When I was eight we moved to a new house and my mom and I were looking in the attic and found an old octagon wall clock made by Waterbury, probably dated about 1880. According to Periodic. But he only comes upon receipt of signed price agreement. Quite a few who try to get every basic model, but fewer who get into the rarer models and do research. Created with WordPress. Sometimes Ive seen them for 300 to 600 dollars. 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. Can anyone direct me on how to find this clock? . The clock can still give considerable amounts of radiation about 2-3 inches from the Crystal measured with a Geiger counter. The only problem is a standard size D battery does not fit. These folks here that are responsible for this are doing a marvelous job, Ristau said. At this moment I study horology at West Dean College in the UK. I am a retired mechanical engineer, the quality has floored me, hats off to this company. 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). Your response or advice would be much appreciated. In the 1970s, radium was phased out of wristwatches and clockdials. "[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. How do you set the time on a old fashioned alarm clock? Ristau said he remembered when the Westclox factory was the heart of the city, and recalled enjoying his time with Westclox. Westclox Big Ben Style 1a Alarm Clock Date Summary: 1918 - 1935 (and a reproduction was made in 1970) Characteristics: Ring on top, two legs in front, no screws through the front of the bezel. The style 8 Big and Baby Bens were introduced in 1964. A Westclox Museum has been opened within the original facility, showing off rare collections from the millions of timepieces once manufactured there. Theres a seller on eBay now whos doing some really outstanding restorations of Big Bens. That summer at an antique store I came across one that wasnt even in the book, and I thought that was exciting. She was 107 when she died on March 1 in Middlebury, Conn . [3] The Radiolite series, made in various sizes and models, became a signature of the Connecticut-based company. JavaScript is disabled. Here you can see production dates, original retail prices and other knowledge about vintage and antique Westclox clocks and watches. 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. Same as the nickel version but in a gold-plated case. They worked in unvented rooms, they wore smocks that they laundered at home. Westclox did make a couple of documented advertising clocks, but very few. when did westclox stop using radium; when did westclox stop using radium. 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. the knobs have foreign words ie wecker & UHR.would like to know about his clock Lynda Hinshaw, At this moment I am research a clock by Falconer& co HongKong. Were finally at a point, where were ready to do more than just sit here, said Ruth Spayer, curator for the museum. By the 1970s, radium was no . One of the objects on display in the Benton County Historical Society's Corvallis Museum is this Westclox Radium Dial Clock. Westcloxs Manual for Employees read, We expect you to work hard, and the pay is accordingly large . It was only with the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was given oversight of the use of radium. I would like to find the value of it. 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. Debbie Blake, I have a small Westclox wind up clock dating around 1937. 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). 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. About 1931 they made the first electric Big Ben, and they were plug ins. . . Was westclox ever manufactured in germany and if so when? Westclox made an excellent, almost exact, reproduction of the style 1a Big Ben in 1970. Can anyone tell me the meaning or significance of this eye? 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. "[4], According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, "radioactive antiques [including watches] are usually not a health risk as long as they are intact and in good condition. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. I was told it was long ago before even my aged family was servicing watches. The trademark "Westclox" which had appeared on their Big Ben alarm clocks as early as 1910 was officially registered in January 1916. 1980 By the early 1950s, Westclox employed thousands of LaSalle-Peru residents. Stoddard: The first Big Bens and Baby Bens went on the market in 1910 and they were wind ups. 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, read another. German: WECKER (alarm); UHR (clock). The drinking fountain worked.. Its basically all forward momentum from here. Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses were being caused by internal contamination from the radium they ingested. The front is in Roman Numerals with a dome shaped raised glass. Then, on New Years Eve, as 2011 became 2012, the unthinkable happened. Westclox Clock Construction and Quality. The women also left a legacy to science that has been termed invaluable.. 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. Can anyone tell me about this? I was about 3ft high and recessed into the wall. 226RA has a half life of about 1600 years and the glow of the paint used on dials and hands decreases because of the damage the alpha particles emitted by the Radium do to the ZnS . I know it was purchased in 1937 because it belonged to my elderly friends who were married in 1938. Thanks, Teri. I tend to be a nitty gritty detail kind of guy. The radium isotope (226Ra) used has a half-life of about 1,600years,[6] so radium dials remain essentially just as radioactive as when originally painted 50 or 100 years ago, whether or not they remain luminous. 1888. Origin of the eye, forklore or legends surrounding????? I have a Seth Thomas Mantle clock that my older sisters husbands Aunt had on her mantle for years. 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]. Posted on 1 second ago; June 24, 2022 . . It is and Elias Ingraham Brass Clock with a patent stamp of September 30, 1862. 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. At the top was a clock covered with a glass door. I have a similar clock. In clocks, as in all other lines of goods, there are two classes of consumersthe millions and the millionaires. Thank you for your input. The style 7 Big Ben and Baby Ben (1956 to 1964, the first Bens with concentric alarm hand) has minute markings. Could you please try to help me find out what kind of clock this is. As radium luminosity came under attack in the 1930s, Westcloxs other updates to the Big Ben design were far more practical and uncontroversial. Ref comment #10 from Frank Baker. Ive recently acquired a New Haven decorative wall clock. 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. In 1919 the company was incorporated as Western Clock Company, Ltd. The center is in the shape of the world map. Buy Now. That batch was in production non-continuously from 1939 to 1946, housed in gunmetal cases with nickel trim. We are very proud to be living in this building and would love to know more about this specific site. knowledge about vintage and antique Westclox clocks and watches. 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?? 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. Can you confirm? Stahlbergs company goes bankrupt not once, but twice, within its first several years. Junghans, Kienzle,Mauthe,Kaiser, Peter, (all from Germany) Veglia (Italy), CNIS ( France), Ingersoll (UK) as well as some Hong Kong made items. Only reason I can think of and it looks pretty odd not to have minutes on a clock face. Thank you. Omega stopped using radium around 1963. CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO RELEASE THE CLICK ON A WESTCLOX MANS WRISTWATCH MODEL A-201? Thank you It sits on a small brass stand with Westclox on it. The end of the Great War began what was, in many respects, a halcyon time for Westclox, now arguably the best-known timekeeping brand in the world. Stoddard: Ive been there several times. By 1930, all dial painters stopped pointing their brushes by mouth. By the 1960s production went offshore to achieve economies of scale . This 1964 Westclox Christmas ad describes their features. . Their factory in LaSalle, Illinois closed down in about 1980 when they moved all their production down south, but the building is still there. Another thing people do is make fake advertising clocks. 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 other thing is reproductions. Advertisement: Illustrates crackle green Tiny Tim, crackle blue Big Ben and crackle pink Baby Ben clocks. It was a gift from him to her the year before they were married. There are also some other makers clocks Ive gotten into, like the Seth Thomas 30 hour ogee, which is a weight-driven shelf clock. 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. About the only. US radium dial painting factory. The phosphor deterioration means you can't see a glow anymore, but . The Ghost Girls might have been the envy of the other girls in town, but no one yet realized just how much danger they were being subjected to. My love is for the style 1 peg leg Big and Baby Bens; mostly Baby Bens. Big Ben style, and there are other styles with names instead of numbers. The factory contained a bowling alley, and Ristau said his father was an excellent bowler. Soon, he was running the Western Clock Co. advertising department, and proving his worth with some clever marketing strategies. But hes taken some that are really rusty and had the backs replaced beautifully and reproduced some dials, and hes actually had some selling for several hundred dollars, so thats a totally different thing. From that time on, Baby Bens first and then Big Bens were available with either the plain or luminous dial. 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. 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. It would be very interesting if you could provide me with some pictures of the clock. I just had it repaired & it works & looks great. 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. By 1930, all dial painters stopped pointing their brushes by mouth. From 1917 to 1926, the United States Radium Corporation used radium to produce wristwatches and clocks. I have a Westclox Bachelor alarm clock from probably the 50s as it was always there when I was growing up. Radium dials held near the face have been shown to produce radiation doses in excess of 10Sv / hour. For me its kind of an inexpensive hobby because as a boy I could find them for about a dollar a piece, sometimes in good condition. Theyre just scattered in different places all over the country, little collections of hands, springs, screws, and things like that. 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. styles to organize them [Left: The first national Big Ben advertisement appears in the. 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. How do you date a Westclox Baby Ben? I thought, oh boy, I just need four more and Ill have them all! 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. 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. Before we get to that, though, we have to start with the issue of geography as it concerns the business in question. There are some blemishes on the wood on the right side. 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. Both the Big and Baby Bens were housed in a newly refined bell-back clock case. This dustproofing is accomplished by fittings around the set knobs and winding keys and on the regulator. 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. 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. 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. Did Westclox use radium? Initially hired as a low level clerk, Le Roy worked his way up the company ladder in the early 1900s as an on-the-road sales rep, soliciting business from Chicago to New York to parts unknown. It was put away for years and last year it was given to me as I have small collection of United novelty clocks. In 1914, Dr. Sabin Arnold von Sochocky and Dr. George S. Willis founded the Radium Luminous Material Corporation. So I brought it home and left it hanging and would wind it up every once in a while. Westcloxs Manual for Employees read, We expect you to work hard, and the pay is accordingly large . 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. Next to the original Westcloxes I have an interesting collection of European copies by a.o. With a half-life of only 3.8 days, radon "seeds" (Rn gas contained in thin walled gold tubing, crimped and cut into units up to 1cm in length) could be left permanently implanted in the body. Don Spayer, volunteer and former Westclox employee, said the bulk of the museums collection was built through donations. var year = today.getFullYear() when did westclox stop using radium. 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. For the town of Peruwhich had tied much of its identity to Westclox for the better part of a centurythe damage went beyond financial. 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 United States there does not seem to have ever been prohibitory legislation passed banning the use of radium in clocks and watches. 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. Thank to several professionals who Ive met on Ebay, I have become quite skilled with my restorations plus making dials and alarm function indicators. I read (but cant remember where) that about 40,000 were made. Westclox began as the United Clock Company of Peru, Illinois in 1885. Stoddard: Its really hard to say. After several changes of ownership, it became . As the 1960s began, over 50 million Big Ben clocks had been produced in total, and additional Westclox plants were now in operation everywhere from Athens, Georgia, and Ontario, Canada, to Scotland and Australia. 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. 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. I will be watching for more articles from Bill Stoddard The clock is shielded From the glass crystal. My dad was one of the top bowlers here, Ristau said. [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. 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. The pioneering spirit is there, but the business skills soon appear lacking. 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. Some people just want one or two that they remember from childhood in good condition, so thats just the thing for them. When did they stop using radium for watches? 1970s Many of these workers developed bone cancer . 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. In a few short years, thanks to Dr. Douglas's efforts, the amount of radium available in the US more than quintupled. Thank you. Any help would be appreciated. I cannot date it. when did westclox stop using radium old restaurants in lawrence, ma . 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. Big Ben style 1a continued in production until its discontinuation in 1935. The clock is several houndred pounds, and keeps great time. Radium dials usually lose their ability to glow in the dark in a period ranging anywhere from a few years to several decades, but all will cease to glow at some point. So yes. Theyre making some really nice reproductions of it in China and if you dont know what youre looking for you could be fooled easily. I have a mantel clock,its floral in color,made by Ansonia Cock Co.USA.New York. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. Dont know if someone ingraved date on when took down or if the original. 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. 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. Not everyone involved with the manufacturing of Westclox products was employed directly by Westclox, however. When did clocks 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. All I really want to know is about the raised horizontal single eye type decoration on this top removable piece. As stated it is working and keeps time. It is 3 diameter with Westclox on the back and PAT.APLOFOR. Based in Flora, Indiana, Bill can be reached via his website, clockhistory.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame. then 4 symbols a crown an 18 and to unkown symbols in a square patern but on its side square pattern. But the chances that you have a radium clock are slim, unless it is very old. Underneath the #12 on the face it says: G. Falconer & Co. LTD. Hong Kong. The story begins with a Connecticut clockmaker named Charles Stahlberg getting a patent for a new alarm clock design in 1885. Inhaled or ingested particles may deposit a high local dose with a risk of radiation-caused lung or gastrointestinal cancer. The magical glow, as was widely understood by everyone involved, was created by radiuma radioactive element discovered by Marie Curie in 1898. National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Inc (A 501c3 non-profit corporation). Unfortunately, they also hint at a tragic chapter in American industrial history, when the appeal of a luminous new kind of paint wound up putting hundreds of workersmostly young womenat great personal risk. I would like to find out about this clock. Buy Now. They worked for the United States Radium Corporation painting the numbers and hands on watch. Well, the company certainly maintained some major salesrooms here, and many of their employees came from the city and its suburbs. We pay his railroad fare on all orders for a dozen or more, we brand him with your name in lots of 24.. They arent hurting it permanently, its just kind of weird. 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. It was passed on to my sister and for years it was on their mantle along time until it stopped. You just cant imagine the size of this factory its just gigantic. thank you, My Husband and I just purchased an antique mantle/shelf clock at an estate sale. Leg model with ring on top, dustproof case. Back then, radium wasn't considered to be dangerous in small doses. These clocks were produced in the thousands and many can be bought on eBay for under $10. 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. The alarm mechanism was also improved as part of Kerns new patents, with an intermittent ringing that kind of acted as an archaic form of snooze alarm. I am pleased that I came across your article. Your email address will not be published. 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.
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