Style Information: Plain dial: 1918 - 1935 Black luminous dial: 1921 - 1935 There are variations in the lettering on the dial and back. Stoddard: The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) is headquartered in Pennsylvania but has chapters throughout the country. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. The company made luminescent paint. My father (Richard Ristau Sr.) worked here for 48.. 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. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. I read (but cant remember where) that about 40,000 were made. In this interview Bill Stoddard talks about collecting antique Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben alarm clocks, and discusses clock collecting in general. [5] Indeed, the body treats radium as it does calcium, storing it in bone where it may cause bone degeneration and cancer.[5]. I know Bill Stoddards name from other publications on Westclox. National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Inc (A 501c3 non-profit corporation). This eye is horizontally elliptical in general shape, about 4 3/4 long and 1 3/4 tall with a circle in the middle making it look like a single eye. The use of Radium changed over several years but it was not until late 1960ies when the last were made. The use of radium was discontinued since the 1960s. [citation needed] After about 20minutes this delivers the equivalent of one whole day's worth of normal background radiation. US radium dial painting factory. Jessie, good observation. While most of our Big Ben dials are black with luminous numbers, there were also white dials with black numerals in production at the same time. A lot of American clocks have veneer over the base wood so if thats starting to peel it can be really expensive to get fixed. they played a deep rich tone. Theres a clock called a Crystal Regulator which is about a foot tall with a brass case and glass on all four sides. She was 107 when she died on March 1 in Middlebury, Conn . 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. 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. Radium was even used in medical applications during the 20th century. It is and Elias Ingraham Brass Clock with a patent stamp of September 30, 1862. In 2006 I started collecting vintage advertisements. its a Gold coloring and the bottom is well worn like it was slid into something regularily. 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 magical glow, as was widely understood by everyone involved, was created by radiuma radioactive element discovered by Marie Curie in 1898. I am pleased that I came across your article. The movement is a windup almost identical to the original. Westcloxs Manual for Employees read, We expect you to work hard, and the pay is accordingly large . Stoddard: Its really hard to say. Because it was one degree removed from the radium business itself, Westclox seems to have largely dodged the controversy and lawsuits altogether. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that watches with radium dials should not be taken apart[5] without proper training, technique, and facilities. Although old radium dials generally no longer produce light, this is due to the breakdown of the crystal structure of the luminous zinc sulfide rather than the radioactive decay of the radium. Company in 1888 and installing another talented German, Ernst Roth, as the general manager. Never underestimate the value of an alarm clock when yours broke two years ago and nobody has manufactured a new one since. By the 1970s, radium was no . If someone has restored it in the past, make sure the correct dial was put on it and the movements, which have probably been repaired a lot, have been done nicely. Most importantly, they were forbidden to point the tip with their lips, and they avoided to ingest or inhale the luminous paint. The first style 1a cases had double-hexagon legs, but after about a year they were changed to standard single hex form. 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. I know very little about clocks in general. It was put away for years and last year it was given to me as I have small collection of United novelty clocks. This classic clock is known for its loud and distinct bell-like . Matthiessen, 1904 Western Clock MFG Co. catalog cover, and the original Peru factory in 1905]. Technically speaking, though, Westclox did still produce clocks during the gap years that followed. Medical researchers extended the use of radium to cure impotence in men and women by creating fertility drugs with the element to "stimulate" reproduction. Condition is important, but clocks can be restored. Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses . They make alarm and one-day lever clocks only, and with practically two different articles, known as the 4-inch and 2-inch movements, they have an output of in their factory at LaSalle, Ill., of nearly two million clocks a year. Underneath the #12 on the face it says: G. Falconer & Co. LTD. Hong Kong. Westclox Scotland produced its first clock on 21 September 1948; a spring wound alarm with a 4-inch (10cm) dial. Theres a clock that came down the family, my great great granddad bought it used in about 1885, it was actually sold new in about 1839, one of the first of the weight-driven brass clocks. Thanks very mutch, I just acquired a sir w.h. theres the problem, there were two gears that were in backwards. They arent hurting it permanently, its just kind of weird. Credit: pinimg. This will broaden my view in the clock. It is too large (wide). Westclox Wrought Iron Look Wall Clock 12" 32021A. 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. 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. [left to right: F.W. 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. Site of the Old Westclox factory 211-201 Hunter Street, Peterborough Ontario. styles to organize them The policy of the company is one of highly specialized production. As radium luminosity came under attack in the 1930s, Westcloxs other updates to the Big Ben design were far more practical and uncontroversial. In 1914, Dr. Sabin Arnold von Sochocky and Dr. George S. Willis founded the Radium Luminous Material Corporation. Nowadays, Super-LumiNova, which is entirely non-radioactive and non-toxic, is the most used lume in watchmaking. 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.. 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. Thanks, I have come across a mantle clock that has been in my husbands family for as long as he can remember He estimates his bother purchased the clock around 1950. George Kern died on July 27, 1918 from a ruptured appendix, but his basic clock design lived on for years. . [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. Another thing people do is make fake advertising clocks. 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. Is radium still used on watches? After the discovery of radioactivity in 1896 by French physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Antoine Henri Becquerel, many other scientists began to search for uses of radioactivity. 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. 2023 by Andrew Clayman. The movement was then used with minor changes in Loud Alarm models until 1956. 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. Thanks. The Crystal blocks a significant amount of The radiation. I try to get all the pictures I can and keep them all chronologically and study the history. We pay his railroad fare on all orders for a dozen or more, we brand him with your name in lots of 24.. On the Style 9, they went back to actual minute markings. This particular clock is made in China while other similar Westclox alarm clocks at the time were made in Taiwan. Was this done so the alarm could be more easily set on the quarter or half hour? Sometimes extensive casework can be more time consuming than getting the movement running. 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). So yes. In the production of ordinary clocks adapted to the needs and means of the millions, America produces results of remarkable excellence. I think the clock was electric but could have been a wind up or maybe even a pendulum. Not to mention theres the Big Bens so that doubles it right there. 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. (All images in this article courtesy Bill Stoddard, www.clockhistory.com), I found this article very complimentary to the Westclox company and an intriguing piece to read. I would like to find out about this clock. For the town of Peruwhich had tied much of its identity to Westclox for the better part of a centurythe damage went beyond financial. If you want to identify an item, try posting it in our Show & Tell gallery. I hope to document Style 5 Baby Bens this winter. Stoddard: Some of the old American pocket watches are just beautiful so I have several in my collection. Clocks produced in the early 1900's are particularly concerning in this regard. 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. Ref comment #10 from Frank Baker. Westclox began as the United Clock Company of Peru, Illinois in 1885. Phone: 717-684-8261. On 3rd January 2099, Terry Shields asked if anyone had information regarding his clock signed G .Falconer, Hong Kong. I took it back and the repairman told me it was like a large Timex watch and just not worth being fixed. 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. when did westclox stop using radiumcapricorn and virgo flirting. 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. A Westclox Museum has been opened within the original facility, showing off rare collections from the millions of timepieces once manufactured there. I have an Pine State Ice Cream Milk clock that I would like to find out how much it may be worth. A few years later my grandma gave me one that worked, and my aunt gave me another one. The lume used on vintage Rolex watches was radium-based, and radium remained the standard for nearly all Rolex lume until 1963, when growing health concerns forced a shift away from it. 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. Dave, Your question about a Big Ben containing radium, and in fact about which clocks actually do contain radium, is a good one. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Radium dials are watch, clock and other instrument dials painted with luminous paint containing radium-226 to produce radioluminescence. Beginning in the 1910s, the girls instructed to put radium in their mouths didn't bat an eyelash. It also says that the patent was re-issued March 31, 1868. So I brought it home and left it hanging and would wind it up every once in a while. This was a wonderful article to read. Posted on 1 second ago; June 24, 2022 . Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. the clock face is 16, ca 1900. the clock belonged to pheobe appersons family at their ranch in sunol california. In the 1970s, radium was phased out of wristwatches and clockdials. The NAWCC has an online forum with a lot of different categories. This has probably been discussed before but my search turned up nothingdo the luminous hands on a Big Ben alarm clock contain painted radium? The style 7 Big Ben and Baby Ben (1956 to 1964, the first Bens with concentric alarm hand) has minute markings. Westclox set up a factory in England in the 1940s and also in Scotland. 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. When did westclox stop using radium? This Christmas (1930) ad illustrates 61-F Dura Case, style 2 crackle finish Big Ben and Baby Ben, Auto Clock, Pocket Ben and Country Club pocket watches. This 1964 Westclox Christmas ad describes their features. Quite a few who try to get every basic model, but fewer who get into the rarer models and do research. thank you, My Husband and I just purchased an antique mantle/shelf clock at an estate sale. Big Ben style, and there are other styles with names instead of numbers. One employee, R.D. 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. 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. You do not want to open them up, lest you breath radioactive dust from old paint or spread it around. Westclox set up a factory in England in the 1940s and also in Scotland. This end has been achieved by what is known as the Western Processa process in which the component parts of a clock are cast, or, so to speak, cemented together with an alloy, instead of staked, and in which all hand labor is replaced by automatic machinery., [Automatic machinery certainly sped up the manufacturing process, by plenty of human skill and attention was still required to make the Big Ben. Gary Biolchini added more style series in his book any info would be appreciated. when did westclox stop using radium old restaurants in lawrence, ma . Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock Vintage. I just had it repaired & it works & looks great. If you do not expect to work hard and carefully, you are in the wrong place., Big Ben is a handsome, well built, refined and bright looking fellow with a clean-cut open face and a deep cheerful voice,, 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,, But he only comes upon receipt of signed price agreement. In 1919 the company was incorporated as Western Clock Company, Ltd. Theyre making some really nice reproductions of it in China and if you dont know what youre looking for you could be fooled easily. 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]. I bought a 1970s Westclox pocket watch with a Hotwheels face that says authorized seller on it. 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. 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. With alarm clocks, they were so common that when people repaired them they did whatever they could to get them going. In the production of ordinary clocks adapted to the needs and means of the millions, America produces results of remarkable excellence. 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. AD x Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. There are many Westclox alarm clock models named Big Ben. I was given an Elias Ingraham Clock many years ago and would like to know a bit more about it and its value. Would you please direct me to someone that can do this for me? I have been searching for one like as the clock went with the house after my Grandmother passed away. I have a quite a few pieces of both of them I have even one big Ben pocket watch which is still working after , I do not know how many years. I tend to be a nitty gritty detail kind of guy. Style 1a has four holes in the back to access the movement cap screws; Style 1 has the legs and pendant riveted to the case, on style 1a they screw on. When he made his first clock and plugged it into the wall it worked fine except it wasnt accurate, it was off by plus or minus a half hour a day, because the 60 cycles were not regulated at that time, so it could vary quite a bit. "[5] However, radium is highly radioactive, emitting alpha, beta, and gamma radiation the effects of which are particularly deleterious if inhaled or ingested since there is no shielding within the body. Various lettering on the dial and various patent dates (later, numbers) on the Like style 1a non-luminous with dealer name on dial. 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. $26.95. It is in good condition and has the original pendulum and key. I have a collection of clocks, and amongst my collection are Westminster chime wall clocks, I have two Keinzle and two Junghans. Can anyone tell me about this? it has a picture of a huck finn type boy,carying 2 bottles of coke& a fishing pole,with his dog. T. tkarter Registered User. They made the most of the perk, wearing their good dresses to the plant so theyd shine in the dance halls at night, and even painting radium onto their teeth for a smile that would knock their suitors dead., When I went home and washed my hands in a dark bathroom, they would appear luminous and ghostly,, My clothes, hanging in a dark closet, gave off a phosphorescent glare. In 1913, with help from the US government, Dr. Douglas formed the National Radium Institute, to mine radium from uranium ores recently discovered in Colorado. One time a friend and I were down there behind the factory and we got talking to a man who was leasing the back half of the factory to make machinery for bakeries. 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. He also recalled playing in the factory. [Left: The first national Big Ben advertisement appears in the. Before we get to that, though, we have to start with the issue of geography as it concerns the business in question. People will still look for a good wind up but the quality declined in the later years just because the companies tried so hard to keep the prices low. [7], Ingestion of radium has been linked to anemia, cataracts, broken teeth, and reduced bone growth.[8]. I like to find the ones before that and study their history. In clocks, as in all other lines of goods, there are two classes of consumersthe millions and the millionaires. Do you have an archival dept who could give us an idea of our Western Clock which we recently acquired? [Former Westclox workers Art and Mary Ann Windy (standing), 2015], This is amazing, Art said. I'll start with a 19j Bunn, Looking for Somebody with Some Bandwidth to do a Repair. 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. I am trying to determine the age. UHR (CW arrow) knob sets clock time. When I went home and washed my hands in a dark bathroom, they would appear luminous and ghostly, an original Ghost Girl named Catherine Donohue (nee Wolfe) later testified. Entertainment & Pop Culture; Geography & Travel; Health & Medicine; Lifestyles & Social Issues; Literature; Philosophy & Religion; Politics, Law & Government The company later changed its name to the United States Radium Corporation. It is made by The Sessions Clock movement, appears to be brass, a bucking horse with cowboy riderjudgeing from the clothes design of the cowboy it is quite old. I would also like photo and more details of his clock, since I intend to write a follow-up article. [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. the knobs have foreign words ie wecker & UHR.would like to know about his clock While promoting Westclox products in Europe, the breakout of World War I and the laws of mandatory military service in his native France forced Le Roy to get his affairs in order and head for the front in 1914. 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. Early in the 20th century there was a medical practice that revolved around a new treatment involving the radioactive material called radium. 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. They were sold in a very attractive hexagonal box which has pictures of antique items on the sides (tricycle, telephone, carriage, etc.) Style 5 dial design]. Collectors Weekly: When did you discover that there were other clock collectors? Their factory in LaSalle, Illinois closed down in about 1980 when they moved all their production down south, but the building is still there. and again 1243 is this an antique its gold but looks brand new but also an antique at the same time does anyone know what kind of pocket watch this is or if its gold or a replica of something or what it might be worth?? Stoddard: Pay attention to quality. It sits on a small brass stand with Westclox on it. It was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898. 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. When did the use of radium stop? The whole clock seems to be origional and was maintained by my grandfather who was a watch/clock repairman. Westclox made an excellent, almost exact, reproduction of the style 1a Big Ben in 1970. Apr 14, 2011 501 1 18. I had developed some sort of fascination for Big Ben and Baby Ben clocks. 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. Hundreds of thousands of clocks were produced a year, until closing its doors in 1980. var year = today.getFullYear() 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. Their use in prostate brachytherapy dates from 1926. hi, I have a cocacola square clock. I have been purchasing these clocks as and when I got an opportunity. Clock Repair and Hermle Chime, Mantel and Wall Clocks for Sale at Bill's Clockworks. Next to the original Westcloxes I have an interesting collection of European copies by a.o. That summer at an antique store I came across one that wasnt even in the book, and I thought that was exciting. In all my research I can not confirm that The Style 1 models every had 1) and 2) above. Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie. Seeking the Big 3 goals of convenience, cleanliness, and cheap production, Dreyfuss rolled out his new-look Big Ben in 1931. Also, its not just Americans who collect, its worldwide. Radium dials held near the face have been shown to produce radiation doses in excess of 10Sv / hour. I have been collecting, repairing, and restoring mostly Westclox Big Bens for several years. In 1898, the Curies discovered the existence of. WECKER (CW arrow)/UHR (CCW arrow) knob with ring: CW winds alarm; CCW winds 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. The Windys said their union confirms an old Westclox employee rumor about the long-lasting nature of a relationship struck up near a certain fountain. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. The drinking fountain worked.. Westclox made an excellent, almost exact, reproduction of the style 1a Big Ben in 1970. I have a Westclox Bachelor alarm clock from probably the 50s as it was always there when I was growing up. From that point on I really liked those. The Westclox building remained there in all its glory well into the 21st century, as plans were tossed around for some sort of repurposing of the huge, historic facility. In the United States there does not seem to have ever been prohibitory legislation passed banning the use of radium in clocks and watches. A 'radium cow' or sample of radium would continually yield a supply of the nuclide. In 1918 the Big Ben case was improved to make it dustproof, as described in patent #1,300,278 issued to Kern on April 15, 1919. Henry Warren invented a little synchronous motor that could go inside a clock. I think it is a clock made by Sessions. Behind the light, theyd been left in the dark. There is a small dial inside of the clock face that has roman numerals like another clock face. It led to life-saving regulations and, ultimately, to the establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which now operates nationally in the United States to protect workers. Stopping this practice drastically reduced the amount of radium ingested and therefore, the incidence of malignancy. It has a removable bottom decorative piece as well as a top rounded top flat piece of wood with a verticle wooden slat on the back extending to become a peg-like extension to fit and secure the decorative piece into the top of the clock. Many thanks. Can you help A key point to bear in mind is this: the dial is still highly radioactive. The only marking I can find are the letters ST in old english style inside of a diamond thats inside of a circle, on the clock works. 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. var today = new Date() I hung it on my wall and we tried to get it fixed but the repairman couldnt fix it. Advertisement: Illustrates crackle green Tiny Tim, crackle blue Big Ben and crackle pink Baby Ben clocks.
when did westclox stop using radium
when did westclox stop using radium
