Preliminary identification
Photo reference
1 uploaded photo
Overview
These are original, beautifully preserved boxes of Megill's Patent Spring Tongue Gauge Pins, an essential tool used by letterpress printers to feed paper accurately into platen presses. Featuring striking early 20th-century typography and illustrations, these boxes represent the golden age of American industrial printing accessories.
Story
In 1870, Edward L. Megill revolutionized the printing industry from his Brooklyn workshop by inventing the gauge pin. Before his clever spring-tongue design, printers struggled with makeshift paper guides that caused frequent misprints.
Maker / Origin
Edward L. Megill was a pioneer in the printing supply industry, establishing his company in 1870. Based at 2416 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, the Edw. L. Megill Co. became the gold standard for gauge pins, with their designs remaining virtually unchanged and in use for over a century.
Condition & Value
The exterior paper boxes show light edge wear and minor scuffing consistent with age, but the graphic labels, typography, and illustrations remain remarkably bright, clear, and intact. Excellent preservation of the fragile paperboard packaging maintains its strong display value.
Full Research
Sold comps, value drivers, and venue guidance pulled from recent auction results.
Build on this identification
Layer in sold comps, value drivers, and venue guidance.
Comparable demand stays strongest where maker, originality, and venue confidence line up. Broader examples still trade, but the range tightens quickly when provenance, condition, or selling lane fit is missing.
Best Venue
Specialty auction or a focused dealer with buyers already in this lane.
Signed example with light edge wear and original frame.
Comparable format with stronger provenance and cleaner surface.
Smaller related piece with visible craquelure and trimmed margins.
Period match with softer condition and weaker subject matter.
Close market lane comp with similar material and presentation.