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. I try to get all the pictures I can and keep them all chronologically and study the history. Vintage Clocks and Radium Risks - Ken's Clock Clinic 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. Underneath the #12 on the face it says: G. Falconer & Co. LTD. Hong Kong. I was pained to learn how the girls had suffered while working here and sacrificed their lives to give the name of the company which it has today. When I walked along the street, Iwas aglow from the radium powder., [Mrs. Charlotte Purcell, like Catherine Donohue, was one of 15 former workers at the Radium Dial Company who contracted cancer and sought justice in the late 1930s]. 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. Thank you, i have a pocket watch that says (inscribed inside) g. falconer ,,,rona & london or kona & london i dont know its in old english and says kona or hona it has 1243 all inscribed on the inside where when u open it u can see the gears, looks like an a8 and a crown with a 18 on the middle inside cover (that covers the gears) and also a 1243 and what looks like an 8 or an infinite symbol (sideways 8)then again on the part that clasps over everything on the inside an A3 or A8? She was 18. 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. Thanks very mutch, I just acquired a sir w.h. Was westclox ever manufactured in germany and if so when? They worked in unvented rooms, they wore smocks that they laundered at home. In fact, one of their designs for the military, the terrifying sounding "WarAlarm," spurred a small shopping riot in Chicago in 1944 when a small batch of the clocks was made available for commercial purchase at a downtown store. The Timeless Appeal of the Westclock Big and Baby Bens Westclox Radium Dial Clock. I would like to find the value of it. I always wondered why the dial of my Baby Ben clock, which I have had from late 60s, was marked off in 48ths of an hour instead of minutes. Richard Tjarks introduced So you find clocks where parts have been switched, so thats one challenge, determining originality. Thanks. bailey oceans tide clock dated 1880, with a Fusee movement. Most importantly, they were forbidden to point the tip with their lips, and they avoided to ingest or inhale the luminous paint. I hope to document Style 5 Baby Bens this winter. 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. In the early 1920s, when the company introduced a new series of Big Ben and Baby Ben clocks with luminous dials, the work of painting on this special, glow-in-the-dark element was outsourced to the Radium Dial Companyan independent business located just up the road in the neighboring town of Ottawa, IL. Collectors Weekly: When did you discover that there were other clock collectors? While studying the types of Big Ben style 1 and 1A in WestcloxHistory.com, I noticed the reproduction style 1A, and have acquired about 5 of them. Radium was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898[1] and was soon combined with paint to make luminescent paint, which was applied to clocks, airplane instruments, and the like, to be able to read them in the dark.[2]. Stahlberg knows that no other noteworthy clock company has ever succeeded west of the Hudson, let alone smalltown Illinois, but he dives into the challenge, establishing his first factory. They arent hurting it permanently, its just kind of weird. I am sure I can give Mr. Shields further information about his clock. Radium dials were typically painted by young women, who used to 'point' their brushes by licking and shaping the bristles prior to painting the fine lines and numbers on the dials. The internet is fantastic, you can find out anything about just any kind of clock, exchange pictures easily, correspond with people and work together on research. Could you suggest how I could go about finding out this information. I think it is a clock made by Sessions. How can people be exposed to Radium? 1970s Many of these workers developed bone cancer . Company in 1888 and installing another talented German, Ernst Roth, as the general manager. I am a retired mechanical engineer, the quality has floored me, hats off to this company. Thank you. Clock Repair and Hermle Chime, Mantel and Wall Clocks for Sale at Bill's Clockworks. It started early in the 20th century, around 1910, when some companies began to use radium on watch dials and hands to create a "glow in the dark" effect. Sometimes extensive casework can be more time consuming than getting the movement running. A well-dressed, steady and punctual chap, up to the minute and always on the job., Big Ben always comes to you straight from home, LaSalle, Illinois, read another. Many thanks. Phone: 717-684-8261. I read (but cant remember where) that about 40,000 were made. AD x Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Up until this point in time (pun intended), quality time pieces had been considered a rich mans game. Read more about "Radium Girls" here. 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. when did westclox stop using radium - Fashionexclusiveuae.com Theyre just scattered in different places all over the country, little collections of hands, springs, screws, and things like that. With alarm clocks, they were so common that when people repaired them they did whatever they could to get them going. 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. It can be found with some other clocks in a case in the second floor hallway. It had beneath that four long tubes and they were the chimes for the door bell. Just as pilots in World War II had radium on the dials in their cockpits for all-condition visibility, many people who purchased Big Ben alarm clocks during the same periodincluding the very style in our museum collection (made from 1939-1946)went to bed each night sleeping next to a tiny box of radioactivity. Now I know that theres probably 14 basic shapes, but a lot more variations than that depending on how far you want to take things. WECKER (CW arrow)/UHR (CCW arrow) knob with ring: CW winds alarm; CCW winds clock. Most are in nickel finish cases, but some were made in gold plated cases. Westclox 0.9" LED Plasma Screen Alarm Clock with USB Charging Port 71014X. Ive recently acquired a New Haven decorative wall clock. 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. Westclox Big Bens and Baby Bens are full of the stuff. Westclox Clock Construction and Quality. Westcloxs Manual for Employees read, We expect you to work hard, and the pay is accordingly large . Westclox style series. Stoddard: Ive been there several times. 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. These paints were used on the dials of clocks and watches to make them glow-in-the-dark. Sometimes getting parts is tough, too, although it turns out Westclox made lots and lots of spare parts. There are variations in the lettering on the dial and back. From 1917 to 1926, the United States Radium Corporation used radium to produce wristwatches and clocks. I would like to find out about this clock. Stoddard: The prices for larger wall clocks, three feet tall and up, have increased dramatically, while prices on some of the more common clocks have remained the same for the past 20 years. I have a Westclox Big Ben 1910 style 1a and have not been able to find out the present value/worth. I know that it is electric and it requires a dime deposit to set the alarm on it. Your response or advice would be much appreciated. It is stamped on the back of the casing DRP&GM. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Inc (A 501c3 non-profit corporation). 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. US radium dial painting factory. I never realized, even working here, they made so many different models.. Also Telechron, which was a big maker of electric clocks. 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. It is and Elias Ingraham Brass Clock with a patent stamp of September 30, 1862. Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock Vintage. Ruth Spayer at the Westclox Museum tracked down a newspaper story from the Daily Post-Tribune on March 21, 1944, describing a scene in which three women fainted, several clerks were trampled, and four showcase windows were shattered before police untangled a jam of 2,500 women and a few stout-hearted men who converged on the store.. Stoddard: My grandma gave me an old Baby Ben alarm clock that didnt work when I was seven. I just had it repaired & it works & looks great. As the 1960s began, over 50 million Big Ben clocks had been produced in total, and additional Westclox plants were now in operation everywhere from Athens, Georgia, and Ontario, Canada, to Scotland and Australia. Also, its not just Americans who collect, its worldwide. Beginning in the 1910s, the girls instructed to put radium in their mouths didn't bat an eyelash. For the town of Peruwhich had tied much of its identity to Westclox for the better part of a centurythe damage went beyond financial. Big Ben style, and there are other styles with names instead of numbers. He also recalled playing in the factory. Is Westclox a good brand? It also says that the patent was re-issued March 31, 1868. According to Periodic. It was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898. I know the site informs readers the amount of Big Bens produced in any one year, but does NOT for the reproduction model produced in 1970. I took it all apart and asked my dad to help me put it back together, but he cut his finger on the spring. In clocks, as in all other lines of goods, there are two classes of consumersthe millions and the millionaires. The dial painters soon became known as the ghost girls because by the time they finished their shifts, they themselves would glow in the dark. I know it was purchased in 1937 because it belonged to my elderly friends who were married in 1938. Unfortunately, they also hint at a tragic chapter in American industrial history, when the appeal of a luminous new kind of paint wound up putting hundreds of workersmostly young womenat great personal risk. Here you can see production dates, original retail prices and other knowledge about vintage and antique Westclox clocks and watches. Medical researchers extended the use of radium to cure impotence in men and women by creating fertility drugs with the element to "stimulate" reproduction. It is a wind up. Western Clock MFG Co. (Westclox), est. 1888 - Made-in-Chicago Museum From that point on I really liked those. Radioactivity in Antiques | US EPA I believed it was manufacturing tag. Theres a clock called a Crystal Regulator which is about a foot tall with a brass case and glass on all four sides. In 1931 it merged with Seth Thomas Clock Co. and both became divisions of General Time Corp. Even if the Western Clock Co. wasnt born in Chicago or headquartered here, the immediate aftershocks of the companys cultural and industrial impact certainly reached our shores in a hurry, no interstate required. The use of radium was discontinued since the 1960s. A lot of the American Shelf clocks from the 1820s up to 1900 have reverse paintings in the door, on the backside of the glass. Importantly, the health risks tied to these old clocks is generally believed to be quite minimal, so long as one avoids long-term exposure or directly ingesting the paint as the Ghost Girls had. This fall, the museum will be open more frequently and for more events. Style Information: Plain dial: 1918 - 1935 Black luminous dial: 1921 - 1935 There are variations in the lettering on the dial and back. 1968 Who made westclox? Above all else, though, the rise and fall of Westcloxand the deeper history of these Big Ben clocks, in particularis simply far too intriguing to dismiss just because of a long-distance commute. Stoddard: The first Big Bens and Baby Bens went on the market in 1910 and they were wind ups. These folks here that are responsible for this are doing a marvelous job, Ristau said. Technically speaking, though, Westclox did still produce clocks during the gap years that followed. Debbie Blake, I have a small Westclox wind up clock dating around 1937. But it had always just been a matter of time (pun less intended) before industrial mass production made a wide-scale phenomenon like the Big Ben possible. Credit: pinimg. Big Ben: butler nickel case, gold leaf numeral dial 1930 1932. . "[4], According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, "radioactive antiques [including watches] are usually not a health risk as long as they are intact and in good condition. The whole clock seems to be origional and was maintained by my grandfather who was a watch/clock repairman. 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. Can anyone tell me the meaning or significance of this eye? [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. [left to right: F.W. Lynda Hinshaw, At this moment I am research a clock by Falconer& co HongKong. At this moment I study horology at West Dean College in the UK. As Kate Moore explains it, The radium girls case was one of the first in which an employer was made responsible for the health of the companys employees. I have an antique mantle clock given to my Aunt & Uncle for a wedding gift (approximately 1949) FROM my great grandparents. Selling for $2.50 in the years before World War I (or about $60 in modern money), the 5-inch diameter Big Ben and its half-pint cousin the Baby Ben combined to move over 900,000 units in just 1913 alone, and the Western Clock MFG Companynot yet officially known as Westcloxwas producing more than twice that many clocks annually in total. When I was 11 or 12, I started mowing lawns for money and paid another man to repair it for me, but when it came back it would run for a while and then stop, pretty erratic. The first style 1a cases had double-hexagon legs, but after about a year they were changed to standard single hex form. The factory contained a bowling alley, and Ristau said his father was an excellent bowler. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Buy Now. Without a crystal poses a serious Health risk because the Radium paint flakes off and can become airborne. As the dark cloud of fear and suspicion grew over the small town of Ottawa into the 30s, the Radium Dial Company itself refused to take any responsibility, claiming innocence and ignorance. Is radium still used on watches? There is a small dial inside of the clock face that has roman numerals like another clock face. During the early 1900's, the effects of radiation exposure were not well understood, and radium was frequently . Im always interested in the history and the variations of clocks and how they fit in the scheme of things, what came before and what came after. the knobs have foreign words ie wecker & UHR.would like to know about his clock When radium was discovered in the early 1900s, people were fascinated by its mysterious glow and it was added to many everyday products, including paints. At the start of the decade, the company brought in a skilled new industrial designer named Henry Dreyfuss; a true modernist. Style 10 is the last numbered In-Depth Luminous Dials, What Makes Them Glow, And How To - HODINKEE 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. About 1920 the luminous dial using radium paint was introduced. Old Rose (pink) crackle finish Baby Ben with luminous dial: 1929 1930. Westclox History Database Main Menu hi, I have a cocacola square clock. any info would be appreciated. American manufacturers were quick to see that the millionaires are a negligible quantity as consumers, and that, not chronometersnot marvels of intricacy and originalitywere needed, but timepieces within the reach and want of all. So yes. So I brought it home and left it hanging and would wind it up every once in a while. Inhaled or ingested particles may deposit a high local dose with a risk of radiation-caused lung or gastrointestinal cancer. All Rights Reserved. 400-day clocks are also known as anniversary clocks, they would run 400 days on one winding. Only reason I can think of and it looks pretty odd not to have minutes on a clock face. This past weekend, thanks to the Westclox Museum, its doors were opened and former workers were welcomed back for Homecoming Day. Through it all, Peru remained the companys home base, as over 3,000 employees now enjoyed the rapidly expanding space of the factory and its attached campus, with gardens, tennis courts, a bowling alley, and other things worthy of a Matthiessen estate. Thank you. they played a deep rich tone. Not everyone involved with the manufacturing of Westclox products was employed directly by Westclox, however. Nowadays, Super-LumiNova, which is entirely non-radioactive and non-toxic, is the most used lume in watchmaking. We are very proud to be living in this building and would love to know more about this specific site. Ive been trying to compare lots of different clocks to find out what original parts go together. Which is interesting because many of the electrics are scarcer but people just arent into collecting electric clocks. They did some limited production (less than 200) in 1908, when they were still perfecting the design, then quite a few in 1909, but it really wasnt nationally advertised until September of 1910. I met somebody then who told me about the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors and then I joined that and in their bi-monthly magazine I found a man looking for early Westclox information, he is now one of the foremost Westclox researchers. Charles Stahlberg had an idea for making a better, but less expensive alarm clock. At the end of one hand is a star and the other hand is the moon. The women also left a legacy to science that has been termed invaluable., shifting from serif to sans-serif typefaces and from slightly ornate to more streamlined minute and second hands, all of which eased legibility; setting the clock face closer to the glass, reducing shadows; and creating a slightly smaller form overall., three women fainted, several clerks were trampled, and four showcase windows were shattered before police untangled a jam of 2,500 women and a few stout-hearted men who converged on the store., For That Healthy Glow, Drink Radiation . [citation needed] The use of radium to provide luminescence for hands and indices on watches soon followed. They are just gorgeous watches and very well made. . Can you confirm? Question: Are both 1) and 2) marriages of Style 2 mechanisms put in a Style 1A Big Ben and Style 1 Baby Ben. 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. Its hard to fathom in retrospect, but in the early 20th century, it was generally believed that small amounts of radium were perfectly harmless to humans, and thus, the substances natural, long-lasting glow actually made it something of an attractive novelty of the time periodnot just on clock dials, but in the worlds of quack medicine, fashion, cosmetics, and even a proto version of energy water, called Radithor.. 7&a half X 6..desk clock. For me its kind of an inexpensive hobby because as a boy I could find them for about a dollar a piece, sometimes in good condition. I have a Seth Thomas Mantle clock that my older sisters husbands Aunt had on her mantle for years. When was Westclox Big Ben made? - WhoIsWh Dates Stamped on Big Ben and Baby Ben Clock Movements Dates were stamped on a movement plate of most Big Ben and Baby Ben alarm clocks made up until mid-1970's. Numbers are used for the month, day and year; or just the month and year (e.g. Thank you for your input.

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