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. Its hard to fathom in retrospect, but in the early 20th century, it was generally believed that small amounts of radium were perfectly harmless to humans, and thus, the substances natural, long-lasting glow actually made it something of an attractive novelty of the time periodnot just on clock dials, but in the worlds of quack medicine, fashion, cosmetics, and even a proto version of energy water, called Radithor.. Big Ben Style Series. I am a retired mechanical engineer, the quality has floored me, hats off to this company. National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Inc (A 501c3 non-profit corporation). 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. 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. Theres a seller on eBay now whos doing some really outstanding restorations of Big Bens. 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. 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. Radium paint can be ingested by inhaling flaking paint particles. I would like to find out about this clock. 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. Medical researchers extended the use of radium to cure impotence in men and women by creating fertility drugs with the element to "stimulate" reproduction. knowledge about vintage and antique Westclox clocks and watches. Radium is an almost pure white alkaline radioactive earth metal, and is found in nature in uranium ores. We pay his railroad fare on all orders for a dozen or more, we brand him with your name in lots of 24.. "[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. By the 1960s production went offshore to achieve economies of scale . Not everyone involved with the manufacturing of Westclox products was employed directly by Westclox, however. Then, on New Years Eve, as 2011 became 2012, the unthinkable happened. 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. Created with WordPress. 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. Matthiessen, 1904 Western Clock MFG Co. catalog cover, and the original Peru factory in 1905]. Is radium still used on watches? Theyre just scattered in different places all over the country, little collections of hands, springs, screws, and things like that. 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. Sometimes getting parts is tough, too, although it turns out Westclox made lots and lots of spare parts. Charles Stahlberg had an idea for making a better, but less expensive alarm clock. We thought it was 1890 or older. 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. My dad was one of the top bowlers here, Ristau said. I love the Hamiltons in particular, probably some of the best watches made in America. I have a mantel clock,its floral in color,made by Ansonia Cock Co.USA.New York. 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. when did westclox stop using radium old restaurants in lawrence, ma . In this interview Bill Stoddard talks about collecting antique Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben alarm clocks, and discusses clock collecting in general. Matthiessen [pictured below], who owns the powerful Illinois Zinc Company and most other things in Peru / LaSalle, decides to swoop in and save Stahlbergs little clock business, incorporating it as the Western Clock Mfg. 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. Museum Artifacts: Luminous Big Ben & Baby Ben Clock Dials (1940s) and Style 1A Big Ben Alarm Clock (1920s), Made By: Western Clock MFG Company, aka Westclox, 350 5th St., Peru, Illinois [LaSalle]. Thanks, Teri. The company made luminescent paint. It looks like you mount it to the wall. In a way theyre preventing clocks from being thrown away so I cant totally condemn it, but it still seems like a funny thing to do. This fall, the museum will be open more frequently and for more events. These folks here that are responsible for this are doing a marvelous job, Ristau said. I know it was purchased in 1937 because it belonged to my elderly friends who were married in 1938. The pioneering spirit is there, but the business skills soon appear lacking. They call it Shabby Chic and sell it on eBay for 60 to 80 dollars. when did westclox stop using radium. At this moment I study horology at West Dean College in the UK. The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. 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. It sits on a small brass stand with Westclox on it. I have a Westclox Magnet Key Part number 031723 I think was used to open a door as it has an arrow on 1 end. The Crystal blocks a significant amount of The radiation. AD x Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. It is in good condition and has the original pendulum and key. 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. Here you can see production dates, original retail prices and other Dreyfuss revised his changes at the end of the decade, designing the Style 5 and 5a Big Bens in 1938including the featured Loud Alarm dials from our museum collection. I bought a 1970s Westclox pocket watch with a Hotwheels face that says authorized seller on it. 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. Radium dials are watch, clock and other instrument dials painted with luminous paint containing radium-226 to produce radioluminescence. I have a small westclox alarm clock. They had one in Brazil for a while and I think also in Hong Kong. With alarm clocks, they were so common that when people repaired them they did whatever they could to get them going. Also Telechron, which was a big maker of electric clocks. After several changes of ownership, it became . i use a 1980s I believe westclox pocket ben sweep 2nd hand, I actually had a westclox bullseye from the early 1990s when I was in elementary school. 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. Soon, he was running the Western Clock Co. advertising department, and proving his worth with some clever marketing strategies. My moms father had a small collection of antique clocks and when I was a little boy he showed me how to wind them and regulate them. Westclox set up a factory in England in the 1940s and also in Scotland. Similarly, 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. 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. Could you suggest how I could go about finding out this information. I have a Westclox Big Ben 1910 style 1a and have not been able to find out the present value/worth. Did westclox stop using radioactive paint by the 1960s? 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. Do you have an archival dept who could give us an idea of our Western Clock which we recently acquired? 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. Stoddard: The first Big Bens and Baby Bens went on the market in 1910 and they were wind ups. It would be greatly appreciated. A pair of teenage boys broke into the abandoned factory and set a fire that quickly spread and enveloped much of the central complex. I would like to find the value of it. There are also some other makers clocks Ive gotten into, like the Seth Thomas 30 hour ogee, which is a weight-driven shelf clock. The first style 1a cases had double-hexagon legs, but after about a year they were changed to standard single hex form. My Grandmother had a Westclox in her house. A radium dial clock from the 1930s. The only problem is a standard size D battery does not fit. Ive been trying to compare lots of different clocks to find out what original parts go together. . On March 31, 1980, the Peru-LaSalle plant was officially closed, narrowly missing its 100-year anniversary. 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. The center is in the shape of the world map. I will be watching for more articles from Bill Stoddard A Westclox Museum has been opened within the original facility, showing off rare collections from the millions of timepieces once manufactured there. But the chances that you have a radium clock are slim, unless it is very old. The greater surprise, though, is that they didnt abandon the use of radium in the years that followed. After the discovery of radioactivity in 1896 by French physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Antoine Henri Becquerel, many other scientists began to search for uses of radioactivity. The NAWCC has an online forum with a lot of different categories. During the early 1900's, the effects of radiation exposure were not well understood, and radium was frequently . Most are in nickel finish cases, but some were made in gold plated cases. Helen. It still works. By Dave Margulius Good old fashioned branding played a major role, as well. People will still look for a good wind up but the quality declined in the later years just because the companies tried so hard to keep the prices low. I was told it was long ago before even my aged family was servicing watches. can anybody tell me about this piece? The clock is shielded From the glass crystal. How can people be exposed to Radium? 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. My father (Richard Ristau Sr.) worked here for 48.. Dont know if someone ingraved date on when took down or if the original. 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. I tend to be a nitty gritty detail kind of guy. 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. 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 hope to document Style 5 Baby Bens this winter. "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. Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben Identification Guide , Remembering the Great War and The Clock That Caused a Near Riot . $25.99. Was this done so the alarm could be more easily set on the quarter or half hour? The Westclox building remained there in all its glory well into the 21st century, as plans were tossed around for some sort of repurposing of the huge, historic facility. When did westclox stop using radium? It is 3 diameter with Westclox on the back and PAT.APLOFOR. 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 . When did they stop using radium on clocks? 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. Clocks produced in the early 1900's are particularly concerning in this regard. I believed it was manufacturing tag. When did Westclox close? US radium dial painting 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. "[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. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. At one time they employed about 3500 people, making about 35, 000 clocks and watches per day. Back then, radium wasn't considered to be dangerous in small doses. The trademark "Westclox" which had appeared on their Big Ben alarm clocks as early as 1910 was officially registered in January 1916. Its basically all forward momentum from here. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Leg model with ring on top, dustproof case. 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. Your email address will not be published. Theres a clock called a Crystal Regulator which is about a foot tall with a brass case and glass on all four sides. Early in the 20th century there was a medical practice that revolved around a new treatment involving the radioactive material called radium. 1919 -1922, Luminous, Westclox in Roman text: 1923 - 1927, Luminous, projection on the "x": 1928 - 1935. As radium luminosity came under attack in the 1930s, Westcloxs other updates to the Big Ben design were far more practical and uncontroversial. In clocks, as in all other lines of goods, there are two classes of consumersthe millions and the millionaires. Various lettering on the dial and various patent dates (later, numbers) on the Like style 1a non-luminous with dealer name on dial. The policy of the company is one of highly specialized production. Located at 41.3275 N, 89.1290 W on the map, the companys former plant is admittedly on the absolute fringes of what would typically be designated Chicagoland turf. 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. $38.00. They made them with wooden works until about 1840, then with brass gears and I like some of the early brass-geared American clocks. The only thing I found is the word Germny engraved on the back. The Canadian Clock Museum (http://www.canclockmuseum.ca/) may have some information. 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. There are variations in the lettering on the dial and back. Question: Are both 1) and 2) marriages of Style 2 mechanisms put in a Style 1A Big Ben and Style 1 Baby Ben. Up until this point in time (pun intended), quality time pieces had been considered a rich mans game. Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock Vintage. One employee, R.D. 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? It is too large (wide). Thanks for any info you may be able to supply I think it is a clock made by Sessions. 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. Gary Biolchini added more style series in his book Westclox Radium Dial Clock. One of the objects on display in the Benton County Historical Society's Corvallis Museum is this Westclox Radium Dial Clock. 7&a half X 6..desk clock. 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.
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