Volume 11 , Issue 15

Staplers & George W. McGill

James says, "I received my April/May 2009 issue of History Magazine today. On page six was a story about Stapler history. In the story they mentioned the McGill Single Stroke Staple Press. So I Googled that title and this is one of the links that came up. I extracted the story from that link. My question is, Is this one of your McGill relatives? Just thought of you when I saw that name."

McGill Single Stroke Staple Press -- "George W. McGill 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.

"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.

"Like McGill's Single-Stroke Staple Press, these two-piece devices were heavily marketed from around 1880 to the mid-1890s. The second other type of stapling machines had a magazine that could hold a row of staples. While such devices were patented as early as the late 1870s, I have not seen an advertisement or example that pre-dates the late 1880s."
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