began to develop and manufacture staplers of his own design. The weathered version dates to the years when Arrow manufactured staplers in Brooklyn, NY, whereas the newer one to after they expanded to a larger facility in Saddlebrook, NJ.  I find it interesting how the design of the stapler has remained basically the same but the decoration gives a hint to the date of its manufacture.  Like kitchen appliances, staplers follow the tastes of an era. 

Patent drawing for JT-21

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, April 16, 2020.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Etona HP-210

Etona HP-210 plastic grey and off-white tone, steel chrome finish

Etona HP-210 box cardboard

Etona HP-210 box cardboard

It took me some time to embrace contemporary design and materials when applied to staplers.  Plastics were okay when used for parts that could not be produced by folding or pressing steel but were often the most frequently broken components.  My romantic ideal was that old heavy steel is what gave value to the first staplers that started my collection.  One can experience the weight of it, the coldness of it in your hand, perhaps the subtle scent of machine oil, and the satisfying sound of its action as the staple is driven home.  That brings us to the Etona HP-210, our offering this week.

The HP-210, manufactured in Japan, meets none of the criteria that once were requirements for my collection.  It weighs next to nothing and as the box states is, "Lightweight Safer for glass counters."  In fact, there is very little sensory experience to holding it.  There is only the simplicity of form and function.  This sensibility is mirrored in the other Japanese examples in my collection: the Muji and the Nalclip Nicler.  In light of all the once perceived negatives, the HP-210 has won a place in my stapler pantheon and atop any glass counters I may someday find.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, April 9, 2020.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Novus J220

Novus J220 chrome finish

Novus J220 box cardboard

Novus J220 box cardboard

Today, we feature another shining German example from Novus.  We have already featured two desk top staplers by Novus, the B22 and the B7.  The J220 chrome finish has withstood the test of time nestled in its box.  Like fine silver, one almost needs to wear gloves while handling it so as not to leave fingerprints.  This fact always makes me question the design choice of such a finish in a hand-operated tool.  But as in the case of any highly-polished object aesthetic wins over function.  I suppose I'll just have to get out the white cotton gloves.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, April 1, 2020.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Ellepi Klizia 97

Ellepi Klizia 97 chrome and blue finish

Klizia box

Klizia staples

Classic Italian design is timeless.  The design and the packaging of this Klizia 97 suggest it originated in the era of Zenith staplers.  At first glance I supposed it to be vintage but found it to be currently featured in online stationary, merchantiles and design museum shops.  Their descriptions all highlight that the Klizia is produced in a 4-person factory in Cologno Monzese near Milan.  A subsidiary of Metalplus, Ellepi produces a line of two other staplers, the C12 and the Neutron 78, in addition to the Klizia 97.  The vast online availability and marketing of the Ellepi staplers makes me question if  it is still the product of 4 craftspeople in Northern Italy.  I hope they are okay.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, March 23, 2020

Stapler of the Week Archive- Neva Clog J-30 shallow mouth

Neva Clog J-30 brushed metal finish

I cannot stop looking for new Neva Clog staplers.  There are long stretches where I think there isn't anything new to see and then a new variation emerges.  This J-30 is keeping its opinion to itself.  The usual wide open grin is kept to a short smirk, which provides a stop for keeping that staple just the right distance from the edge of the paper.  This is the only deviation from the trusty design that started my stapler collection.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, March 16, 2020.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Zenith 548

Zenith 548 enamel finish steel and nickle plated brass

Zenith 548 box top exterior and interior cardboard

I am always on the lookout for my favorites and finding a Zenith plier stapler with original packaging is quite a treat.  My previous Zenith Stapler of the Week offerings have been the 551, 548/E & 548/E7 and now I present the 548.  There isn't too much variation between the 548s.  This version has one feature my other examples do not, the ability to both staple and pin by means of a sliding anvil.  The Zenith company website shows this feature is also available in other versions.  The 548 seems to be a slightly higher quality model with nickle-plated brass parts also available in gold-plate.  The box also reveals that the different staple sizes were noted by the color of the box they were packaged in, the 548 staples, for example, came in a blue box.  This explains the inscription of blue box in four languages on both the 548 and 548/E.

According to Zenith's history, the numbers of the models seem to correspond with the year they were introduced, the 548 in 1948, the 551 (I assume) in 1951 and later the 590 in 1990 and 595 in 1995.  I've always wondered at the seemingly arbitrary nature of model numbers.  This bit of information gives me hope that someday, the mystery of Swingline's later stapler models will be revealed.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, January 1, 2012.

Stapler of the Week Archive- Swingline 790

Swingline 790 plastic, steel, rubber

Swingline 790 plastic, steel, rubber

I have always enjoyed Swingline staplers for their sturdy metal construction much akin to the Tonka trucks of my youth.  At some point it must have become more profitable to forge the stapler of plastic rather than steel.  It was the same with Tonka trucks but the cost savings are lost in quality and longevity.  For example, here are two very nice Swingline 790 magazine staplers composed of at least 80% plastic.  Unfortunately, that plastic construction is liable to fail as is apparent on the white 790.

On the positive side, the 790 is innovative in both form and function; undoubtably, Swingline must have won some design award with it.  First off as a magazine stapler, the staples are coiled in a removable 5000 staple cartridge which is also used on several of Swingline's electric staplers.  Instead of a wire spool, the cartridge is a coil of flat glued staples from which the stapler separates the staple and forms legs to be crimped in the anvil.  On the mechanical scale of complexity, it's one step between a normal strip and a wire spool stapler.  On the Stapler of the Week scale it ranks just between nifty and very cool.

Excerpt from the Stapler of the Week, December 19, 2010.