Height x Width x Depth: 15 1/2 x 11 x 12 1/2 in. (39.37 x 27.94 x 31.75 cm)
Type:
Printing Equipment
Place:
Connecticut
Date:
November 23, 1858
Description:
This model demonstrates Milton G. Puffer's patent number 22149, which was granted on November 23, 1858, for his envelope-making machine. The machine wasted less paper than its competitors and completed batches in packages of twenty-five.
Milton Puffer worked as a blacksmith and pattern cutter before joining a large envelope manufacturing group--White, Corbin & Company of Rockville, Connecticut--with the goal of building a better folding device. He worked on several machines over a period of years before patenting this invention in 1858. Puffer retained a one-third interest in his inventions for White, Corbin & Company, and marketed the folder to a few other companies. The patent was challenged on the basis of its rotary plunger principle and was superseded within a few years by faster machines.
