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                UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              Washington, DC 20549

                                     FORM 5

               ANNUAL STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

    Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
       Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
               Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

|_|  Check box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations
     may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

|_|  Form 3 Holdings Reported

|X|  Form 4 Transactions Reported

________________________________________________________________________________
1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

     Penisten                       Gary                           Dean
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     (Last)                         (First)                        (Middle)

     1931 Black Rock Turnpike
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    (Street)

     Fairfield                         CT                            06825
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     (City)                          (State)                         (Zip)
________________________________________________________________________________
2.   Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol


     Acme United Corporation (ACU)
________________________________________________________________________________
3.   I.R.S. Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary)



________________________________________________________________________________
4.   Statement for Month/Year


     December 31, 2002
________________________________________________________________________________
5.   If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year)



________________________________________________________________________________
6.   Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
     (Check all applicable)

     |X|  Director                             |_|  10% Owner
     |X|  Officer (give title below)           |_|  Other (specify below)

     Chairman
________________________________________________________________________________
7.   Individual or Joint/Group Filing (check applicable line)

     |X|  Form filed by One Reporting Person
     |_|  Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
________________________________________________________________________________


================================================================================
           Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of,
                             or Beneficially Owned
================================================================================
5. 6. 4. Amount of Owner- Securities Acquired (A) Securities ship 2A. or Disposed of (D) Beneficially Form: 7. 2. Deemed (Instr. 3, 4 and 5) Owned Direct Nature of Trans- Execution 3. --------------------------- at the End (D) or Indirect 1. action Date, if Transaction (A) of Issuer's Indirect Beneficial Title of Security Date any Code or Fiscal Year (I) Ownership (Instr. 3) (mm/dd/yy) (mm/dd/yy) (Instr. 8) Amount (D) Price (Instr. 3 & 4) (Instr.4) (Instr.4) - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Common Stock 11/24/1999 A5* 47,287 A 101,287 D - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Common Stock (Nathaniel D. Martin Ugma NY) 12/17/2002 *See below 500 D 101,287 D - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================================================================================= Note: Transferred Trusteeship to his Aunt.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see instruction 4(b)(v). Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form diplays a currently valid OMB control number. (Over) SEC 2270 (09-02) FORM 5 (continued) ================================================================================ Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities) ================================================================================
10. 9. Owner- Number ship 2. of of Conver- 5. 7. Deriv- Deriv- 11. sion Number of Title and Amount ative ative Nature or Derivative 6. of Underlying 8. Secur- Secur- of Exer- 3A. Securities Date Securities Price ities ity: In- cise Deemed Acquired (A) Exercisable and (Instr. 3 and 4) of Bene- Direct direct Price 3. Execut- 4. or Disposed Expiration Date ---------------- Deriv- ficially (D) or Bene- 1. of Trans- ion Trans- of(D) (Month/Day/Year) Amount ative Owned In- ficial Title of Deriv- action Date if action (Instr. 3, ---------------- or Secur- at End direct Owner- Derivative ative Date any Code 4 and 5) Date Expira- Number ity of Year (I) ship Security Secur- (mm/dd/ (mm/dd/ (Instr. ------------ Exer- tion of (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. (Instr. 3) ity yy) yy) 8) (A) (D) cisable Date Title Shares 5) 4) 4) 4) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stock Common Option 2.90 4/23/01 A5* 7,500 4/23/01 4/22/11 Stock 7,500 27,500 D - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Stock Common Option 4.20 4/22/02 A5* 2,500 4/22/02 4/21/12 Stock 2,500 27,500 D - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ==================================================================================================================================== Explanation of Responses: * All transactions were reported to shareholders in the proxy statement for the year in which the transaction occurred.
/s/ Gary D. Penisten January 21, 2003 - --------------------------------------------- ----------------------- **Signature of Reporting Person Date ** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a). Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure. Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form diplays a currently valid OMB control number.