Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. At this moment I study horology at West Dean College in the UK. It is in the manufacture of alarm and one-day clocks that these results are the most noticeable, because in this field the quality of the product had always been subordinated to the market value, and the general feeling was one of let good enough alone., [Automatic machinery certainly sped up the manufacturing process, by plenty of human skill and attention was still required to make the Big Ben. How did I get interested in clocks? 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. [Former Westclox workers Art and Mary Ann Windy (standing), 2015], This is amazing, Art said. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I know very little about clocks in general. But this is not how the story of Westclox began. Sep 6, 2008. potz said: Afaik Radium was used right up to the 1950's. Some sources even say it was used up to 1968 in watches and 1978 in clocks. According to Periodic. I hung it on my wall and we tried to get it fixed but the repairman couldnt fix it. This past weekend, thanks to the Westclox Museum, its doors were opened and former workers were welcomed back for Homecoming Day. 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. 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. In the comprehensive Big Ben & Baby Ben Identification Guide, organized by researchers Richard Tjarks and Bill Stoddard, they credit the original brilliant marketing of these little wonders almost entirely to one mana 28 year-old French immigrant named Gaston Le Roy. when did westclox stop using radium - Dev.decourbaine.com The other thing is reproductions. They worked for the United States Radium Corporation painting the numbers and hands on watch. Thanks very mutch, I just acquired a sir w.h. In all my research I can not confirm that The Style 1 models every had 1) and 2) above. 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. I was told it was long ago before even my aged family was servicing watches. The Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock Vintage is an iconic timepiece that has been around since the early 1900s. When did Bulova stop using radium? Most are in nickel finish cases, but some were made in gold plated cases. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. Thanks for any info you may be able to supply My Grandmother had a Westclox in her house. Safety 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. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. 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]. They had one in Brazil for a while and I think also in Hong Kong. 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. 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. Do you have an archival dept who could give us an idea of our Western Clock which we recently acquired? Annie Moussin designer intrieur. $38.00. Westclox Model 66 Movement Series Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. 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. Ironically, the war that had cost them Gaston Le Roy had also stifled much of the companys European competition, opening up an even bigger share of the world marketplace in the 1920s. There are variations in the lettering on the dial and back. When did Westclox close? When I walked along the street, Iwas aglow from the radium powder., The radium girls case was one of the first in which an employer was made responsible for the health of the companys employees. While the painting technique of the Ghost Girls was replaced with supposedly safer methods like silk screening, traces of radium were still used by many companies to get that desired glow effect throughout the 1940s and even as late as the 60s. I have an Pine State Ice Cream Milk clock that I would like to find out how much it may be worth. Inhaled or ingested particles may deposit a high local dose with a risk of radiation-caused lung or gastrointestinal cancer. This classic clock is known for its loud and distinct bell-like . Is Westclox still in business? - Quick-Advice.com 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. 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. . Origin of the eye, forklore or legends surrounding????? Westclox made an excellent, almost exact, reproduction of the style 1a Big Ben in 1970. During World War II they had some fantastic ads that you can see on my website like, Victory Wont Wait for the Nation Thats Late, and Guard Your Big Ben where they show a bulldog and a soldier with a gun guarding a Big Ben because during the war they stopped making clocks for the consumer market and totally switched over to military work. That way I got myself another Baby Ben, bringing my collection to three by age 12. Radium paint itself was eventually phased out and has not been used in watches since 1968. I have an antique mantle clock given to my Aunt & Uncle for a wedding gift (approximately 1949) FROM my great grandparents. Another thing people do is make fake advertising clocks. Charles Stahlberg headed a group from Waterbury, Connecticut, who came to Peru in 1884 to build clocks based on a new idea by Stahlberg. They were, incredibly enough, instructed to ingest a radioactive poison all day, every day, and never properly warned of any potential hazards. I'll start with a 19j Bunn, Looking for Somebody with Some Bandwidth to do a Repair. Omega stopped using radium around 1963. That summer at an antique store I came across one that wasnt even in the book, and I thought that was exciting. The company later changed its name to the United States Radium Corporation. She was 18. Radium dials held near the face have been shown to produce radiation doses in excess of 10Sv / hour. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. I have a collection of clocks, and amongst my collection are Westminster chime wall clocks, I have two Keinzle and two Junghans. I first saw the clock in 1957. 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. Copyright At the end of one hand is a star and the other hand is the moon. Style 1 has three screws through the bezel visible from the front, style 1a doesnt (compare figures 3 and 7); Style 1 has two screws holding the bell back, style 1a has three. I just had it repaired & it works & looks great. The work involved using luminous radium paint to make the numbers on clocks, watches and aeronautic dials glow in the dark. It is a wind up. Westclox Wrought Iron Look Wall Clock 12" 32021A. My husband has a Big Ben clock that he inherited, it was took down from a mill and given to his grandma. Westclox Radium Dial Clock. Radium is highly radioactive. Purchased from a man who claimed to have salvaged them from the backroom of an unnamed Chicago watch repair shop, each round and weathered face represents the lasting work of an international manufacturing giant at the peak of its powers. This dustproofing is accomplished by fittings around the set knobs and winding keys and on the regulator. when did westclox stop using radium - Trustedacquisitions.com Charles Crow Penn Valley, Ca, I have run across and old clock that I would like to know something about. It also says that the patent was re-issued March 31, 1868. Sometimes extensive casework can be more time consuming than getting the movement running. We pay his railroad fare on all orders for a dozen or more, we brand him with your name in lots of 24., unconsciously characterized the manunaffected, direct, devoted to his cause., Radiums luminosity was part of its allure,, 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. 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). Luminous Processes employees interviewed by a journalist in 1978 stated they had been left ignorant of radium's dangers. The whole clock seems to be origional and was maintained by my grandfather who was a watch/clock repairman. We are looking for any Westclox photographs, memorabilia etc between 1927- 1980s of the factory. . In some respects, the early rise of the Western Clock MFG Co. is even more impressive considering the company didnt have all the resources of an established, major metropolis to draw from. It is stamped on the back of the casing DRP&GM. 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. 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. Would you please direct me to someone that can do this for me? Theyre just scattered in different places all over the country, little collections of hands, springs, screws, and things like that. Am I missing something here? 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. 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. I have a Westclox Big Ben 1910 style 1a and have not been able to find out the present value/worth. 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. Was this done so the alarm could be more easily set on the quarter or half hour? Buy Now. WECKER (CCW arrow) knob sets alarm time. 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. Stahlbergs company goes bankrupt not once, but twice, within its first several years. US radium dial painting factory. The magical glow, as was widely understood by everyone involved, was created by radiuma radioactive element discovered by Marie Curie in 1898. Thank to several professionals who Ive met on Ebay, I have become quite skilled with my restorations plus making dials and alarm function indicators. styles to organize them Junghans, Kienzle,Mauthe,Kaiser, Peter, (all from Germany) Veglia (Italy), CNIS ( France), Ingersoll (UK) as well as some Hong Kong made items. It is too large (wide). 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. When did they stop using radium for watches? Radium: a medical treatment in the early 20th - College of Physicians Same as the nickel version but in a gold-plated case. For the town of Peruwhich had tied much of its identity to Westclox for the better part of a centurythe damage went beyond financial. In the 1970s, radium was phased out of wristwatches and clockdials. The use of radium was discontinued since the 1960s. The new features, according to a synopsis from the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, included: 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.. Columbia, PA 17512 Ref comment #10 from Frank Baker. Within two decades she had lost all her teeth. Radium - Element information, properties and uses | Periodic Table 1919 -1922, Luminous, Westclox in Roman text: 1923 - 1927, Luminous, projection on the "x": 1928 - 1935. 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. 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. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. We are very proud to be living in this building and would love to know more about this specific site. 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. How We Realized Putting Radium in Everything Was Not the Answer I took it back and the repairman told me it was like a large Timex watch and just not worth being fixed. bailey oceans tide clock dated 1880, with a Fusee movement. Also Telechron, which was a big maker of electric clocks. 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]. It can be found with some other clocks in a case in the second floor hallway. Stopping this practice drastically reduced the amount of radium ingested and therefore, the incidence of malignancy. Ive recently acquired a New Haven decorative wall clock. Chronic exposure to high levels of radium can result in an increased incidence of bone, liver, or breast cancer. How do you set a manual alarm clock? - AnswersAll The phosphor deterioration means you can't see a glow anymore, but . Soon, he was running the Western Clock Co. advertising department, and proving his worth with some clever marketing strategies. Contact the Webmaster for perceived copyright infringement (DMCA Registration Number 1010287). I also need it repaired so that it will be functional and need to find someone that will do that for me. Next to the original Westcloxes I have an interesting collection of European copies by a.o. Debbie Blake, I have a small Westclox wind up clock dating around 1937. 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. Westclox style series. 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. Condition is important, but clocks can be restored. Westclox Big Ben Luminous Hands | NAWCC Forums Thats another story. Radium dials were produced throughout most of the 20th century before being replaced by safer tritium-based luminous material in the 1970s and finally by non-toxic, non-radioactive strontium aluminatebased photoluminescent material from the middle 1990s. Any guidance or help is appreciated. Well, the company certainly maintained some major salesrooms here, and many of their employees came from the city and its suburbs. The trademark "Westclox" which had appeared on their Big Ben alarm clocks as early as 1910 was officially registered in January 1916. About 1931 they made the first electric Big Ben, and they were plug ins. There are some blemishes on the wood on the right side. Radioactivity in Antiques | US EPA During the early 1900's, the effects of radiation exposure were not well understood, and radium was frequently . In terms of my own collection, Im still trying to find some of the really early Big Bens. As various larger corporate interests got involved in the years ahead, however, and as increasing competition from electronic clockmakers slowed the Big Bens dominance, the inevitable slow down began. It is a Medbury-4W #4910. They arent hurting it permanently, its just kind of weird. Its basically all forward momentum from here. then 4 symbols a crown an 18 and to unkown symbols in a square patern but on its side square pattern. Stoddard: Its really hard to say. The alpha particles emitted by the radium, which is taken up in bone, will kill off surrounding bone tissue, resulting in a condition loosely referred to as radium jaw. Back then, radium wasn't considered to be dangerous in small doses. [Westclox advertisements from WWII period, ft. I have a mantel clock,its floral in color,made by Ansonia Cock Co.USA.New York. . For example, Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a are the leg model, and Style 2 is the first base model. when did westclox stop using radium; when did westclox stop using radium. Behind the light, theyd been left in the dark. That was the first antique clock I owned myself. Stoddard: Some of the old American pocket watches are just beautiful so I have several in my collection. the knobs have foreign words ie wecker & UHR.would like to know about his clock Yet Mrs. Keane was a survivor who later conquered colon and breast cancer. Marie and Pierre Curie isolate radium - HISTORY 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. Their Scottish factory was a full manufacturing plant, at which all their clocks were assembled from start to finish with only the basic raw materials being brought in by outside suppliers. Could you suggest how I could go about finding out this information. It is in good condition and has the original pendulum and key. A pair of teenage boys broke into the abandoned factory and set a fire that quickly spread and enveloped much of the central complex. When did Westclox stop using radium? He corresponded with Westclox General Manager Ernst Roth over the weeks that followed, but after a final letter that September, he went silent. Leg model with ring on top, dustproof case. thanks for your time, was doing research.. Appears from search engine a conversation about D batteries but cant find it in the text.. Can anyone inform me of the different size of D? When many of these early Big Ben advertisements were still running, Gaston Le Roys life took a sudden and dramatic turn. 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. 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. In-Depth Luminous Dials, What Makes Them Glow, And How To - HODINKEE 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. 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. Mae Keane, Whose Job Brought Radium to Her Lips, Dies at 107 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. So yes. The Canadian Clock Museum (http://www.canclockmuseum.ca/) may have some information. The only problem is a standard size D battery does not fit. when did westclox stop using radium - Simssuccessgroup.com It has ingraved on it 2-20-31. Patton, had joined Charles Stahlbergs original start-up back in 1886 at the age of just 13, and he was still on board in 1936, 50 years later. People did some bad things over the years just to get them running. into groups of similar models. Lynda Hinshaw, At this moment I am research a clock by Falconer& co HongKong. $25.99. Any help would be appreciated. Ristau said he remembered when the Westclox factory was the heart of the city, and recalled enjoying his time with Westclox. [left to right: F.W. It might be the only one in the country, Spayer said. Stoddard: Ive been there several times. Thank you. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. [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. 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. 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. The new company tripled in size by the turn of the century, employing 232 people at its growing Peru plant (145 men, 73 women, 14 children) and producing 500,000 clocks annually. var year = today.getFullYear() The first Big Bens and Baby Bens in 1910 were wind ups.. Richard Tjarks introduced Is a Glow-in-the-dark Clock Any Cause for Alarm? 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. When did Westclox go out of business? - Ufoscience.org In her 2017 book, The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women, author Kate Moore notes that many of the new girls at the Radium Dial factory started out painting the famous Westclox Big Ben clocks before moving on to the smaller and more challenging Baby Ben, and finally the Pocket Ben and Scotty pocket watches, all produced at the Westclox Works. 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. The story begins with a Connecticut clockmaker named Charles Stahlberg getting a patent for a new alarm clock design in 1885. 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. Did westclox stop using radioactive paint by the 1960s? 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 Evolution Behind Rolex Luminous Material | Bob's Watches 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?