Apple Anatomy

The apple stem end is usually placed on the fork for paring. Which leads to an interesting question. Why are the extra small knife blades on some apple parers called blossom cutters? Pictures in old catalogs show the stem end placed on the fork. A 1915 ad for the "Penn Perfect", reproduced in Thornton's Apple Parers boasts, "The small stationary knife near the Fork serves to pare the Apple around the base of the stem, thus making the operation clean and perfect". (1997, p. 73) The Reading Advance lathe has a "B. Knife " patent date. A Reading ad reproduced in Thronton's book claims, "...the small knife removes the paring from the base of the apple..." (1997, p.40). In the picture one cannot tell which way the apple was oriented on the machine. It is my belief the person who named the blossom knife may have made a mistake.