The company made luminescent paint. Style Information: Plain dial: 1918 - 1935 Black luminous dial: 1921 - 1935 There are variations in the lettering on the dial and back. The Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock Vintage is an iconic timepiece that has been around since the early 1900s. 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 know it was purchased in 1937 because it belonged to my elderly friends who were married in 1938. All the aforementioned to ask you if you know how many of the 1970 style 1As were made. This 1964 Westclox Christmas ad describes their features. By the 1960s production went offshore to achieve economies of scale . 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. Ive been trying to compare lots of different clocks to find out what original parts go together. So you find clocks where parts have been switched, so thats one challenge, determining originality. I like to find the ones before that and study their history. Lynda Hinshaw, At this moment I am research a clock by Falconer& co HongKong. Because it was one degree removed from the radium business itself, Westclox seems to have largely dodged the controversy and lawsuits altogether. I know very little about clocks in general. [Former Westclox workers Art and Mary Ann Windy (standing), 2015], This is amazing, Art said. 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. 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. He also recalled playing in the factory. Big Ben style 1a continued in production until its discontinuation in 1935. the knobs have foreign words ie wecker & UHR.would like to know about his clock 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. Stoddard: The first Big Bens and Baby Bens went on the market in 1910 and they were wind ups. I took it back and the repairman told me it was like a large Timex watch and just not worth being fixed. [citation needed] This rate probably only represents the dose rate from gamma emission, as the alpha emission will be stopped by the lacquer, or crystal, or case; hence, the dose rate following ingestion or inhalation of the dust could be much higher. I was given an Elias Ingraham Clock many years ago and would like to know a bit more about it and its value. In this interview Bill Stoddard talks about collecting antique Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben alarm clocks, and discusses clock collecting in general. The Canadian Clock Museum (http://www.canclockmuseum.ca/) may have some information. I am reading, studying, and learning more about the Westclox. Did Westclox use radium? 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 . when did westclox stop using radium. I cant find out anything about him or any other clocks by him. Instead, it would be better to take the box outside and remove the lid there, which would allow any built-up gas to rapidly dissipate." The watches tested were produced from the 1920s through the '60s, and are a mix of British, Swiss, and American origin. By the 1970s, radium was no . I also need it repaired so that it will be functional and need to find someone that will do that for me. then 4 symbols a crown an 18 and to unkown symbols in a square patern but on its side square pattern. It had beneath that four long tubes and they were the chimes for the door bell. She was 107 when she died on March 1 in Middlebury, Conn . England. It also says that the patent was re-issued March 31, 1868. . 1919 -1922, Luminous, Westclox in Roman text: 1923 - 1927, Luminous, projection on the "x": 1928 - 1935. 2023 by Andrew Clayman. I was about 3ft high and recessed into the wall. Westclox Classic Alarm Clock Full Size 47602. For the town of Peruwhich had tied much of its identity to Westclox for the better part of a centurythe damage went beyond financial. 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. Junghans, Kienzle,Mauthe,Kaiser, Peter, (all from Germany) Veglia (Italy), CNIS ( France), Ingersoll (UK) as well as some Hong Kong made items. 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. styles to organize them Westclox also made about 5000 gold-plated reproductions. They made them with wooden works until about 1840, then with brass gears and I like some of the early brass-geared American clocks. 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. Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses . I have a Seth Thomas Mantle clock that my older sisters husbands Aunt had on her mantle for years. Westclox closed its Peru factory 35 years ago. Thanks, Teri. They were sold in a very attractive hexagonal box which has pictures of antique items on the sides (tricycle, telephone, carriage, etc.) From 1942 to 1945, Westclox ceased all production intended for domestic civilian sale and dedicated its production resources to the war effort. Credit: pinimg. My husband has a Big Ben clock that he inherited, it was took down from a mill and given to his grandma. Phone: 717-684-8261. The company later changed its name to the United States Radium Corporation. See the top of this page for a current list of He invited us in to look around, so we got to go up and down the big freight elevator and he found some old music boxes that were never used that he gave to us (Westclox made one or two little clocks with a music box in them). I spent many an evening here, watching him bowl.. 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.. Stoddard: Some of the old American pocket watches are just beautiful so I have several in my collection. Once I was winding it and one of the main springs broke, so I decided to take it all apart and fix the main spring. Quite a few who try to get every basic model, but fewer who get into the rarer models and do research. Despite Westcloxs deep German roots, the Illinois factory was a huge contributor to the U.S. military again during World War II, supplying upwards of a billion small parts for use in various defense products. 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. Technically speaking, though, Westclox did still produce clocks during the gap years that followed. Copyright Based in Flora, Indiana, Bill can be reached via his website, clockhistory.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame. Theres a clock called a Crystal Regulator which is about a foot tall with a brass case and glass on all four sides. I first saw the clock in 1957. These paints were used on the dials of clocks and watches to make them glow-in-the-dark. 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. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. 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. That batch was in production non-continuously from 1939 to 1946, housed in gunmetal cases with nickel trim. I know Bill Stoddards name from other publications on Westclox. Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses were being caused by internal contamination from the radium they ingested. 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. 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. We are looking for any Westclox photographs, memorabilia etc between 1927- 1980s of the factory. Never underestimate the value of an alarm clock when yours broke two years ago and nobody has manufactured a new one since. 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. The movement was mounted to the inner case back. I have a collection of clocks, and amongst my collection are Westminster chime wall clocks, I have two Keinzle and two Junghans. 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. Art and Mary Ann Windy [pictured] have been married for 49 years, met as Westclox employees and were present for the open house. 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. 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. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that watches with radium dials should not be taken apart[5] without proper training, technique, and facilities. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. Sometimes extensive casework can be more time consuming than getting the movement running. 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. My father (Richard Ristau Sr.) worked here for 48.. Stoddard: The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) is headquartered in Pennsylvania but has chapters throughout the country. 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. 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. Columbia, PA 17512 When did Westclox stop using radium? 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. When did westclox stop using radium? We have photos of all the employees between 1927-1945 at the Peterborough Ontario Location but not much else. It is a Medbury-4W #4910. 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. 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. 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. Also Telechron, which was a big maker of electric clocks. 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. When did clocks stop using radium? I read (but cant remember where) that about 40,000 were made. hi, I have a cocacola square clock. That summer at an antique store I came across one that wasnt even in the book, and I thought that was exciting. 0 Comments; Uncategorized newark advertiser obituaries 2021 . 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. 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. I have been searching for one like as the clock went with the house after my Grandmother passed away. We pay his railroad fare on all orders for a dozen or more, we brand him with your name in lots of 24.. I would like to find the value of it. Even so, our case-less dials are certainly best left behind glass and out of reach, a sad reminder of a terrible and preventable episode in industrial history, the effects of which continued to plague the town of Ottawa for many years afterward. This practice resulted in the ingestion of radium, which caused serious jaw-bone degeneration and malignancy and other dental diseases. The standard operating procedure of their daily work involved literally placing radium flecked paint brushes between their lips to create a finer point before application. We would like to redo the entrances and lobby areas and show the history of the building right on site but have not found much anywhere. It would be greatly appreciated. Henry Warren invented a little synchronous motor that could go inside a clock. Origin of the eye, forklore or legends surrounding????? They were told that eliminating lip-pointing had ended earlier problems. They had one in Brazil for a while and I think also in Hong Kong. It has ingraved on it 2-20-31. Any information would be very helpful. I cannot date it. It is 3 diameter with Westclox on the back and PAT.APLOFOR. 5 17 15 is May 17, 1915 . [left to right: F.W. These efforts, combined with an ahead-of-its-time factory welfare department and employee benefits packages, led to a lot of workers spending their whole lives with Westclox. Before we get to that, though, we have to start with the issue of geography as it concerns the business in question. So I brought it home and left it hanging and would wind it up every once in a while. I have a Westclox Big Ben 1910 style 1a and have not been able to find out the present value/worth. Kind regards, Ben van Vliet. Clocks produced in the early 1900's are particularly concerning in this regard. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. For example, Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a are the leg model, and Style 2 is the first base model. 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. 1978. 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. Required fields are marked *. 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. Dozens of radium dial painters around the country developed similar symptoms, although the effects could take years to manifest, making it more difficult to pinpoint the phenomenon from its first cases in the early 1920s. 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. 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. Buy Now. The use of radium was discontinued since the 1960s. Westcloxs Manual for Employees read, We expect you to work hard, and the pay is accordingly large . 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. $25.99. when did westclox stop using radium; when did westclox stop using radium.