Irvin I. Rubin talked about this product in an oral history given in 2002: "Mr. [Sol M.] Robinson put "patent pending" on these items [apple cutter and sock darner] even though we had not applied for one. He somehow got a metal apple cutter from Japan that I converted into plastic. The Sunday New York Times always had an ad from Zoltan Polacheck who would get you a patent for ten dollars. I got Mr. Robinson's unenthusiastic approval to go ahead. We got about five claims approved." In preparing his patent application Rubin looked at earlier designs and patents for fruit cutters including a patented design for a circular meat or vegetable cutter by Isaac P. Buckles (1898) and a circular sectioned apple slicer designed by Robert Buchi (1923). Buckles' design was for a metal cutter, and presumably so was Buchi's - though the patent does not specify the preferred material. Rubin's design was for a slicer entirely of plastic, molded as a single part, and was representative of a new wave in plastic kitchenware.

Robinson Plastics Company was a family-operated injection molding company located in New York. Founded by Sol M. Robinson, an importer of lampshades and lamp parts, the company expanded to plastics production just prior to the Second World War, when Robinson made the switch to plastic molding of lamp parts. Robinson Plastics was one of many new companies on the plastics scene that grew during the war years and then sought new markets in consumer goods in late 1940s and early 1950s. After World War II Robinson Plastics molded lamp parts and small household items for itself and other local companies. Robinson's nephew, chemist Irvin I. Rubin, joined the company in 1946 as plant manager and greatly expanded operations. When the Robinsons left the company in 1960 Rubin became half owner, and in 1967 he purchased the rest of the company and became its president. Through the 1950s and 1960s Rubin pioneered injection molding techniques and increased Robinson's product and client base. The company had a reputation for succeeding at difficult custom molding jobs.

The patent claim for the apple cutter read:

"In a fruit and vegetable cutter, a substantially annular body, said body comprising coaxial inner and outer cylindrical portions, said portions being joined together by substantially radial wall members, the lowermost surfaces of said wall members constituting sharpened and curvedly serrated cutting portions, the upper surface of the said inner cylindrical portion being lower than the upper surface of said outer cylindrical portion, and the upper surfaces of said wall members being inclined downwardly to and junctioning with the upper surface of said inner cylindrical portion."

In October 1948 the Department of Commerce allowed the patent application for the "Fruit and Vegetable Cutter." According to Rubin, "All that was needed was the thirty-five dollar government fee. He [Sol Robinson] did not think it was worth it. Since that was two weeks salary for me, I didn't go ahead, a decision that I still regret. When I was a lad, I had five ambitions: to sleep with a girl, get married, have children, write a book, and get a patent. I still have not gotten a patent though I have had a number of patentable ideas including magnetic coupling of motors and pumps."

Robinson Plastics molded the product and marketed it to retailers. Mold designers were William Leidel, Sr. and Irvin I. Rubin, and the mold was made by the Leidel Corp. (Queens, NY). The product was made of Monsanto Lustron polystyrene. Promotional material for the utensil read:

"Every housewife is a prospect for useful, inexpensive articles for the home. Odorless, tasteless Lustron apple and pear cutters, retailing for only 25 cents, are all ready to go to work for you and your customers. Practical little Lustron cutters will segment and core fruit in just about a jiffy...an absolute 'natural' for gadget bars, kitchenware, hardware and chain store counters. Stimulate extra sales and extra profits with attractive, easy to use household items of practical plastics."
[source: promotional flyer for trade fair, Irving I. Rubin Collection, Syracuse University]

Fruit slicers like Rubin's continue to be designed and marketed. Target sells a model designed by noted architect Michael Graves, which uses metal blades bound by a plastic hoop and handles.