A stapler is a device that, suprisingly,
webster 1913 didn't define. The basic construction is usually of plastic and metal, and includes a base for a top arm to swing down upon. The base has a curved piece of metal to allow the arms of a
staple to bend around to "lock" peices of
paper together. When pressure is applied to the top arm, it swings down, and the mechanical workings inside push a single staple through an apeture and into your target (such as your
thumb).
But
who am I kidding, who doesn't know what a stapler is?
Let's hear something interesting.
It is believed that in the 1200s, people attempted to fasten papers together with a short ribbon. Each piece of paper had a cut in the upper left hand corner. A process was used to seal and connect the papers with wax and ribbons. Although this method was used for almost 600 hundred years, it is unknown who developed this early fastening method.
During the 1700s, a stapler machine or fastener was made for the exclusive use of King Louis XV of France. Each staple was handmade and inscribed with the royal court's insignia. For some reason, this device was never introduced to the masses.
In 1841, Samuel Slocum patented his invention of sticking pins on paper - early inspiration for the stapler. The first true stapler was the McGill Single Stroke Staple Press, which could load a single staple and drive the staple through two pieces of paper. Patents were issued for this invention in 1866 and 1879.
Novelty Mfg Co. received patents for their stapler in 1866, with others following in the 1880s and 1890s. Although their fastener loaded one staple at a time, it was recommended for binding books, papers, and pamphlets, as well as for putting down carpets and upholstering furniture.
Charles H. Gould also gets credit for inventing the stapler. In 1868 he invented the wire stitcher for use in binding magazines. Gould's wire stitcher used uncut wire, which then cut and inserted the wire in the folds of the magazine as well as folding the wire ends over. Gould's invention is considered the predecessor of the modern stapler.
By the beginning of the 20th Century, different stapling machines were being manufactured in larger quantities. In 1905 an American manufacturer, B. Jahn Mfg. Co., developed what would turn out to be the most popular stapler of its time. His stapler could hold Twenty-five tin-coated, metal staples, and were placed in a modern-like tray within the stapler. It wasn't easy to use, though; every time a staple was needed, the operator hit the stapler with a mallet.
The actual word "stapler" came into its own in 1909. Before that time, these products were called fasteners or a "Hotchkiss" after the American company that created them.
It wasn't until 1914, that the stapler gained a presence in American offices. Companies thought that only one stapler was all that was needed for an office of 500 people! The first office staplers were not easy for office workers to use because they had loose or paper-wrapped staples.
Fortunately in 1923, the Boston Wire Stitcher Co. introduced an easier model. In time, manufacturers also developed another innovation - - staples that were glued in a strip for easy handling.
In the late 1930s, Swingline created a product in which the stapler would open up on top, and one could drop in a strip of staples. Twenty years later, electric staplers were introduced. Although electric staplers filled the need for faster productivity and accuracy, the basic principle of these earlier staplers remained the same.
"...
Old-fashioned law offices in the UK (and a few in the US) are still fastening Wills together with ribbon-and-wax, on the grounds of general coolness, and also, it's harder to tamper with." -
SEF
"...
In Japan, a stapler is sometimes called a 'hochikisu'... that is, like Hotchkiss." -
exceptinsects
Most of this information was gleaned from www.swingline.com