"Penn Perfect"

The "Penn Perfect" is Penn Hardware Company's version of Reading's 78. The hand-driven gear in the "Penn Perfect" and the 78 is an excellent design. The outer rim of the gear is a ring gear that spins the fork gear at a high rate. The central portion of this same wheel drives a spur gear attached by an axle to the small bevel table gear, which rotates the turntable gear at a slower rate. So when you turn the hand-driven gear the fork spins quickly while the turntable rotates more slowly. Like the 78, this parer has a blossom cutter. It is interesting to note most people seem to load the apple onto the fork stem first (opposite end as the blossom). A 1915 Penn ad in Don Thornton's book states the small blade pares the stem end. This parer is marked PENN PERFECT PARER MADE BY THE PENN HARDWARE Co. READING, PA.