APSCO Giant

A couple of years ago, I saw a vintage Canadian APSCO Giant pencil sharpener. Unfortunately it was way out of my price range. I've been keeping my eye out for a more affordable one since then. I've recently been sucessful in getting one at a reasonable price. It is the only vintage sharpener I have and it looks great next to my collection of ACME rulers.

The original olive green paint color is great and the logo on the transparent plastic "chip receptacle" is in relatively good shape for its age.

It is difficult to date sharpeners like this. The logo is the same as in advertisement shown here from a 1948 Dupuis Frères department store cataloge. However, this sharpener has a recantgular base instead of the octagonal base shown in the advertisement. My sharpener also has a different shaped wooden handle. The "olive" shaped handle shown in the advertisement is from a later model. I would say that this sharpener dates from the early 1940s. 

Dupuis Frères - Été 1948 p49

There is some great information on the history of the Automatic Pencil Sharpener Co. at the Made in Chicago Museum website.