CLOCKS THAT GREW ON TREES, SELF ILLUMINATION, AND A WATCH AT THE WEST COAST CLOCK AND WATCH MUSEUM

Ed Pasahow Throughout the years, clockmakers and watchmakers have confronted a number of challenges and developed new technology for producing reliable, accurate, and robust timepieces. The WCCWM collections includes a variety of innovative clocks and watches that provided their owners with not only the time but also fulfilled other useful functions. We will take a look at clocks that emerged from the infant industry when the US was just becoming a nation, solutions for nocturnal timekeeping, and the most successful pocket watch produced. Clock with Wooden Works Just after the Revolutionary War, Great Britain was understandably reluctant to assist the rebel Americans in competing with its own clock making industry. Consequently, the export of steel suitable for making clock springs and rolled brass for components was forbidden. This action forced the Americans to find native substitutes for these materials. The country had huge forests that could provide wood for components, so clock making turned to that resource. At first individual artisans produced clocks with wooden works one at a time, but the country was moving in the direction of developing local industries in many fields. Eli Terry came up with the idea for mass manufacturing of wooden shelf clocks that would run for 30 hours after winding. His technology was called the most radical development in clock making in the first quarter of the 19th Century. Among Terry’s “firsts” were:

1. A wooden shelf clock made with identical, interchangeable parts 2. Tools and jigs, of his own invention, to make the parts 3. Machinery driven by water power 4. Assembly line construction 5. Mass production for purposes other than munitions (Eli Whitey mass-produced muskets with

interchangeable parts early in the 19th Century.) Terry patented his design in 1816 and sold the clocks for $15. The standard Terry production model came with wooden front and back plates that sandwiched together the gear trains. The dial was also made from wood. Two weights drove the clock time and strike trains. Weight driven clocks usually required a long case to provide a distance for the weights to fall. Terry’s design, in contrast, offered a 30-hour running time from a shelf-size clock.

Jerome & Darrow Looking Glass clock

The Jerome & Darrow Looking Glass Clock in the WCCWM collection is based on the Terry patent. Chauncey Jerome worked for Eli Terry in 1816. He claims that during that time he made the first Pillar and Scroll clock for Terry in the winter of 1816. Jerome’s strength was as a super salesman, but he was not always a practical businessman. Jerome started multiple companies, but often with less than brilliant results. Even so, he at times become a prosperous industry leader, at others flat broke. The clock, made around 1830, has stenciled columns and headboard (called the splat). The lower tablet on the door provides a mirror, which was less costly to produce than a painted tablet. Chauncey bragged, “It could be made for one dollar less and sold for two dollars more that the (Terry) Patent Case.” The coloring of the stenciling and the included mirror led to this being called a Bronze Looking Glass Clock. (The photos show the clock with the dial removed to show the inner workings.) As expected from the Terry patent, the clock runs for 30 hours and has two weights, seen on the left and right side. The lighter weight on the left drives the strike and the heavier right weight the time. The clock case is pine with a mahogany veneer. The bell sounds the hours and half hours. A brass pendulum bob hangs from the center of the movement, which is mounted on vertical strips. The larger wooden gear to the left of the front plate is the count wheel that controls how many times the bell is struck for each hour. The small teeth between each hour division designate the number. The only brass component on the clock is the escape wheel that controls the rate clock runs. Just below that wheel is the recoil escapement verge that is rocked back and forth by the pendulum to let one tooth of the escape wheel pass at a time. The verge also gives the pendulum a nudge each time it releases a tooth to keep the pendulum swinging. Chauncey Jerome, his brother Noble Jerome and Elijah Darrow managed the company. Chauncey made the cases, Noble the movements, and Elijah painted the dials and stencils. Unfortunately, Jerome & Darrow

was not a long-lived operation. By the later 1834, Chauncey Jerome had started a new company, not the only time during his career as a clock manufacturer between 1816 and 1855. He frequently changed companies, sometimes as the owner but other times as an employee. Ed Drabik reproduction

As an interesting footnote on the Jerome & Darrow Looking Glass Clock, the museum owns a modern reproduction of the Eli Terry patent clock. Ed Drabik and his woodworking partner Leo Husa designed the clock. More detail of the movement and the 22 gears can be seen on this clock through the glass door. Drabik cut down the Italian Plum trees used in construction himself. The effort took nine months to complete 18 clocks. Clearly, Drabik did not have access to Terry’s tooling nor his mass-production techniques. Ed Drabik reproduction components

Drabik also produced a display showing all of the parts laid out in a portable case. Note that the axles, or arbors, that support the gears are also wood, but metal pins are inserted in the ends to act as pivots. This scheme reduces friction and wear on the most stressed parts of the assembly.

Riley Whiting clock

Riley Whiting made another example of a wooden geared clock in the collection. This clock is more advanced in that it runs for 8 days after winding. The clock features time, strike, and alarm functions. Two bells are used – one for the strike and the other for the alarm. The clock is artfully carved on the columns and the splat. Charlie Shubert of Portland, OR restored the picture on the tablet. He used a Currier & Ives print, called The Departure, which was identical to the original. He transferred the print outline to the reverse side of the glass. Then he hand painted the design following the outline.

Self-Illuminating Clocks

Self-Illumination is not Millennial trend. Instead, it was the answer to time awareness at night during less advanced eras. Before the availability of electric power generation or lighting, how would one read a clock to determine the time in the middle of the night? What if one had to waken before sunrise to get to work on time? Clock makers of the time were ready with solutions to these problems. One shortcoming of all these products, however, is that they all used open flames for illumination. Careless use or placement could turn any of them into a literal “great balls of fire.” The clocks were, however, ideal accompaniments to lucubration – late night study under a lamp.

An unexpected clock mechanism is one that lights a lamp when the alarm rings. This clock features a caricature of Toulouse-Lautrec with a clock in his abdomen. The manufacturer is unknown, nor is there any available explanation for the image of the diminutive French artist. At the proper time, the figure’s right arm flies up, drags a match over an abrasive surface, and lights the oil lamp wick. The photo shows the arm in position for lighting the wick. The time for the alarm is set using the longest hand on the dial to the selected hour. To refuel the lamp the small cap on top is removed and the oil inserted. This French clock, made between 1875 and 1880, is cased in spelter, which is a soft zinc alloy that is easily broken. A pendulum regulates the movement. The owner of this clock must arise immediately alert because it has the occasional tendency of flinging burning match fragments onto flammable bedroom objects such as curtains or bedclothes. The clock is such a novelty that the TV program Modern Marvels filmed at in the museum for an episode called Bedroom Tech (August 13, 2007). Oil Night clock

The next night clock is made of gilded bronze and features a male figure in courtly dress holding an illuminated globe aloft. French manufacturer, Eugene Farcot made the clock during the 1870s. Farcot was famous for his monumental conical pendulum movement clocks intended for display in public areas. Those clocks moved a pendulum in a circle that traced out a cone rather than simply swinging back and forth. Farcot was granted 18 patents on his timely inventions. This much smaller table clock has a movement that runs 8 days after winding. For compactness, it uses a lever movement, similar to that used in watches. The lamp runs on vegetable oil so may be considered one of the first “green” technologies. Roman numerals mark the periphery of the globe, with each hour divided into quarters.

The globe rotates and the oil lamp illuminates the markings. Candle Night clock

Also by Farcot, this clock uses a candle for lighting. The basic principles of operation are similar to the one previously described. Again, a rotating globe is the timekeeping mechanism. Here the Roman numeral marked hours are only divided into half. The case is a bronze casting. The figure appears to be a sorceress with a wand that points to the time. Made in the 1860s, the movement runs for 8 days after winding and uses a traditional pendulum to regulate the movement. The clock mechanism is housed in the stand supporting the globe. French Night clock Here is another French take on a night clock. An oil lamp supplies the illumination of the translucent

milk glass dial. Roman numerals mark the hours with a railroad track minute chapter ring. The hands are elaborately tooled and pierced. Ormolu appliques

decorate the enameled tin case. Ormolu mounts are copper, tin, and zinc alloys frequently used to accent French furniture of the 1870s. The 30-hour clock also provides an alarm sounded on a bell. Bradley & Hubbard clock

This Bradley & Hubbard night clock is also a brass parade lantern. These lanterns were carried on poles to light up parade formations. Dating from the 1880s, this clock is cased in stamped sheet brass. Stained glass jewels supplement the sparkling light emerging from slits and cuts in the case. Arabic numerals designate the hours on the milk glass dial with minutes marked by dots. A candle supplies the lighting. A New Haven Clock Company movement runs for 8 days after winding. New Haven manufactured night clocks with similar dials under their own name; however, none like this parade clock. The Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company, a partnership among Nathaniel and William L. Bradley, Walter Hubbard, and Orson and Chitten Hatch, was in business from 1852 to 1940. During that time some name and management changes occurred. For example, the Hatch brothers sold their interests to the other principals in 1854. Based in Meriden, CT, the name became synonymous with products of high quality and artistic merit.

Hamilton Grade 992 Pocket Watch

A domed case displays a variety of pocket watches from the collection. The watches hang on hooks on a stand topped with an eagle finial. The stand is itself a clock with the time shown on the cylinder at the bottom. Roman numerals indicate the hour, highlighted by the heart-shaped frame. It’s difficult to select only one watch to describe. Even so let’s choose a Hamilton open-face watch. The Hamilton Watch Company was established in Lancaster, PA in 1892. Through the years, the company produced 12.8 million watches. Pocket watches comprised about three-quarters of this total. The company suffered major financial difficulties in the 1970s resulting from competition from low-cost quartz watches. During the breakup, various parts of the company were parted out, with the Swatch Group of Switzerland taking over wristwatch production, which continues today. The huge Hamilton plant in Lancaster, with its two clock towers, became luxury condominiums. The Grade 992 pocket watch was the most successful movement manufactured by the Hamilton. Its popularity is demonstrated by production lasting from 1903 to 1931. During that time, Hamilton sold more than one

million copies of the movement. What made this watch such a hit? Primarily, the 21-jeweled movement was both accurate and reliable. Used only in open-face watches, a double roller escapement protects the movement. A double roller reduces the likelihood of escapement misalignment and failure resulting from a physical shock. Based on the serial number, the museum watch was manufactured in 1907. Engravings on the beautifully damascened plates and cocks proclaim its superiority. “Hamilton Watch Co., Lancaster, PA, 21 Jewels, 992, Adjusted 5 Positions.” The 5 position adjustments compensate for heat, cold, and irregular balance wheel beating. Five of the prominent jewels are mounted in gold settings, called chatons, and are secured in place with two small screws – another example of superior construction quality. A gold-filled case encloses the watch.

Repeat visits to the WCCWM are rewarded by discovery of overlooked treasures and by learning new details about timepiece history and operation from the knowledgeable docents. If you still have not had an opportunity to come by, give yourself a treat. The museum is open daily with details on the website www.wccwm.org.

I wish to thank WCCWM curator Ernie Lopez for his knowledgeable assistance in preparing this article.