[7] A 2018 study by researchers from the University of Northampton found that a collection of 30 vintage military watches with radium dials kept in an small, unventilated room produced a radon concentration 134 times greater than the UK's recommended "safe" level. Some years ago I intended to do a write-up on my collection and started researching on the internet and found the Westclox history site with a wealth of info. These styles constitute the Thanks so much For my 14th birthday I got a book called The Treasury of American Clocks and there was a picture showing the seven types of Baby Bens. I have a similar clock. It was put away for years and last year it was given to me as I have small collection of United novelty clocks. I took it back and the repairman told me it was like a large Timex watch and just not worth being fixed. I have a Westclox Magnet Key Part number 031723 I think was used to open a door as it has an arrow on 1 end. The style 1a can be distinguished from style 1 in several ways: The movement was changed for style 1a so that the mounting nuts were on the back. . Frank Baker. Theyll take an old Big Ben from 1930 and make a new dial that says Indian Motorcycle or Victola, and put it on eBay. As seen below, the company made something of a symbolic gesture out of honoring the last Big Ben to roll off the assembly line on July 31, 1942, the day when all production shifted to government contracts for the duration of the war. 1888. These folks here that are responsible for this are doing a marvelous job, Ristau said. All the rods in my clocks are verticle that is from top to bottom of the case, four on each side at the back of the movement. . Stoddard: The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) is headquartered in Pennsylvania but has chapters throughout the country. There are also some specialty chapters, like an alarm clock chapter and a 400-day clock chapter, one that specializes in wristwatches and one on early American pocket watches. England. The pioneering spirit is there, but the business skills soon appear lacking. I have a small westclox alarm clock. We thought it was 1890 or older. I thought, oh boy, I just need four more and Ill have them all! The next month, Roth got a cablegram from London; his friend and valued co-worker Le Roy had died for his country. Those simple words, Roth later wrote in the November 1914 issue of the company newsletter, Tick Talk, unconsciously characterized the manunaffected, direct, devoted to his cause., [Images from a 1922 issue of the Westclox company newsletter, the very cleverly titled Tick Talk]. Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. I spent many an evening here, watching him bowl.. Can anyone direct me on how to find this clock? Fortunately, in the years since, theres been a noble effort to retain surviving parts of the building and some of the important local history that the empty factory once represented. You do not want to open them up, lest you breath radioactive dust from old paint or spread it around. Also Telechron, which was a big maker of electric clocks. "Westclox" in italics, double hexagon legs: 1918, "Westclox" in italics, regular legs: 1918 -1922, "Westclox" in italics, very narrow lettering at bottom: "MADE BY WESTERN CLOCK CO., LA SALLE, ILL., U.S.A.", ca. With George Kerns new alarm clock, specifically, Le Roy decided it would be wise to craft a new brand name, and to leave the Western name off of the clock face entirely, since the company was overly associated with cheap goods at the time. About 1931 they made the first electric Big Ben, and they were plug ins. Sometimes extensive casework can be more time consuming than getting the movement running. Eventually, safer options were discovered, and the use of radium was discontinued in the 1960s. She was 107 when she died on March 1 in Middlebury, Conn . George Kern died on July 27, 1918 from a ruptured appendix, but his basic clock design lived on for years. Site of the Old Westclox factory 211-201 Hunter Street, Peterborough Ontario. For at least four generations, the Western Clock Manufacturing Company, aka Westclox, was the lifeblood and largest employer in the small town of Peru, Illinois (with a mailing address in its twin city of LaSalle). styles to organize them Westclox Clock Construction and Quality. They have meetings every two months, and educational programs, so thats a really great way to meet collectors and get all kinds of advice. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Entertainment & Pop Culture; Geography & Travel; Health & Medicine; Lifestyles & Social Issues; Literature; Philosophy & Religion; Politics, Law & Government Any guidance or help is appreciated. Finally, with Catherine Donohue serving as a key witness from her death bed in 1938, a groundbreaking Supreme Court case finally delivered some long awaited justice to the victims. Seeking the Big 3 goals of convenience, cleanliness, and cheap production, Dreyfuss rolled out his new-look Big Ben in 1931. Accueil; Services; Ralisations; Annie Moussin; Mdias; 514-569-8476 WECKER (CCW arrow) knob sets alarm time. Junghans, Kienzle,Mauthe,Kaiser, Peter, (all from Germany) Veglia (Italy), CNIS ( France), Ingersoll (UK) as well as some Hong Kong made items. At the top was a clock covered with a glass door. Even today, with the considerable help of a thing called Interstate 80, its still about a two-hour journey from LaSalle Street to LaSalle County. It was passed on to my sister and for years it was on their mantle along time until it stopped. The movement is a windup almost identical to the original. But he only comes upon receipt of signed price agreement. Columbia, PA 17512 Another thing people do is make fake advertising clocks. It would be greatly appreciated. Up until this point in time (pun intended), quality time pieces had been considered a rich mans game. The thing I remember most is working with the people, Ristau said. Radium was also used until the early 1970s in "glow-in-the-dark" paints, e.g., for dials on clocks, and in other industrial applications such as instrument calibration. It is a wind up. Radium paint can be ingested by inhaling flaking paint particles. I would like to find out about this clock. In all my research I can not confirm that The Style 1 models every had 1) and 2) above. The policy of the company is one of highly specialized production. He invited us in to look around, so we got to go up and down the big freight elevator and he found some old music boxes that were never used that he gave to us (Westclox made one or two little clocks with a music box in them). credit: Northern Illinois University], According to a 1909 article in Commercial America, In clocks, as in all other lines of goods, there are two classes of consumersthe millions and the millionaires. I have a Seth Thomas Mantle clock that my older sisters husbands Aunt had on her mantle for years. Thanks for any info you may be able to supply Behind the light, theyd been left in the dark. Dont know if someone ingraved date on when took down or if the original. In 1931 it merged with Seth Thomas Clock Co. and both became divisions of General Time Corp. 226RA has a half life of about 1600 years and the glow of the paint used on dials and hands decreases because of the damage the alpha particles emitted by the Radium do to the ZnS . There is a small dial inside of the clock face that has roman numerals like another clock face. Radium is an almost pure white alkaline radioactive earth metal, and is found in nature in uranium ores. It is too large (wide). 400-day clocks are also known as anniversary clocks, they would run 400 days on one winding. into groups of similar models. The alarm mechanism was also improved as part of Kerns new patents, with an intermittent ringing that kind of acted as an archaic form of snooze alarm. Origin of the eye, forklore or legends surrounding????? All Rights Reserved. As my first name is Ben, I started to collect these alarmclocks since about 1970. 1919 - 1920 on a small proportion of clocks, "Westclox" in Roman text, Wide lettering at bottom: 1923, "Westclox" in Roman text, Narrow lettering at bottom:1924 to 1927, "Westclox" in Roman text, Projection on the "x": 1928 - 1935, Luminous, "Westclox" in italics: ca. It is 3 diameter with Westclox on the back and PAT.APLOFOR. Westclox - An Identification and Price Guide, and I added even more in 2012. Before we get to that, though, we have to start with the issue of geography as it concerns the business in question. When I got out of college I started going to the watch and clock conventions and met a man who was giving a program about the history of Big Bens and Baby Bens. [9] Prior to that date, "the federal government had a limited role, if any, in ensuring the safe use of radium," according to the NRC. I tried selling some of my surplus electric Big Bens on eBay and they just didnt go, you could get only about $0.99 for them. Matthiessen [pictured below], who owns the powerful Illinois Zinc Company and most other things in Peru / LaSalle, decides to swoop in and save Stahlbergs little clock business, incorporating it as the Western Clock Mfg. The Canadian Clock Museum (http://www.canclockmuseum.ca/) may have some information. 1919 -1922, Luminous, Westclox in Roman text: 1923 - 1927, Luminous, projection on the "x": 1928 - 1935. Thanks, Teri. The NAWCC is dedicated to providing association services, promoting interest in and encouraging the collecting of clocks and watches including disseminating knowledge of the same. Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses . AD x Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. From that point on I really liked those. Theres a seller on eBay now whos doing some really outstanding restorations of Big Bens. It might be the only one in the country, Spayer said. They asked me to give some programs myself at some of the chapter meetings so I became a little bit better at being a public speaker, and its been great meeting people. Helen. I took it all apart and asked my dad to help me put it back together, but he cut his finger on the spring. The precise, delicate skill of painting clock dials with radium powder promised a much higher salary than most factory jobs available to women at the time (upwards of $18 a week), and the company soon employed as many as 200 female workers in its Ottawa plant. Many folks might not realize that early vintage clock dials were painted with radioluminescent paint, which is a mixture of fluorescent salts (these produce the glow) and radium-226, which is a dangerous and highly radioactive element. A Big Ben typical of those made from late 1910 to mid-1915. Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. Any information would be very helpful. its a Gold coloring and the bottom is well worn like it was slid into something regularily. [citation needed] This rate probably only represents the dose rate from gamma emission, as the alpha emission will be stopped by the lacquer, or crystal, or case; hence, the dose rate following ingestion or inhalation of the dust could be much higher. Geiger counters could pick up readings from pants returned from a dry cleaner and from clothes stored away in a cedar chest. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. any info would be appreciated. CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO RELEASE THE CLICK ON A WESTCLOX MANS WRISTWATCH MODEL A-201? These paints were used on the dials of clocks and watches to make them glow-in-the-dark. You must log in or register to reply here. Stoddard: Some of the old American pocket watches are just beautiful so I have several in my collection. Can anyone tell me about this? The company made luminescent paint. A 2015 article by Ben Hohenstatt in the Illinois Valleys News Tribune included interviews with a few former Westclox workers who returned to see the museum and remember old times. I try to get all the pictures I can and keep them all chronologically and study the history. The aim of the Western Clock MFG Co. in entering the manufacture of alarms was to apply to nickel clocks, features which were previously found only in high-priced timepieces, and prohibited in low-priced lever clocks by the high cost of production involved. theres the problem, there were two gears that were in backwards. On the Style 9, they went back to actual minute markings. It still works. The phosphor deterioration means you can't see a glow anymore, but . My dad was one of the top bowlers here, Ristau said. When did they stop using radium for watches? Then my friend and I went around the neighborhood asking people if they had anything they wanted to give away, like old clocks and cameras and tape recorders. Sometimes getting parts is tough, too, although it turns out Westclox made lots and lots of spare parts. Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben Identification Guide ClockHistory.com, Keeping Time in Peru Chicago Tribune, October 18, 1998, Remembering the Great War and The Clock That Caused a Near Riot WestcloxMuseum.com, For That Healthy Glow, Drink Radiation Popular Science, August 17, 2004, The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women, by Kate Moore, 2o17, The Forgotten Story Of The Radium Girls, Whose Deaths Saved Thousands Of Workers Lives, by Kate Moore, Buzzfeed.com, One-Day and Alarm Clocks Commercial America, Vol VI, 1909, A Rude Awakening: The History of Alarm Clocks ThroughoutHistory.com.