It is stamped on the back of the casing DRP&GM. Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben Identification Guide , Remembering the Great War and The Clock That Caused a Near Riot . They were told that eliminating lip-pointing had ended earlier problems. "[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. When did clocks stop using radium? 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. Is this a product that the company would have made or something someone created? Collectors Weekly: When did you discover that there were other clock collectors? 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. Well, the company certainly maintained some major salesrooms here, and many of their employees came from the city and its suburbs. It has ingraved on it 2-20-31. Just remember, old luminous clocks are full of radium! UHR (CW arrow) knob sets clock time. This fall, the museum will be open more frequently and for more events. I think the clock was electric but could have been a wind up or maybe even a pendulum. 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. I think we threw it away. . The center is in the shape of the world map. Westclox Radium Dial Clock. He also recalled playing in the factory. England. It was a gift from him to her the year before they were married. The factory contained a bowling alley, and Ristau said his father was an excellent bowler. 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. Any guidance or help is appreciated. 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. Annie Moussin designer intrieur. 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. Early in the 20th century there was a medical practice that revolved around a new treatment involving the radioactive material called radium. 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. Not everyone involved with the manufacturing of Westclox products was employed directly by Westclox, however. [citation needed] After about 20minutes this delivers the equivalent of one whole day's worth of normal background radiation. This will broaden my view in the clock. its a Gold coloring and the bottom is well worn like it was slid into something regularily. In terms of my own collection, Im still trying to find some of the really early Big Bens. Style 10 is the last numbered who can refurbush big ben still runs good perfect time purchased in 1950 cataloge #885(885). There are some blemishes on the wood on the right side. 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. Eventually, safer options were discovered, and the use of radium was discontinued in the 1960s. Theres a clock called a Crystal Regulator which is about a foot tall with a brass case and glass on all four sides. I know Bill Stoddards name from other publications on Westclox. 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 was about 3ft high and recessed into the wall. 514 Poplar Street Here you can see production dates, original retail prices and other If you do not expect to work hard and carefully, you are in the wrong place. credit: Northern Illinois University]. National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Inc (A 501c3 non-profit corporation). 1978. She was 18. 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). It would be very interesting if you could provide me with some pictures of the clock. We are looking for any Westclox photographs, memorabilia etc between 1927- 1980s of the factory. Richard Ristau Jr., former plant manager, said hes happy to see the space being used for the museum. On 3rd January 2099, Terry Shields asked if anyone had information regarding his clock signed G .Falconer, Hong Kong. Phone: 717-684-8261. Leg model with ring on top, dustproof case. 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. The use of Radium changed over several years but it was not until late 1960ies when the last were made. At the top was a clock covered with a glass door. [7], Ingestion of radium has been linked to anemia, cataracts, broken teeth, and reduced bone growth.[8]. I would like to find out about this clock. 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. 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. Radium is highly radioactive. US radium dial painting factory. [Westclox advertisements from WWII period, ft. 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. Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses . Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie. . Westclox 0.9" LED Plasma Screen Alarm Clock with USB Charging Port 71014X. Even today, with the considerable help of a thing called Interstate 80, its still about a two-hour journey from LaSalle Street to LaSalle County. Sep 23, 2011 The company later changed its name to the United States Radium Corporation. 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. My Grandmother had a Westclox in her house. After several changes of ownership, it became . My clothes, hanging in a dark closet, gave off a phosphorescent glare. 5 17 15 is May 17, 1915 . This has probably been discussed before but my search turned up nothingdo the luminous hands on a Big Ben alarm clock contain painted radium? I would like to know the value of a #4 black, #321(in original cardboard Christmas box), mint condition, Baby Ben alarm clock is. All I really want to know is about the raised horizontal single eye type decoration on this top removable piece. I live in Scotland but my clock was made in USA. You do not want to open them up, lest you breath radioactive dust from old paint or spread it around. Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. 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. Is Westclox a good brand? The movement was mounted to the inner case back. The clock is shielded From the glass crystal. Credit: pinimg. When did westclox stop using radium? Your response or advice would be much appreciated. 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. Can someone get back to me as to what it is and possibe age of it. 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. . These folks here that are responsible for this are doing a marvelous job, 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. I would also like photo and more details of his clock, since I intend to write a follow-up article. Westclox began as the United Clock Company of Peru, Illinois in 1885. Radium was even used in medical applications during the 20th century. With alarm clocks, they were so common that when people repaired them they did whatever they could to get them going. Thank you. [9] The element was phased out of use by industry acting under its own volition as superior and safer luminous materials entered the marketplace. Was just trying to find out any information on this clock or if you may have ever come across one like it Any information would be very helpful. German: WECKER (alarm); UHR (clock). 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. This 1964 Westclox Christmas ad describes their features. Within in another ten years, the workforce had tripled again, powered by employee George Kerns 1908 invention of the first Big Benthe sleek, iconic model that basically set the template for the 20th century wind-up alarm clock. Westclox Scotland produced its first clock on 21 September 1948; a spring wound alarm with a 4-inch (10cm) dial. Their use in prostate brachytherapy dates from 1926. dated:1990 ,decorated :hong cong.made in japan.cocacola tradmark. The clock can still give considerable amounts of radiation about 2-3 inches from the Crystal measured with a Geiger counter. From 1917 to 1926, the United States Radium Corporation used radium to produce wristwatches and clocks. Sometimes getting parts is tough, too, although it turns out Westclox made lots and lots of spare parts. Westclox began as the United Clock Company in Peru, Illinois in 1885. 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. The Crystal blocks a significant amount of The radiation. It is encased in hard polymer Plastic and the ends have rivets . 1888. We are very proud to be living in this building and would love to know more about this specific site. Posted on 1 second ago; June 24, 2022 . Seeking the Big 3 goals of convenience, cleanliness, and cheap production, Dreyfuss rolled out his new-look Big Ben in 1931. 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. The other thing is reproductions. 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. Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated. Both the Big and Baby Bens were housed in a newly refined bell-back clock case. These clocks were produced in the thousands and many can be bought on eBay for under $10. The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. I believed it was manufacturing tag. Can you confirm? Can anyone tell me the meaning or significance of this eye? 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 cannot date it. At the start of the decade, the company brought in a skilled new industrial designer named Henry Dreyfuss; a true modernist. 2023 by Andrew Clayman. I also need it repaired so that it will be functional and need to find someone that will do that for me. Chronic exposure to high levels of radium can result in an increased incidence of bone, liver, or breast cancer. 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. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. His bigger job was to design a system so the power companies could regulate their generator so the clock could keep time. Stoddard: Ive been there several times. A clock without hands might seem indifferent to the passage of time, but these old Big Ben and Baby Ben dials have some serious stories to tell. 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. Back then, radium wasn't considered to be dangerous in small doses. My love is for the style 1 peg leg Big and Baby Bens; mostly Baby Bens. It has a cracked front lens that I would like to replace. Finally, with Catherine Donohue serving as a key witness from her death bed in 1938, a groundbreaking Supreme Court case finally delivered some long awaited justice to the victims. 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. But for years the majority were wind ups, they were so popular. Sometimes Ive seen them for 300 to 600 dollars. For example, Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a are the leg model, and Style 2 is the first base model. . I like to find the ones before that and study their history. But he only comes upon receipt of signed price agreement. 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. Medical researchers extended the use of radium to cure impotence in men and women by creating fertility drugs with the element to "stimulate" reproduction. 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. i have a large ansonia wall clock 32 1/2 x 32. As stated it is working and keeps time. As my first name is Ben, I started to collect these alarmclocks since about 1970. 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. Similarly, Theyll take an old Big Ben from 1930 and make a new dial that says Indian Motorcycle or Victola, and put it on eBay. They can be identified by having the modern type of flat head screws with shoulders instead of round head screws, and by having a 1910 patent date on the back even though the case is style 1a. The next month, Roth got a cablegram from London; his friend and valued co-worker Le Roy had died for his country. Those simple words, Roth later wrote in the November 1914 issue of the company newsletter, Tick Talk, unconsciously characterized the manunaffected, direct, devoted to his cause., [Images from a 1922 issue of the Westclox company newsletter, the very cleverly titled Tick Talk]. I recently wrote an article on Hong Kong Watch and Clockmakers for the Antiquarian Horology Society Journal. Matthiessen, 1904 Western Clock MFG Co. catalog cover, and the original Peru factory in 1905]. 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. The drinking fountain worked.. At this moment I study horology at West Dean College in the UK. I had developed some sort of fascination for Big Ben and Baby Ben clocks. However, there`s no easy way for you to tell; there were no labeling requirements then as we have now. Hi I need the face plate for a black face big ben with the alarm dial on its face do you have any you could sell me alonf with the radio dials, it was probably outsourced meaning westclox sold some watches to hot wheels, I had a westclox electric dialite like that. 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. It is something that we should know before everyone starts throwing away every luminous dial clock they own. 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 . A few years later my grandma gave me one that worked, and my aunt gave me another one. I have a collection of clocks, and amongst my collection are Westminster chime wall clocks, I have two Keinzle and two Junghans. The movement was then used with minor changes in Loud Alarm models until 1956. This past weekend, thanks to the Westclox Museum, its doors were opened and former workers were welcomed back for Homecoming Day. In 1931 it merged with Seth Thomas Clock Co. and both became divisions of General Time Corp. Could you suggest how I could go about finding out this information. Site of the Old Westclox factory 211-201 Hunter Street, Peterborough Ontario. This was a wonderful article to read. Westclox - An Identification and Price Guide, and I added even more in 2012. 1980 By the early 1950s, Westclox employed thousands of LaSalle-Peru residents. The Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock Vintage is an iconic timepiece that has been around since the early 1900s. The story begins with a Connecticut clockmaker named Charles Stahlberg getting a patent for a new alarm clock design in 1885. My husband has a Big Ben clock that he inherited, it was took down from a mill and given to his grandma. 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. T. tkarter Registered User. 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. Kind regards, Ben van Vliet. A Westclox Museum has been opened within the original facility, showing off rare collections from the millions of timepieces once manufactured there. In 2006 I started collecting vintage advertisements. Columbia, PA 17512 I was told it was an antique at that time. 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. 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 . bailey oceans tide clock dated 1880, with a Fusee movement. So you find clocks where parts have been switched, so thats one challenge, determining originality. Condition is important, but clocks can be restored. 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. Before we get to that, though, we have to start with the issue of geography as it concerns the business in question. They had one in Brazil for a while and I think also in Hong Kong. As radium luminosity came under attack in the 1930s, Westcloxs other updates to the Big Ben design were far more practical and uncontroversial. "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. I also like some of the older American weight-driven clocks. Question: Are both 1) and 2) marriages of Style 2 mechanisms put in a Style 1A Big Ben and Style 1 Baby Ben. 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. Sometimes extensive casework can be more time consuming than getting the movement running. The company made luminescent paint. [Left: The first national Big Ben advertisement appears in the Saturday Evening Post in 1910: Big Ben is a thin, beautiful and punctual sleepmeter with a silent motor that will not annoy you on your lie-awake nights and a deep musical voice that will call you on your sleepiest mornings. Right and Below: A style 1A Big Ben from our museum collection, circa 1920s.]. This practice resulted in the ingestion of radium, which caused serious jaw-bone degeneration and malignancy and other dental diseases. 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.

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