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. 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. The clock is shielded From the glass crystal. 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. How do you set the time on a old fashioned alarm clock? US radium dial painting factory. Can anyone direct me on how to find this clock? After several changes of ownership, it became . Required fields are marked *. Your email (will not be published) (required), The Timeless Appeal of the Westclock Big and BabyBens, The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Not Your Grandmas Cuckoo: Decapitating, Rat-Eating Clocks of the Black Forest, The Care and Repair of 19th-Century American Clocks. The Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock Vintage is an iconic timepiece that has been around since the early 1900s. 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. Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. Next year, well have been married for 49 years, Mary Ann said. Stoddard: Ive been there several times. On April 20, 1902, Marie and Pierre Curie successfully isolate radioactive radium salts from the mineral pitchblende in their laboratory in Paris. 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. 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. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. 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. 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. For example, Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a are the leg model, and Style 2 is the first base model. With alarm clocks, they were so common that when people repaired them they did whatever they could to get them going. . Jessie, good observation. Radium was even used in medical applications during the 20th century. 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? She was 18. So I brought it home and left it hanging and would wind it up every once in a while. Buy Now. 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. Did Westclox use radium? When did they stop using radium on clocks? they played a deep rich tone. . Can you confirm? Geiger counters could pick up readings from pants returned from a dry cleaner and from clothes stored away in a cedar chest. Big Ben style, and there are other styles with names instead of numbers. It still works. Then, on New Years Eve, as 2011 became 2012, the unthinkable happened. Thank you. I first saw the clock in 1957. Well, the company certainly maintained some major salesrooms here, and many of their employees came from the city and its suburbs. . Company in 1888 and installing another talented German, Ernst Roth, as the general manager. 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. Debbie Blake, I have a small Westclox wind up clock dating around 1937. Over time, she contracted terrible cancerous tumors, lost most of her teeth, and suffered countless other health problems. By the 1970s, radium was no . It had beneath that four long tubes and they were the chimes for the door bell. Radium dials are watch, clock and other instrument dials painted with luminous paint containing radium-226 to produce radioluminescence. The clock can still give considerable amounts of radiation about 2-3 inches from the Crystal measured with a Geiger counter. It is in working order and chimes on the hour and half hour. This dustproofing is accomplished by fittings around the set knobs and winding keys and on the regulator. It would be very interesting if you could provide me with some pictures of the clock. I have been purchasing these clocks as and when I got an opportunity. The story begins with a Connecticut clockmaker named Charles Stahlberg getting a patent for a new alarm clock design in 1885. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. I hung it on my wall and we tried to get it fixed but the repairman couldnt fix it. Hundreds of thousands of clocks were produced a year, until closing its doors in 1980. Kind regards, Ben van Vliet. 1968 Who made westclox? Safety 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. It is encased in hard polymer Plastic and the ends have rivets . Here you can see production dates, original retail prices and other 1978. Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben Identification Guide , Remembering the Great War and The Clock That Caused a Near Riot . Sep 23, 2011 Immediately after, substances like promethium and tritium were used as a luminous material, and they're still being used today. when did westclox stop using radium. 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.. Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated. We are looking for any Westclox photographs, memorabilia etc between 1927- 1980s of the factory. There is a small dial inside of the clock face that has roman numerals like another clock face. Westclox made an excellent, almost exact, reproduction of the style 1a Big Ben in 1970. Any help would be appreciated. Posted on 1 second ago; June 24, 2022 . 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. But for years the majority were wind ups, they were so popular. Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie. 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. Most are in nickel finish cases, but some were made in gold plated cases. It is a wind up. I was pained to learn how the girls had suffered while working here and sacrificed their lives to give the name of the company which it has today. In a few short years, thanks to Dr. Douglas's efforts, the amount of radium available in the US more than quintupled. 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. 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. Radium paint itself was eventually phased out and has not been used in watches since 1968. Its basically all forward momentum from here. styles to organize them 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. At the start of the decade, the company brought in a skilled new industrial designer named Henry Dreyfuss; a true modernist. They were officially Americas preferred wake-up call provider. Old Rose (pink) crackle finish Baby Ben with luminous dial: 1929 1930. 400-day clocks are also known as anniversary clocks, they would run 400 days on one winding. Instrument dials painted with radium-based paint, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, "WWII Military Watches 'Potentially Pose Serious Cancer Risk,', "Health Effects of Radium Radiation Exposure,", "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Radium Dials,", "Lume 101: Watch Luminescence Explained,", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Radium_dial&oldid=1123475907, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Jane Brickman, "Radium Girls: Women and Industrial Health Reform, 19101935,", This page was last edited on 23 November 2022, at 23:30. The whole clock seems to be origional and was maintained by my grandfather who was a watch/clock repairman. Sometimes Ive seen them for 300 to 600 dollars. 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. 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. Only reason I can think of and it looks pretty odd not to have minutes on a clock face. Richard Ristau Jr., former plant manager, said hes happy to see the space being used for the museum. Question: Are both 1) and 2) marriages of Style 2 mechanisms put in a Style 1A Big Ben and Style 1 Baby Ben. 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. Eventually we became best friends and started researching together. 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. Chronic exposure to high levels of radium can result in an increased incidence of bone, liver, or breast cancer. Former employees showed up to view a collection of watches, clocks, tools, photographs of the old factory, a short black and white film of the factory in action and remember working for Westclox. It has a cracked front lens that I would like to replace. Am I missing something here? Matthiessen, 1904 Western Clock MFG Co. catalog cover, and the original Peru factory in 1905]. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that watches with radium dials should not be taken apart[5] without proper training, technique, and facilities. 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. As stated it is working and keeps time. . 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. Radium - The First Rolex Luminous Material. I have looked high and low in my attempts to find out how any of these resproduction style 1A were produced. When did the use of radium stop? Radium paint can be ingested by inhaling flaking paint particles. . Behind the light, theyd been left in the dark. In clocks, as in all other lines of goods, there are two classes of consumersthe millions and the millionaires. When did Westclox close? Charles Crow Penn Valley, Ca, I have run across and old clock that I would like to know something about. How do you date a Westclox Baby Ben? I cant find out anything about him or any other clocks by him. When radium was discovered in the early 1900s, people were fascinated by its mysterious glow and it was added to many everyday products, including paints. Radium dials were typically painted by young women, who used to 'point' their brushes by licking and shaping the bristles prior to painting the fine lines and numbers on the dials. Their use in prostate brachytherapy dates from 1926. I'll start with a 19j Bunn, Looking for Somebody with Some Bandwidth to do a Repair. bailey oceans tide clock dated 1880, with a Fusee movement. . Was this done so the alarm could be more easily set on the quarter or half hour? I am looking to get an approxmiate value of this clock. I am trying to determine the age. . [citation needed] The use of radium to provide luminescence for hands and indices on watches soon followed. At one time they employed about 3500 people, making about 35, 000 clocks and watches per day. This practice resulted in the ingestion of radium, which caused serious jaw-bone degeneration and malignancy and other dental diseases. Never underestimate the value of an alarm clock when yours broke two years ago and nobody has manufactured a new one since. can anybody tell me about this piece? 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. When did westclox start making clocks? I have an antique mantle clock given to my Aunt & Uncle for a wedding gift (approximately 1949) FROM my great grandparents. 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. Was just trying to find out any information on this clock or if you may have ever come across one like it I have purchased 1) Style 1 Baby and Big Ben with the Gold Leaf dial (seller stated raised letters); and, 2) a Style 1 Baby Ben with Baby Ben De Luxe on the dial. The greater surprise, though, is that they didnt abandon the use of radium in the years that followed. 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. Radium dials held near the face have been shown to produce radiation doses in excess of 10Sv / hour. Were finally at a point, where were ready to do more than just sit here, said Ruth Spayer, curator for the museum. How did I get interested in clocks? Stoddard: My grandma gave me an old Baby Ben alarm clock that didnt work when I was seven. Same as the nickel version but in a gold-plated case. 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. Radium is an almost pure white alkaline radioactive earth metal, and is found in nature in uranium ores. My love is for the style 1 peg leg Big and Baby Bens; mostly Baby Bens. Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. They managed to extract 1 mg of radium from ten tonnes of the uranium ore pitchblende (uranium oxide, U 3 O 8), a considerable feat, given the chemically methods of separation available to them.They identified that it was a new element because its atomic spectrum revealed new lines. My dad was one of the top bowlers here, Ristau said. At the end of one hand is a star and the other hand is the moon. Ive been trying to compare lots of different clocks to find out what original parts go together. "Westclox" in italics, double hexagon legs: 1918, "Westclox" in italics, regular legs: 1918 -1922, "Westclox" in italics, very narrow lettering at bottom: "MADE BY WESTERN CLOCK CO., LA SALLE, ILL., U.S.A.", ca. Ref comment #10 from Frank Baker. 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. Style 5 dial design]. Gordon Goodrum I have a small westclox alarm clock. Soon, he was running the Western Clock Co. advertising department, and proving his worth with some clever marketing strategies. . Next to the original Westcloxes I have an interesting collection of European copies by a.o. 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. Credit: pinimg. All I really want to know is about the raised horizontal single eye type decoration on this top removable piece. When Did They Stop Using Radium On Clock Hands? It started early in the 20th century, around 1910, when some companies began to use radium on watch dials and hands to create a "glow in the dark" effect. When did westclox stop using radium? So, does Westclox really belong in the Made In Chicago Museum? 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. Is this a product that the company would have made or something someone created? I know very little about clocks in general. Westclox - An Identification and Price Guide, and I added even more in 2012. I tend to be a nitty gritty detail kind of guy. 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. 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. 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 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. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. 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. Westclox Model 66 Movement Series Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. Stoddard: Its really hard to say. Thanks, Teri. The movement was then used with minor changes in Loud Alarm models until 1956.