THE FASTENER SOCIETY
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THE FASTENER SOCIETY
The Fastener Society
Research by
Curtis A. Scaglione
(Employee Temporary Identification Badge)
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THE FASTENER SOCIETY
Table of Contents:
NAME
COMPANY
PAGE
ABRAMS, Morris
Arrow Fastener Co.
5
BRIGGS, Thomas
Boston Wire Stitcher
5
BROWN, William J. Jr.
Acme Staple Company
6
BUMP, George P.
Bump Paper Fastener
6
BUNNELL, Earl C.
Neva-Clog Products Inc.
6
BURRIDGE, Lee S.
Sun Manufacturing Co.
7
CHASE, William
Boston Wire Stitcher
7-8
DOMINICK, Louis
Hotchkiss Staple Co.
8
DOWNES-SHAW, Olive M.
Acme Stapler Co.
8
DRYPOLCHER, William
Markwell
9
HOPPEL, Alice G. Guerin
Hotchkiss Staple Co.
9
HOTCHKISS, Eliphalet H. (Eli)
Hotchkiss Staple Co.
9
HOTCHKISS-HEYN, Gertrude
Hotchkiss Staple Co.
10
HUTCHISON, Miller Reese
Hutchison Spool O Wire
10
IRVIN, Alexander H.
Hotchkiss & New Irvin
11
LAURA, Donna M.
Acme Staple Company
11
LIPMAN, Hymen L.
Lipman Eyelet Machine
11-12
LINSKY, Jack
Swingline
12
LINSKY, Belle
Swingline
12-13
MCGILL, George W.
McGill’s
13-14
MELENDEZ, Sal
Swingline
14
MOON, Doris L.
Stanley Bostitch
14
OBSTELD, Abe
Markwell
14
OBSTELD, Lou
Markwell
15
OBSTELD, Sol
Markwell
15
POLZER, Feidolin
Hotchkiss Staple Company
15-16
REISERT, Ambrose (Andy)
King Fastener Company
16
SHIVELY, Mae E.
Alex H. Irvin Company
16
TAGER, Charles
Inventor
17
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THE FASTENER SOCIETY
While exploring the development, production and patenting of the stapler and paper fastener, I
found myself wondering about the people that made it all happen. The designers, inventors,
employees, and the owners alike, played important roles in this wonderful little tool.
Just trying to discover the many name brands, verifying what little information was found, patent
searches, turned into a 15 year project. That’s right, 15 years.
Along the way and in the back of my mind, I thought how interesting and necessary it would be
to learn about the people that made it all happen. But, at the time that was impossible, there was
no information. It wasn’t printed, therefore, it didn’t exist.
One by one, the pieces started to fall in place. The internet is forever growing. Information that
wasn’t available yesterday will be available tomorrow.
Major contributors turned out to be the stapler companies themselves, Acme, Bostitch and
Markwell, to name a few. Years ago, and by that I do mean only a few years ago. This
information was not available. Now they have history pages where they proudly display the
founders, early stapler models, factories and yes, even employees. To each of them, I say, Good
Job. You do have a valuable history, as valuable as the history of the typewriter or the adding
machine. Inventors like William Brown, Thomas Briggs and Miller Hutchison contributed as
much as Henry Ford or Thomas Edison and it is only right these men be recognized for their
contributions.
So, with that said, it is my pleasure to bring to you a snap shot of the men and women who made
the stapler and fastener available to us all.
Curtis Scaglione
(1st Edition - Published 2014)
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THE FASTENER SOCIETY
ABRAMS, Morris - Started a one-man sales operation that would become the Arrow Fastener
Company. Abrams’ determination to succeed is credited for
the growth and success of the company.
Arrow Fastener Co. was located at 30-38 Maujer Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. This would be their home for nearly two
decades. At some point in the first 25 years of their history,
the company incorporated to become the Arrow Fastener
Co. Inc.
The early patents issued to Arrow include 2,205,709 which
was filed for on June 21, 1939 by Morris Abrams himself.
His address was listed as Brooklyn, New York. This, the
first patent, was approved on June 25, 1940. The patent appears to be similar to the Model A44.
The second patent, 2,312,142 was filed on January 8, 1941 by Morris Abrams and George
Berger, both listing Brooklyn as their home. This patent was approved on February 23, 1943.
This patent has the same general appearance as the Model 11.
The next patent was applied for on March 23, 1945 by George Berger and was approved on
March 7, 1950. It is believed to be the same Model 11 with a capacity for smaller staples.
The last patent, 2,535,482 was applied for on March 25, 1948 by Frank S. Boroughs and was
approved on December 26, 1950. This was a new hand held model.
A few of the early Arrow Fasteners included the Model 11, Model A-44, Model 105, Model 200
and Model 203.
BRIGGS, Thomas A. - In 1900, Mr. Briggs organized the Boston Wire Stitcher Company, of
which he was president. He initially purchased a plant in
East Greenwich, R. I. and there began the manufacture of his
machine. In addition to the stitchers that figure as an
important part of every printing plant in the country the
company manufactures a machine for securing window
shades to rollers and various machines and appliances for
use in printing and allied trades. The Boston Stitcher is
unexcelled in performance. Along with being the inventor of
the products manufactured in the East Greenwich plant, and
with a talent for mechanics that amounts to genius, Mr.
Briggs was also active in the management of his plant and in
solving perplexing business and industrial situations. He
showed himself on many occasions to be the able man-of-affairs as well. The prosperity of his
company, based upon the work of his productive mind, is due in large measure to his strong
guidance.
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BROWN, William J. Jr. William had several patents dating to the 1880’s. In 1894 he
organized the Acme Staple Company and later that year formed the Acme Staple Company Ltd.
The firm moved to Camden NJ in 1909.
Brown was reportedly a resident of Philadelphia, PA. His place of business was at 707 Sansom
Street, Philadelphia. His early patents indicate an application date of October 13, 1875.
Brown's fasteners included the Single Staple Press, several models of the Acme, and the Sure
Shot. Many collectors mistakenly called his machines the “Yarger” after S.J. Yarger who was
the sole distributor for Brown’s earlier fasteners. Yarger later went on to have an active role in
the Acme Fastener Company. At some point the distributor changed to become M.S. Cook.
Today, we of course refer to this little office machine as “the stapler”, but in Brown’s day, it had
many names, staple fastener, staple press or fastener. Brown never referred to his fastener as
such, he called it, “the machine”.
During the period known as the mechanical revolution machines were fashionable. For better or
worse, the stapler was in fact a simple machine.
Brown's complete association with the Acme Staple Company is still unclear. As indicated, he
did form the Acme Staple Company but that almost sums up our knowledge of his contribution.
BUMP, George P. – was the inventor of the Bump Paper Fastener
and the Bump Perfected Paper faster Company. His primary base of
operation was La Crosse, Wisconsin. Unlike staplers of the day, the
Bump cut a hole in the paper the machine then folded and inserted the
cut section into a slice in the paper.
Much credit is associated to Mr. Bump for his ingenuity and
dedication to the development of many patents, to include the paper
fastener. But, nothing is known of his personal life.
BUNNELL, Earl C. – Was an industrial designer with many patents approved for all types of
items. He is remembered through his work for Neva-Clog Products Inc. Bridgeport, Conn.
Mr. Bunnell was born on or about 1895 and died in 1958.
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BURRIDGE, Lee S. - An inventive genius and manufacturer who was credited with over 60 toy
patents and it is reported that he constructed nearly 700 different
models He was born in Paris, France on September 22, 1861. His
parents were Levi Spear and Emma Frances (Ogden) Burridge.
His father was a noted dentist in France and had a number of
royalties among his clientele.
After completing his education in England, Lee came to New
York City in 1878. He quickly directed his attention to making
toys and in 1890 established the Sun Manufacturing Co. In
recognition of his inventive ingenuity, Lee received an award of
merit by the American Institute.
Lee also directed his attention to simplifying the parts and movements of the typewriter.
He finally developed the Sun Typewriter, which came in two types, the index introduced around
1885, and in 1901 the keyboard typewriter was introduced.
What is interesting is his efforts with the typewriter where accomplished at the same time as his
work with the stapler, The Century Stapling Machine and the Sun Stapling Machine.
He never married and he died at age 54 in New York City on May 4, 1915. At the time of his
passing his estate was appraised at $91,000.00. His brother Frank received the majority of his
estate.
CHASE, William G. – Salesman for the Boston Wire Stitcher. He was born in 1869. In 1885 he
started his career in the printing industry as a printer’s devil in the office of the Berlin (Wis)
Courant. He served an apprenticeship of two and a half years and joined the Compositor’s Union
of Oshkosh in 1888. Mr. Chase followed the printing business until 1900.
It was in 1900 that he started his new career of salesman. He went to the Latham Machinery
Company and sold himself to Mr. Latham.
With no experience in sales and no knowledge of the types of machines produced, Mr. Chase
was afforded an opportunity to prove himself. He obviously did prove himself, because he held
that position for 12 years. Four of those years he managed the Boston office.
It was in Boston that he attracted the attention of J. W. Phinney, manager of the Boston branch of
the American Type Founders Company.
Mr. Chase resigned from Latham Machinery Co. in September 1912 and went to New York. In
June of 1913 Chase was hired on the recommendations of J.W. Phinney. President Nelson of the
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American Type Founder’s Company hired him to boost Boston Wire Stitchers in the Eastern
branches, principally to make a Boston Wire Stitcher town of New York.
It took little time as Chase was well known throughout the printing industry of New York.
He had a great success selling the Boston and in doing so kept the Boston Wire Stitcher factory
at East Greenwich R.I. working fifteen hours a day. And it was a fact that the factory could not
keep up with his orders
DOMINICK, Louise - worked at the E.H. Hotchkiss Co., as a private secretary to the sales
Manager. She was a lifetime resident of Norwalk, CT. It was reported that she passed away at the
age of 81. She was the daughter of the late Frank and Lillian Palumbo.
DOWNES – SHAW, Olive M. – Was a longtime resident of Franklin when she died at the age
of 90 following a period of failing health. She was born in Wilmot, NH, September 11, 1920,
daughter of Howard and Audrey (Morrill) Downes.
Olive lived in Franklin for most of her life other than a short time in Tewksbury, MA. She and
her late husband enjoyed wintering in Tampa, FL. She was a former member of the Grange.
Olive attended the Congregational Christian Church in Franklin for many years. She enjoyed
playing the violin for family and friends. Olive especially enjoyed gardening and working in her
flower beds.
She worked in manufacturing and had been employed for Acme Staple Company in Franklin for
over 25 years, later working as a secretary. Olive was once interviewed by the local paper.
When asked about what she did for the Acme Staple Company, she stated, “I’m out in the plant,
maybe picking up staples for shipping. I try to expedite and keep things moving as best as
possible. There are a lot of little things that go along with it. It’s a lot of fun, especially
communicating with the customers. You are a fixture once you are known. I talk to them just
like they are my next door neighbor.”
She was predeceased by her husband, George E. Shaw who died in 1990. Her family includes
two daughters: Gail and Georgia. Her son is named James. She also had three stepsons, Donald,
David and Douglas. She was buried in the Franklin Cemetery.
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DRYPOLCHER, William – Markwell’s first employee. He went to school at night to become
an engineer. He was probably responsible for the evolution of the RB type two-hand industrial
strike tackers, using staples larger than the 176. It was he who developed the idea of a singlehanded spring operated squeeze tacker, that could be squeezed with one hand, while holding the
product being stapled with the other.
HOPPEL, Alice G. Guerin - of Norwalk passed away on Thursday, December 17, 2009 in her
home, following a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
Alice was 86. She was the wife of the late Frank Mark Hoppel, Jr.
Born in Norwalk on July 04, 1923, Alice was the daughter of the late
Charles M. and Helen (Taylor) Guerin and attended local schools. She
had lived in Norwalk her entire life.
Alice worked as a secretary for the former E.H. Hotchkiss Co. of
Norwalk and the South Norwalk Trust Co. for many years. She was a
member of the Norwalk United Methodist Church.
HOTCHKISS, Eliphalet H. – Founder of the E.H. Hotchkiss Company. Eli was born on
February 19, 1858 and died on March 16, 1917. He
married Julia Snowden and together had a daughter,
Gertrude S. Hotchkiss. Reportedly, they had other
children that died in the early part of the 1890’s.
Eli was the loyal son of George Hotchkiss and
continued to serve him well into Eli’s late 30’s. During
the late 1890’s Eli bought into an existing company that
manufactured and sold the stapler. In little time Eli had
complete ownership, contracted a distributor, and began
producing in large quantities the staplers we now call
the Hotchkiss.
Eli had many business interests and was active in his hobbies as well.
After his death, Julia took over the company and ran it for many years.
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HOTCHKISS – HEYN, Gertrude – Daughter of Eli, Gertrude was used in an early
advertisement for the staple company. She was to become the
owner of the company after the retirement of her mother, Julia S.
Hotchkiss.
Nothing is known of her management of the Hotchkiss Staple
Company.
She was known for her contributions to the Norwalk Hospital
Foundation.
Among other contributions, she also provided Bethune Cookman
College Daytona, Florida with a chapel that carries her name, The
Gertrude Hotchkiss Heyn Memorial Chapel.
HUTCHISON, Miller Reese – Inventor of the Hutchison Spool-O-Wire Fastener and countless
other inventions, too many to mention.
He was born August 6, 1876 in Montrose Alabama. His father
was William Hutchison and mother born Tracie Elizabeth
Magruder.
Hutchison attended Marion Military Institute from 1889 through
1891, Spring Hill College from 1891 through 1892, the
University of Mobile Military Institute from 1892 through 1895,
and graduated from Auburn University (then called Alabama
Polytechnical Institute) in 1897. While still in school he invented
and patented a lightning arrester for telegraph lines in 1895.
At the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in 1898, he volunteered and was appointed
engineer for the United States Lighthouse Board, laying cables and mines to protect harbors in
the Gulf of Mexico.
Hutchison married Martha Jackman Pomeroy of Minnetonka, Minnesota in New York on May
31, 1901. Their children were: Miller Reese Hutchison born in 1902, Harold Pomeroy Hutchison
born 1904, Juan Ceballo Hutchison born 1906, and Robley Pomeroy Hutchison born 1908. He
died suddenly on February 16, 1944 in New York.
"He was called "one of Alabama's greatest contributions to science and invention." Among his
best friends was Thomas Edison.
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IRVIN, Alexander H. - Irvin secured the exclusive rights
from Eli H. Hotchkiss to sell the paper fastener that was
manufactured in Norwalk, Conn. In order to do this, Mr. Irvin
had to give a bond guaranteeing the disposal each month of
the entire output of the Hotchkiss factory.
History tells us that he brought Fred J. Dyer into his circle for
the purpose of sales and distribution. Mr. Dyer, also from
Curwensville, owned a store and had vast knowledge in the
area of sales. Like the Irvin’s, and Patton’s, the Dyer family
were early pioneers of Pennsylvania. Like the Irvin family,
they were equally business orientated.
Through personal solicitation and a heavy advertising
campaign, the Hotchkiss Fastener became well known and carried in nearly every office supply
store in the country. So great was the success that Hotchkiss gave Alexander Irvin sole control
of sales throughout the world. It was at this point that the Alex H. Irvin Company was born.
LAURA, Donna M. – Born on January 1, 1956 and raised in Hudson. Donna was a graduate of
Alvirne High School in 1974. She passed on March 26, 2005.
She was a former employee of the Acme Staple Company in Franklin, New Hampshire.
Donna was the daughter of Donald and Agnes (McDermott) Grainger. Donna was raised in
Hudson and was a graduate of Alvirne High School, class of 1974.
LIPMAN, Hymen L. – Inventor of the Lipman Eyelet
Machine. Mr. Lipman was born March 20, 1817, in Kingston,
Jamaica to English parents. He immigrated to the United
States around 1829 with them, arriving in Philadelphia, PA.,
where he resided for the remainder of his life. He died on
November 4, 1893.
In 1848, he was married to Mary A. Lehman, daughter of
Peter Lehman, one of the founders of the Philadelphia
College of Pharmacy. They had a son and two daughters.
He is credited with registering the first patent for a pencil with an attached eraser on March 30,
1858.
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In 1862, Lipman sold his patent to Joseph Reckendorfer for $100,000 who went to sue the
pencil manufacturer Faber for infringement.
Lipman developed and patented his eyelet machine in 1886
LINSKY, Jack – Founded The Parrot Speed Company,
which became Swingline in 1925, Jack started by
importing his first stapler, The Babe, from Germany. He
and his wife started a small stapler and stationary
business with little investment and turned it into a
multimillion dollar corporation. Today, Swingline is the
stapling and paper punch division of ACCO Brands,
Inc. Swingline earned the prestigious title of “#1 Brand
of Staplers” by building quality and durability into
every product.
Until Swingline’s founder, Jack Linsky, started
introducing breakthrough products that made stapling
quicker and easier, little had changed in staplers since the first one was originally constructed.
Linsky’s breakthroughs included “Frozen Wire Staples,” a row of 25 staples held together by
adhesive; the "Stroke Control," which reduced staple jamming; and the “Open Channel,” which
allowed rows of staples to be easily inserted into staplers.
Originally the Parrot Speed Fastener Company, the company’s first manufacturing facility was
opened in 1931, and in 1939 the corporation changed its name to Speed Products. In 1956 the
company became Swingline, which was also the name of their most popular line of staplers.
LINSKY, Belle - Earned her place as a successful business woman, an art collector and a
philanthropist. Said to be the treasurer of the Swingline Company, It is more realistic to credit
her as the co-founder.
Mrs. Linsky and her husband, Jack, donated their collection of European art from the
Renaissance and later periods to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The 380 donated objects, many of them acknowledged masterpieces, were acquired over 40
years by the Linsky’s and were valued at $60 million.
"I love this city and I owe it a debt," Belle said in 1982, two years after Jack's death, when she
bequeathed their collection of Old Masters, 18th-century French furniture, porcelains, bronzes
and Renaissance jewelry to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Many of the works are on view in
the museum's 2,890-square-foot Jack and Belle Linsky Galleries.
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Mrs. Linsky and her husband also endowed a pavilion that bears their names at the Beth Israel
Medical Center in Manhattan.
Jack and Belle had two children, seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
While Jack was known as the engineer, Belle was known for her strict accounting of all funds.
It was said that Belle would go into the different Swingline offices and count the change versus
the dollar bills, she was asked why she did this and her reply was, you have to watch the
change, the dollar bills will take care of themselves.
MCGILL, George W. - of Washington, DC, and subsequently New York, NY, was a prolific
inventor of brass paper fasteners and paper fastening devices from the mid-1860s through the
early 1890s. On July 24, 1866, he was awarded US Patent No. 56,587 for a small bendable
brass paper fastener, and on Aug. 13, 1867, he was awarded Patent No. 67,665 for a press
designed to insert these fasteners into papers.
He exhibited his paper fasteners at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, where he
was awarded a first prize medal, and continued to patent variations and improvements on these
products through the 1880s.
On February 18, 1879, McGill was awarded Patent No. 212,316 for the McGill's Single-Stroke
Staple Press. Like all McGill paper fastening products, the press was manufactured and
distributed by Holmes, Booth and Haydens of New York. To use the device, a single preformed
bent wire staple one-half inch wide is inserted into a slit under the plunger.
After the device is used to insert the staple, the device is ready to be reloaded with another
individual staple.
The patent states that "The principal object of my invention is to effect the insertion and
clinching of a staple in sheets of paper, pamphlets, or other articles. My invention is arranged
as a hand-press, and consists of a bedplate, furnished at its front end with a clinching anvil,
and at its rear with a pillar, in which is pivoted one end of a lever-arm, the other end of which
is provided with the mechanism for inserting the staple in the articles to be bound, and which,
in connection with the anvil, clinches the staple in said articles."
This cast iron press is 4.5 inches high by 6.25 inches long and weighs 2 lb. 9 oz. It is painted
black with gold and red details. The gold lettering on the base reads McGill's Patent Single
Stroke Staple Press Patented Feb. 18, 1879.
Similar machines produced during this period include Brown's Single Blow Staple Binder,
produced by W. J. Brown, Jr., of Philadelphia, PA.
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Two other types of stapling machines were invented at virtually the same time as these hinged
single staple devices. One other type included a variety of devices with two separate pieces, a
clincher and a driver, which was also loaded with staples one at a time. Examples are the small
Novelty and Victor paper fasteners, as well as the larger McGill Staple Press No. 2. The latter
was covered by Patent No. 252,841, which was issued to McGill on Jan. 24, 1882.
MELENDEZ, Sal – Supervisor at the end of Swingline’s production in New York. Sal started
working for Swingline in the mid 1970’s as a shipping clerk. At the time he was a young
immigrant barely able to speak English. During his employment of over 21 years with the
company, he met his wife, Juana, an assembly line worker. Sal was one of the many employees
let go when Swingline moved its operation to Nogales Mexico.
Moon, Doris L. - formerly Doris Asselin, was the wife of the late Frank O. Moon.
Mrs. Moon worked at Stanley Bostitch for many years before
retiring.
She was an honorary member emeriti of the Old Time Fiddlers
Club of RI. She was an excellent hostess to her family, friends and
members of the Old Time Fiddlers Club.
She enjoyed her home and her flower garden. She was a
communicant of St. Bernard Church.
OBSTFELD, Abe - One of the two founders of the Markwell Company. Abe and his brother
started the company after World War I. Abe was the Vice President
of the Markwell Staple Company.
Abe being the younger of the two brothers took the second chair to
his older brother, Lou. The brothers decided to form a company
based on the products of which they both had knowledge in the
marking field – hence the name Mark-Well.
Abe handled the sales side of the business, trying to locate able
salesmen and turning them into distributors.
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OBSTFELD, Lou - As the eldest brother, Lou was to be the President of the company.
Both he and Abe had experience in marketing and as it were,
already had a good foundation to start a successful business.
Duties and responsibilities were later divided with Lou
becoming involved in purchasing, and having staple making
equipment made for them so that they could start making their
own machines.
Lou and Abe did not get on well with each other, so the
divisions were very separate, and employees working in one
section tended to keep apart from the others. It is said that
their disagreements had in some part to do with their different
favorite ball teams. Abe was an avid Giants fan, Lou favored
the Dodgers.
In spite of these tensions, the brothers ran a very successful company.
OBSTFELD, Sol - The younger brother, started his own Markwell distribution business. Sol
called his company Tiglon, this is from the words “tiger” and” lion”. After leaving the military at
the end of WWII Sol Obstfeld’s business address was located at 200 Hudson Street New York.
POLZER, FRIDOLIN – A key figure and without a doubt a dominant force behind the E. H.
Hotchkiss Companies production and development section, was Fridolin Polzer. Credited with
over three dozen patents. Mr. Polzer’s first patent was approved in 1925 and he continued to
submit patents into the 1940’s.
What is known is that Fridolin Polzer was born in Brockersdorf, Austria in 1878. His father was
named Benedict Polzer and mothers name was Mary Berger. Fridolin was married to Susanna
Blako on October 26, 1907 and they resided in Norwalk, Connecticut. The New York Times
reported on June 4th 1962 that “Fridolin Polzer died yesterday at his home at the age of 84.”
While trying to determine the kind of man Fridolin was, it was discovered that he at one time
captained one of the bowling teams from the E. H. Hotchkiss Stapler Company. The archive
article indicated that the Staplers verses the Staples where at least three games took place to
determine the winner of the contest. As it were, Fridolin was actually a very poor bowler with
scores as low as 50.
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As busy as he was, he was still a team player. He enjoyed having fun and wasn’t afraid to laugh
at himself. After all, he did drive a Packard.
He was not as famous as many other inventors of the day, but one thing is for sure, Fridolin
Polzer was a pioneer in the field. His work lives on in every fastener that continues to work
decades after the original owners have long passed on. His contribution generated millions of
dollars in profit for the E. H. Hotchkiss Company and for the last owner, Gertrude HotchkissHeyn.
REISERT, Ambrose (Andy) – Founder of the King Fastener Company. Born in 1914 and died
in 2006. Andy originally worked for Bostitch and ultimately left
to start his own company. Andy was the nephew of Jack Scully
and although it is not discussed there may have been issues
associated to his departure and the forming of the new company.
Mr. Reisert was a machinist at Bostitch and knew the staplemaking equipment so well that he was able to fashion his own
equipment in his parent's garage. From that garage, he started
King Fastener Co. His daughter said the company grew to be, "at
one time, the largest bootleg staple company in America."
SHIVELY, Mae E. - One of Irvin’s employees was Mrs. Mae E. Shively. She was the
Secretary-Treasurer for the Alexander Irvin Company who was the sole distributor of the E. H.
Hotchkiss staple. According to her, she “single-handedly” processed a big shipment of staplers
to Japan. As it was her responsibility to handle sales correspondence for the sale of the
Hotchkiss stapler, it would also make sense that she would have received the order from Japan
and acted on it.
The Alex H. Irvin Co. continued for several years after the death of its namesake.
According to Mae Shively, the company moved to Philadelphia and continued to market the
Hotchkiss until the patent rights expired. This would coincide with the Irvin companies
marketing of their own line of office supplies. No longer under the umbrella of the Hotchkiss
Company, the Alex H. Irvin Co. leadership continued to capitalized on the sales network already
established.
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TAGER, Charles I. - Inventor for several staplers. Ask collectors if they have any fasteners
designed by Charles I. Tager, and most won’t have any idea who you are talking about. Ask
those same collectors if they have a Flash or a Champion and you should now get a better
response. If they don’t have an example, they at least know what you are talking about.
From all indications, Charles Tager had an idea. That was to create an inexpensive fastener that
was dependable. He knew what he wanted as evidenced by his patent design that preceded the
actual fastener.
Tager’s design for his fastener, (Patent Des. 119,078), was approved on February 20, 1940.
His plan for the Flash was to produce a stapler that was inexpensive to produce and reliable
enough to last. In both cases his standards were achieved. His design was patented before his
working model. Tager submitted the design to the USPTO on November 17, 1939 and nine
months later he submitted the plans for his complete stapler.
This fastener pops up every now and then and their value appears to hold at around $15.00 for an
example without a box. Not too bad for a circa 1942 fastener.
The patent for this fastener was filed August 20, 1940 and approved on January 13, 1942. Tager
was listed as one of the assignors to the American Die and Tool Corporation, Chicago, Ill. The
other gentleman was long time inventor, Hans C. Stockel.
The Champion appears to be a newer model and made by a different company, yet, the
similarities are enough to see it was made from the same patent. For example, the bases for both
machines are the same. The art deco design and the overall size are identical.
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