Office supplies
is the generic term that refers to all supplies regularly used in offices by businesses
and other organizations, from private citizens to governments, who
works with the collection, refinement, and output of information
(colloquially referred to as "paper work").
The term office supplies includes small, expendable, daily use items such as paper clips, staples, hole punches, binders and laminators, writing utensils and paper, but also encompasses higher-cost equipment like computers, printers, fax machines, photocopiers and cash registers, as well as office furniture such as cubicles or armoire desks. Two very common medium-to-high-cost office equipment items before the advent of suitably priced word processing machines and PCs in the 1970s and 1980s were typewriters and adding machines.
Many office supplies businesses in the industry have recently expanded into related markets for businesses like copy centres, which facilitate the creation and printing of business collateral such as business cards and stationery, plus printing and binding of high quality, high volume business and engineering documents. Some businesses also provide services for shipping, including packaging and bulk mailing. In addition, many office supplies retail chains sell related supplies beyond businesses and regularly market their stores as a centre for school supplies with August and early September being a major retail period for "Back to School" sales.
Stationery is a general name given to paper and office supplies such as envelopes, notepads, pens, pencils, erasers, paper clips, staples, etc. The term "stationery" is frequently used to refer more specifically to paper used for written correspondence, usually decorated or personalized with matching envelopes.
Originally the term "stationery" referred to all products sold by a stationer, whose name indicates that his book shop was on a fixed spot, usually near a university, and permanent, while medieval trading was mainly ambulant, by peddlers (including chapmen, who sold books) and others (such as farmers and craftsmen) at non-permanent markets such as fairs. It was a special of term used between the 13th and 15th centuries in the Manuscript culture.
Cross manufacture ball point and fountain pens, and mechanical pencils. In addition they produce a range of other luxury goods such as watches, desk accessories and leather goods.
The Cross pen company was founded in 1846 in Providence, Rhode Island, and initially manufactured gold and silver casings for pencils, reflecting the Cross families long history as jewellers. The Cross pen company was founded by Richard Cross who passed it on to his son Alonzo T. Cross. The company developed many innovative new writing instruments, including forerunners of the modern mechanical pencils, and the earliest stylographic pens. The company was sold to Walter R. Boss in 1916 and members of the Boss family remain on the board of directors. The company has been publically owned since 1971.
Cross are well known for their lines of writing instruments. Initially they produced various mechanical pencils (a product type which has remained in their line-up to the present day), and produced the first stylographic pens in 1879 (a technological forerunner of the modern ball point pen). The current line up includes fountain pens, ball point pens, gel pens and pencils. The first Cross fountain pens were likely produced in 1930, but not again until the 1980s.
Cross writing instruments are generally sold in the mid-range of the market, rather than the extreme luxury end.
The company also manufactures a range of wristwatches, cufflinks, desk accessories and leather goods such as pen cases, key fobs, and portfolios, and other items often targeted at the gift market.
In late 1997 Cross and IBM teamed-up to introduce a digital writing pad, called the CrossPad.
