The Maestri Company
Founded in Milano, Italy by Romeo Maestri in 1919 the Company first manufactured various kinds of seals like string safety seals, seals for mills and post parcels. Maestri’s wife and two children helped to run the Company. His son Bruno Meastri introducing a new product in the 1930’s. The office stapler. He launched the RO-MA (Romeo Maestri) stapling plier, followed by TENAX and PROTOFIX desk stapler (shown below and also for sale here).
In 1939 the companies most important product the PARVA stapling plier came to market. An immediate success and still holds a prominent position in its own specific market. Still in production today. In the same decade the company’s head office moved to via Vincenzo Foppa, where it remained until the year 2000. You can read more about the company history on their website.
The Parva desk stapler a timeless design
The first Parva was almost all black accept for the middle piece that was a bright chromium plated steel. the black parts were also steel but received a thick coating that could withstand heavy use. Shown below. You can make out the brand around the “eye” and the loading mechanism has a round pull ring.
In the 1950’s the Parva was named the “ROMA Parva 67” and only the colors changed a little bit. The nose was no longer black but also a shiny steel. In addition the pull ring was replaced with a steel press block. The Parva 67 measures 17cm or 6 1/2 inches long. It now looked like this:
The box still displayed the original design piece but due to lack of color in the print it was displayed more stylish. The box only had the Italian language on it.
On one side you find the brand name around the screw and `617/67’ on the other side. The instruction that come with this box and stapler from the 1950’s were not only in Italian but also in French, English and German so they were aiming at the entire European market as well as beyond. The instruction are clearly 1950’s considering the products shown you could use your Parva on (Applicazioni)….very funny. The instructions also still show the older model.
The Parva in today’s shape
The current Parva is still clearly recognizable even though it again has a bit more shiny steel to show. In addition it now comes in color. Below 2 models from the current line up.
So it seems this timeless design was able to stand the test of time with just some little alterations to still be attractive to the modern age clientele. Fortunately they are also still produced in black. When you are interested in the real deal however, please check if the 1950’s version with original box and instructions is still for sale here at Vintage Man Stuff.
