The Jones Mfg. Co.

Norwalk, CT    1895 - 1897

The Jones Manufacturing Company made the Star Paper Fastener, one of the first (or maybe even the first) of the herringbone strip staplers.   The company offically incorporated in Norwalk, Conneticut in December of 1895 as The Jones Manufacturing Company.

Eli Hubbell Hotchkiss and George Hotchkiss were among the incorporators.   The company changed it's name to the E. H. Hotchkiss Company in 1897.

The Star Automatic Paper Fastener, both with and without the magazine extension a.k.a. the "tail", (shown below with the extension ) was the only device that the company made while it was called the Jones Manufacturing Company.   This machine was probably based on James A. Keyes 1896 patent.   This patent was originally assigned to the Greenfield Automatic Fastener Company of New York and was later either purchased or licensed by the Hotchkiss Company.

This device was quite revolutionary when it was released, being much easier to load than the loose-wire staplers available at that time.   Early advertisements indicate that it won the "Highest Award" at the "Mechanics Fair 1896" and describe it as being "Suitable, Durable, Economic, and Effective".   In 1896, the wholesale price for this stapler was $1.20 - equivalent to about $26 today (using the Consumer Price Index).

The models without the magazine extension "tail" used 25-staple strips, the tailed version had a capacity of 96 staples.  In 1896, a box of twelve dozen 96-staple strips cost $9.60, equal to about $205 today (or about 15 cents per staple)!

The original Star Paper Fastener (the stapler shown in the photos) is somewhat scarce.   Beat up examples typically sell for between $80-$120.   A near-mint specimen like the one above is worth much more.

The E. H. Hotchkiss Company continued to market staplers using the Star brand name into the 1920's.

The later Hotchkiss versions of the Star staplers (ones that use wire staples) are much more common and usually sell for about $20.

For more information, see the E. H. Hotchkiss Co. and Greenfield Automatic Fastener pages.

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