Designed for Generations of Use
Feeling nostalgic toward the beginning of the New Year, well just the sight of this pencil sharpener will bring back memories of school days past, that curiosity and slight dread you felt the first occasion when you put your pencil through the opening into the sharpener. What about the first occasion when you discharged one and found a torrential slide of shavings? The clever thing about this style of pencil sharpener is that sharpeners with this same basic design can still be found in schools, generations after the first Automatic Pencil Sharpener Organization (APSCO) pencil sharpeners showed up toward the beginning of the twentieth century. This Dexter Model 3 Pencil Sharpener was produced by APSCO sometime around 1945 presenting improvements. There were two versions of this sharpener differentiated for the most part by materials, coloring, and the logo. In the late 1940s, APSCO rebranded and standardized its styling, logo, and even colors used on the majority of their sharpeners and by 1953 the second version of the No. 3 was the only one accessible available to be purchased.
By design, the sharpener is an upstanding, elliptical metal compartment which is bent at the top and bottom. The front of the lower section collects wood and lead shavings, and is made from transparent cellulose, a mid-twentieth-century plastic. Embellished on this section are the model name and the APSCO logo. Attached to the correct side is a crank handle for turning the two spiral cut blades and on the left a gear-like wheel that rotates to oblige various width pencils. The four holes on the corners of the base enable the unit to be screwed onto a level surface. The general aesthetic is similar to a fishing reel used to attract the fishing line.
The first model of the Dexter sharpener was first presented in 1914 and was accessible through 1928. That model only took into account one size pencil, so, somewhere in the range of 1928 and 1933 the Dexter sharpener was improved and re-launched,[2] the later models incorporating the turning wheel with aligned openings for various pencil sizes.
By the 1920s APSCO was making twelve similar pencil sharpeners, each with its very own style and value point. They were sold under such names as Chicago, Goliath, Wizard, Diamond, and Junior notwithstanding Dexter. APSCO also advertised broadly, indicating the comfort, cleanliness, effectiveness, and money related estimation of using a pencil sharpener over a pen knife for sharpening needs.
Although a pioneer of the mechanical pencil industry, APSCO (later APSCO Products, Inc.) was never ready to contend in the electric pencil sharpener showcase. The organization that had made the famous sharpening device was getting to be obsolete by the 80s. However, this vestige of simpler times and astute designing remains in numerous a classroom as a token of past greatness.
