12/17/2023 0 Comments Apsco pencil sharpenerIn 1910, new buddies Loomis and Spengler organized their own business in Chicago-the Spengler Specialties Co.-which would soon be re-named the Spengler-Loomis Manufacturing Company. Automatic sharpener-essentially fine-tuning Gilfillan’s original work. Loomis and APSCO, and a deal was soon struck, with Charles Spengler taking over leadership of the design and manufacturing of the U.S. The short-lived “Spengler Brothers, Inc.” started manufacturing its new sharpeners in Rockford around the turn of the century, and-feeling assured of their mastery of the art-proceeded to buy out similar patents from other companies in the years that followed. He spent a lot of his free time designing random gadgets, and earned patents for many of them, including a coin-changer, a locking mechanism, several types of garment clips, and a couple innovative new breeds of mechanical pencil sharpeners. in 1884, at the age of 25, and soon launched a successful machining and repair shop with his brother George in the town of Rockford, Illinois, about 80 miles west of Chicago. Spengler, meanwhile, was the “talent,” as they say.Īn experienced mechanical engineer, the Swiss-born Chuck Spengler came to the U.S. Loomis was a western sales rep for the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co., and had been pushing its products from his Chicago office for years. Loomis-were loosely involved in the business almost from the outset. The Spengler-Loomis MFG Company wouldn’t officially buy out APSCO and move it to Chicago until 1911, but the two key players in that takeover-Charles C. In an era when most folks were still whittling their writing sticks with a pocket knife, this was the next logical evolution. Gilfillan-became a huge seller for its New York investors. Automatic sharpener-which was actually designed and patented by the Chicago inventor Essington N. “It don’t grind, it cuts,” one 1905 advertisement claimed, and though not grammatically correct in any era, the message was received. We have one of these models in the museum collection, with a patent date of 1908, if you care to see it a bit more up close. Automatic Pencil Sharpener-a hand-cranked, fearsome-looking beast with three rotating blades. Here, it promoted its first marquee product, the U.S. In its earliest incarnation, in fact, around 1905, APSCO’s home office was located in New York City, on Broadway, no less. of Chicago, but there was a bit of an awkward courtship period beforehand. The Origin Storyįor most of its existence, the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Company was owned and operated by the Spengler-Loomis MFG Co. Automatic, a “Gem,” a pair of iconic “Chicago” models, and a gaggle of classy looking “Dexters.” The patent date on our featured “Giant” here is 1921, lining it up with one of the more dramatic and controversial periods in APSCO’s history.ĭrama? Controversy? Pencil sharpeners? But of course! The Made In Chicago Museum currently has 9 different APSCO sharpeners in our collection, including the popular “Giant” brand featured on this page, as well as an early “U.S. Either way, the odds are good that you encountered one of these durable devices made by the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Company, aka APSCO-a brand so prominent, it was like the No. Maybe you were a kid in the 1930s, or, more likely, you attended a cash-strapped public school that was still using the same classroom supplies 50 years later. Factory: 2415 Kishwaukee Street, Rockford, IL.įor many of us, the sight of an old desk-mounted, mechanical pencil sharpener brings back some sensory-charged childhood memories-the thrilling turn of the crank, the low roar of rotating metal, the confusingly alluring scent of fresh cedar shavings.
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