I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. My moms father had a small collection of antique clocks and when I was a little boy he showed me how to wind them and regulate them. 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. So I brought it home and left it hanging and would wind it up every once in a while. In 1931 it merged with Seth Thomas Clock Co. and both became divisions of General Time Corp. Because it was one degree removed from the radium business itself, Westclox seems to have largely dodged the controversy and lawsuits altogether. German: WECKER (alarm); UHR (clock). When did Westclox close? I cannot date it. Radium - a key element in early cancer treatment - RSC Education Westclox made an excellent, almost exact, reproduction of the style 1a Big Ben in 1970. That was the first antique clock I owned myself. On 3rd January 2099, Terry Shields asked if anyone had information regarding his clock signed G .Falconer, Hong Kong. Advertisement: Illustrates crackle green Tiny Tim, crackle blue Big Ben and crackle pink Baby Ben clocks. It was passed on to my sister and for years it was on their mantle along time until it stopped. Going back further in time, here is a pretty hypnotizing silent film released by Westclox in the early 1920s to promote the Big Ben and other products. Stoddard: Some of the old American pocket watches are just beautiful so I have several in my collection. But the chances that you have a radium clock are slim, unless it is very old. Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses were being caused by internal contamination from the radium they ingested. Then, on New Years Eve, as 2011 became 2012, the unthinkable happened. Recently Ive seen people taking an old Baby Ben thats worth a few bucks or so and gluing rhinestones around the bezel on the clock. Is this a product that the company would have made or something someone created? LandmarkHunter.com | Westclox clock factory, La Salle, IL So you find clocks where parts have been switched, so thats one challenge, determining originality. In its place, he ironically dubbed the little bedside clock Big Ben (apparently not copyrighted by the British Parliament), and introduced it to the public in early ads as a gendered he instead of an it., Big Ben is a handsome, well built, refined and bright looking fellow with a clean-cut open face and a deep cheerful voice, one ad read. 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. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. This past weekend, thanks to the Westclox Museum, its doors were opened and former workers were welcomed back for Homecoming Day. Most are in nickel finish cases, but some were made in gold plated cases. It is encased in hard polymer Plastic and the ends have rivets . So, rather than having the classic oversized bell or double-bell on top of the unit (to smash with your palm at 6am), the ringing mechanism was housed inside the back of the case, and a big winding key occupied the summit. Based in Flora, Indiana, Bill can be reached via his website, clockhistory.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame. These folks here that are responsible for this are doing a marvelous job, Ristau said. 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. If you look at a Baby Ben in the 1959 Sears catalog, they sold for about nine dollars and if you go to a Wal Mart today you can still buy a Baby Ben for about nine dollars, but the quality isnt the same. Westclox Model 66 Movement Series Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. The front is in Roman Numerals with a dome shaped raised glass. For example, Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a are the leg model, and Style 2 is the first base model. Did Westclox use radium? Like many East Coasters, he decides to pursue his fortune out West, but unlike many of his peers, he skips the bustling Second City in favor of a promising river & railroad region downstate; where the towns of Peru, LaSalle and Ottawa intersect. Condition is important, but clocks can be restored. Big Ben: butler nickel case, gold leaf numeral dial 1930 1932. I wonder if the younger generations are as interested in the older things as we are, although there are some younger collectors out there learning how to do clock repair. I believed it was manufacturing tag. Same as the nickel version but in a gold-plated case. 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. Can someone get back to me as to what it is and possibe age of it. The use of Radium changed over several years but it was not until late 1960ies when the last were made. Donohue, like many of her young peers in the radium industry, eventually realized that her amusing glow had been a warning of severe exposure to a radioactive substance. When did the use of radium stop? All Rights Reserved. Radium is highly radioactive. There are also some other makers clocks Ive gotten into, like the Seth Thomas 30 hour ogee, which is a weight-driven shelf clock. The center is in the shape of the world map. Stoddard: The main thing is the originality of the dial and if its a wooden shelf clock, having the original painting in the door would be really important. I worked here for 28 years. The Canadian Clock Museum (http://www.canclockmuseum.ca/) may have some information. The disease, radium-induced osteonecrosis, was recognized as an occupational disease in 1925 after a group of radium painters, known as the Radium Girls, from the United States Radium Corporation sued. I spent many an evening here, watching him bowl.. Former employees showed up to view a collection of watches, clocks, tools, photographs of the old factory, a short black and white film of the factory in action and remember working for Westclox. Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. Was just trying to find out any information on this clock or if you may have ever come across one like it Style 10 is the last numbered The movement was then used with minor changes in Loud Alarm models until 1956. Luckily for Charles, however, he is living in the same small town as Frederick William Matthiessena fellow German, but one with a hell of a lot more money and business experience. Copyright They were told that eliminating lip-pointing had ended earlier problems. 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. 400-day clocks are also known as anniversary clocks, they would run 400 days on one winding. We pay his railroad fare on all orders for a dozen or more, we brand him with your name in lots of 24.. Stahlbergs company goes bankrupt not once, but twice, within its first several years. The sound is very good when I compare it with the Howard Miller and the Jauke I just purchases, its loud and resonates very well. Thank you. When did Bulova stop using radium? The clock is shielded From the glass crystal. document.write(year) I have a collection of clocks, and amongst my collection are Westminster chime wall clocks, I have two Keinzle and two Junghans. [6] Decaying radium also produces the gas radon, recognized as the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States[6] and the United Kingdom. My Grandmother had a Westclox in her house. It is 3 diameter with Westclox on the back and PAT.APLOFOR. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. When the Radium Dial Company moved to Ottawa in the 20s to better serve its number one client, Westclox, they were welcomed with enthusiasm, particularly by the young, working class women in the town. It sits on a small brass stand with Westclox on it. Is Radium Lume Really That Dangerous? - WahaWatches They typically have a round brass base with a glass dome over them; they were made in Germany from the 1890s up through the 1970s, and a lot of people collect them. var today = new Date() Clock Repair and Hermle Chime, Mantel and Wall Clocks for Sale at Bill's Clockworks. Over time, she contracted terrible cancerous tumors, lost most of her teeth, and suffered countless other health problems. when did westclox stop using radium old restaurants in lawrence, ma . 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. That batch was in production non-continuously from 1939 to 1946, housed in gunmetal cases with nickel trim. Thank you. They can be identified by having the modern type of flat head screws Westclox - An Identification and Price Guide, The Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben Identification Guide, 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. By the 1970s, radium was no . 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.. The Ingersoll Watch division of the Waterbury Clock Company, a nationally-known maker of low-cost pocket and wristwatches, was a leading popularizer of the use of radium for watch hands and indices through the introduction of their "Radiolite" watches in 1916. 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. It also says that the patent was re-issued March 31, 1868. 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]. By 1930, all dial painters stopped pointing their brushes by mouth. 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].