John in NM
I know this kind of trimmer isn't for everyone, but this one is awfully neat, and the price was right (free )

Brand is Perkins & Co, patented April 7, 1891

In addition to being heavy, really heavy, the blades move in an arc giving a slight shearing action to the cut. The handle also has what looks like a small section of rack gear on it, but doesn't engage anything. I wonder if they used the same handle for another design that had some kind of gear mechanism.