Catalog Number: 1985.133.01
When he formed his company in 1905 as the Bump Paper Fastener Co., George P. Bump of La Crosse was convinced he’d make a million dollars on a stapler that didn’t require any staples.
It didn’t happen, but his 4½-inch metal paper fastener is a marvelous little office tool that punches a triangular hole and folds over the little cut-out tabs.
Note the maker’s name is stamped into the front of body of puncher: “Bump Paper Fastener Co., La Crosse, Wis, USA, Patents Pending.” Walter Woods donated the fastener to the La Crosse County Historical Society in 1985.
The company was reorganized in 1927 as the Bump Manufacturing Co., and in 1930 the company was changed to the Bump Pump Co., based on a pump he invented. Bump died in 1947, and by then the company made a line of equipment of chemical, oil and dry cleaning pumps, and specialized pumps for certain industries.
The company was located at 1820 West Ave. S., where the Pepsi-Cola buildings are today. In 1956, the company was sold to the Ulrich Manufacturing Co. of Roanoke, Ill.
This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on May 12, 2018.
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