Dont know if someone ingraved date on when took down or if the original. 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. We are looking for any Westclox photographs, memorabilia etc between 1927- 1980s of the factory. When did Junghans stop manufacturing Westminster Chimes, and when did Keinzle stop manufacturing Westminster chimes. Frank Baker. One employee, R.D. 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. 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. Junghans, Kienzle,Mauthe,Kaiser, Peter, (all from Germany) Veglia (Italy), CNIS ( France), Ingersoll (UK) as well as some Hong Kong made items. 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. 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. If you want to identify an item, try posting it in our Show & Tell gallery. But this is not how the story of Westclox began. Condition is important, but clocks can be restored. The use of radium was discontinued since the 1960s. [citation needed] The use of radium to provide luminescence for hands and indices on watches soon followed. Ref comment #10 from Frank Baker. [7], Ingestion of radium has been linked to anemia, cataracts, broken teeth, and reduced bone growth.[8]. This dustproofing is accomplished by fittings around the set knobs and winding keys and on the regulator. Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben Identification Guide , Remembering the Great War and The Clock That Caused a Near Riot . This fall, the museum will be open more frequently and for more events. Also Telechron, which was a big maker of electric clocks. 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. The NAWCC is dedicated to providing association services, promoting interest in and encouraging the collecting of clocks and watches including disseminating knowledge of the same. 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. Style 10 is the last numbered As my first name is Ben, I started to collect these alarmclocks since about 1970. Sometimes Ive seen them for 300 to 600 dollars. 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. The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. Various lettering on the dial and various patent dates (later, numbers) on the Like style 1a non-luminous with dealer name on dial. But he only comes upon receipt of signed price agreement. Kind regards, Ben van Vliet. The only problem is a standard size D battery does not fit. I think we threw it away. 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. 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. We thought it was 1890 or older. Charles Crow Penn Valley, Ca, I have run across and old clock that I would like to know something about. Although old radium dials generally no longer produce light, this is due to the breakdown of the crystal structure of the luminous zinc sulfide rather than the radioactive decay of the radium. Created with WordPress. AD x Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. They call it Shabby Chic and sell it on eBay for 60 to 80 dollars. 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., In this particular branch of the clock industry the Western Clock Manufacturing Company has achieved great results in the last twenty years. 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. 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. Copyright But for years the majority were wind ups, they were so popular. The style 7 Big Ben and Baby Ben (1956 to 1964, the first Bens with concentric alarm hand) has minute markings. 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. Site of the Old Westclox factory 211-201 Hunter Street, Peterborough Ontario. Importantly, the health risks tied to these old clocks is generally believed to be quite minimal, so long as one avoids long-term exposure or directly ingesting the paint as the Ghost Girls had. From that time on, Baby Bens first and then Big Bens were available with either the plain or luminous dial. A few years later my grandma gave me one that worked, and my aunt gave me another one. 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. Contact the Webmaster for perceived copyright infringement (DMCA Registration Number 1010287). Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses were being caused by internal contamination from the radium they ingested. its about 2 inches long maybe 1/2 in thick with holes on either end to be worn on a key chain perhaps? 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. 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. I was looking at it and said, aha! The first style 1a cases had double-hexagon legs, but after about a year they were changed to standard single hex form. 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. 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. Don Spayer, volunteer and former Westclox employee, said the bulk of the museums collection was built through donations. WECKER (CCW arrow) knob sets alarm time. [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. The front is in Roman Numerals with a dome shaped raised glass. The thing I remember most is working with the people, Ristau said. 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. There is a small dial inside of the clock face that has roman numerals like another clock face. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. So, does Westclox really belong in the Made In Chicago Museum? The policy of the company is one of highly specialized production. Radium was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898[1] and was soon combined with paint to make luminescent paint, which was applied to clocks, airplane instruments, and the like, to be able to read them in the dark.[2]. That was the first antique clock I owned myself. Even if the Western Clock Co. wasnt born in Chicago or headquartered here, the immediate aftershocks of the companys cultural and industrial impact certainly reached our shores in a hurry, no interstate required. 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. when did westclox stop using radium. I think it is a clock made by Sessions. Ristau said he remembered when the Westclox factory was the heart of the city, and recalled enjoying his time with Westclox. 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. . It looks like you mount it to the wall. 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. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. They had one in Brazil for a while and I think also in Hong Kong. Entertainment & Pop Culture; Geography & Travel; Health & Medicine; Lifestyles & Social Issues; Literature; Philosophy & Religion; Politics, Law & Government You must log in or register to reply here. Its got a round brass dial and a painting in the door, really neat. I tried selling some of my surplus electric Big Bens on eBay and they just didnt go, you could get only about $0.99 for them. Thanks so much From 1917 to 1926, the United States Radium Corporation used radium to produce wristwatches and clocks. At this moment I study horology at West Dean College in the UK. The women also left a legacy to science that has been termed invaluable.. In this interview Bill Stoddard talks about collecting antique Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben alarm clocks, and discusses clock collecting in general. Westcloxs Manual for Employees read, We expect you to work hard, and the pay is accordingly large . At the top was a clock covered with a glass door. The drinking fountain worked.. It also says that the patent was re-issued March 31, 1868. All Rights Reserved. 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. Do you have an archival dept who could give us an idea of our Western Clock which we recently acquired?