Radium dials are watch, clock and other instrument dials painted with luminous paint containing radium-226 to produce radioluminescence. A 'radium cow' or sample of radium would continually yield a supply of the nuclide. In the production of ordinary clocks adapted to the needs and means of the millions, America produces results of remarkable excellence. My Grandmother had a Westclox in her house. 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. I think it is a clock made by Sessions. I have a small westclox alarm clock. The movement was then used with minor changes in Loud Alarm models until 1956. I have been searching for one like as the clock went with the house after my Grandmother passed away. Charles Stahlberg headed a group from Waterbury, Connecticut, who came to Peru in 1884 to build clocks based on a new idea by Stahlberg. Based in Flora, Indiana, Bill can be reached via his website, clockhistory.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame. Radiums luminosity was part of its allure, Moore writes. When did westclox start making clocks? Chronic exposure to high levels of radium can result in an increased incidence of bone, liver, or breast cancer. One employee, R.D. Collectors Weekly: When did you discover that there were other clock collectors? If you do not expect to work hard and carefully, you are in the wrong place. credit: Northern Illinois University]. (All images in this article courtesy Bill Stoddard, www.clockhistory.com), I found this article very complimentary to the Westclox company and an intriguing piece to read. German: WECKER (alarm); UHR (clock). A radium dial clock from the 1930s. Also, its not just Americans who collect, its worldwide. By the 1960s production went offshore to achieve economies of scale . They worked in unvented rooms, they wore smocks that they laundered at home. From 1942 to 1945, Westclox ceased all production intended for domestic civilian sale and dedicated its production resources to the war effort. Radium is an almost pure white alkaline radioactive earth metal, and is found in nature in uranium ores. The other thing is reproductions. At one time they employed about 3500 people, making about 35, 000 clocks and watches per day. 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. 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. Richard Tjarks introduced Also Telechron, which was a big maker of electric clocks. I think we threw it away. It was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898. "[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. I bought a 1970s Westclox pocket watch with a Hotwheels face that says authorized seller on it. 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. Stoddard: Its really hard to say. Charles Stahlberg had an idea for making a better, but less expensive alarm clock. I believed it was manufacturing tag. They had one in Brazil for a while and I think also in Hong Kong. Big Ben style 1a continued in production until its discontinuation in 1935. Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock Vintage. 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. How do you set the time on a old fashioned alarm clock? 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. Buy Now. Could you please try to help me find out what kind of clock this is. The trademark "Westclox" which had appeared on their Big Ben alarm clocks as early as 1910 was officially registered in January 1916. Art and Mary Ann Windy [pictured] have been married for 49 years, met as Westclox employees and were present for the open house. I have a collection of clocks, and amongst my collection are Westminster chime wall clocks, I have two Keinzle and two Junghans. By the 1970s, radium was no . The only thing I found is the word Germny engraved on the back. 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. These paints were used on the dials of clocks and watches to make them glow-in-the-dark. The front is in Roman Numerals with a dome shaped raised glass. the knobs have foreign words ie wecker & UHR.would like to know about his clock I took it back and the repairman told me it was like a large Timex watch and just not worth being fixed. They were sold in a very attractive hexagonal box which has pictures of antique items on the sides (tricycle, telephone, carriage, etc.) 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. Accueil; Services; Ralisations; Annie Moussin; Mdias; 514-569-8476 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]. This particular clock is made in China while other similar Westclox alarm clocks at the time were made in Taiwan. Up until this point in time (pun intended), quality time pieces had been considered a rich mans game. In 1914, Dr. Sabin Arnold von Sochocky and Dr. George S. Willis founded the Radium Luminous Material Corporation. Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. 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. Thanks for any info you may be able to supply 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. It emits alpha, beta, and gamma radiation. This will broaden my view in the clock. When did clocks stop using radium? It is 3 diameter with Westclox on the back and PAT.APLOFOR. Stoddard: The first Big Bens and Baby Bens went on the market in 1910 and they were wind ups. The magical glow, as was widely understood by everyone involved, was created by radiuma radioactive element discovered by Marie Curie in 1898. My dad was one of the top bowlers here, Ristau said. . I would like to know the value of a #4 black, #321(in original cardboard Christmas box), mint condition, Baby Ben alarm clock is. The only marking I can find are the letters ST in old english style inside of a diamond thats inside of a circle, on the clock works. The center is in the shape of the world map. They have meetings every two months, and educational programs, so thats a really great way to meet collectors and get all kinds of advice. But it had always just been a matter of time (pun less intended) before industrial mass production made a wide-scale phenomenon like the Big Ben possible. 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. 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 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. About the only. Westclox made an excellent, almost exact, reproduction of the style 1a Big Ben in 1970. into groups of similar models. Dave, Your question about a Big Ben containing radium, and in fact about which clocks actually do contain radium, is a good one. 400-day clocks are also known as anniversary clocks, they would run 400 days on one winding. As radium luminosity came under attack in the 1930s, Westcloxs other updates to the Big Ben design were far more practical and uncontroversial. This practice resulted in the ingestion of radium, which caused serious jaw-bone degeneration and malignancy and other dental diseases. 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. They were told that eliminating lip-pointing had ended earlier problems. One of the objects on display in the Benton County Historical Society's Corvallis Museum is this Westclox Radium Dial Clock. Both the Big and Baby Bens were housed in a newly refined bell-back clock case. So, does Westclox really belong in the Made In Chicago Museum? Their factory in LaSalle, Illinois closed down in about 1980 when they moved all their production down south, but the building is still there. its a Gold coloring and the bottom is well worn like it was slid into something regularily. I have a sessions mantle clock duet#1. Not to mention theres the Big Bens so that doubles it right there. Westcloxs Manual for Employees read, We expect you to work hard, and the pay is accordingly large . Technically speaking, though, Westclox did still produce clocks during the gap years that followed. They were officially Americas preferred wake-up call provider. 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. 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. Westclox Big Bens and Baby Bens are full of the stuff. The work involved using luminous radium paint to make the numbers on clocks, watches and aeronautic dials glow in the dark. So I swapped them, and its worked perfectly ever since. 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. Westclox Scotland produced its first clock on 21 September 1948; a spring wound alarm with a 4-inch (10cm) dial. any info would be appreciated. Thank you for your input. document.write(year) 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. We pay his railroad fare on all orders for a dozen or more, we brand him with your name in lots of 24.. Radium paint can be ingested by inhaling flaking paint particles. Here you can see production dates, original retail prices and other Safety Richard Ristau Jr., former plant manager, said hes happy to see the space being used for the museum. 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. Stoddard: Some of the old American pocket watches are just beautiful so I have several in my collection. 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 . Its got a round brass dial and a painting in the door, really neat. It had beneath that four long tubes and they were the chimes for the door bell. I never realized, even working here, they made so many different models.. Thanks, Paula. I think the clock was electric but could have been a wind up or maybe even a pendulum. Behind the light, theyd been left in the dark. 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. Without a crystal poses a serious Health risk because the Radium paint flakes off and can become airborne. 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. 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. I have a Westclox Bachelor alarm clock from probably the 50s as it was always there when I was growing up. Radium - The First Rolex Luminous Material. 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. Westclox made an excellent, almost exact, reproduction of the style 1a Big Ben in 1970. They arent hurting it permanently, its just kind of weird. 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. Stahlbergs company goes bankrupt not once, but twice, within its first several years. Buy Now. Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses were being caused by internal contamination from the radium they ingested. I'll start with a 19j Bunn, Looking for Somebody with Some Bandwidth to do a Repair. While studying the types of Big Ben style 1 and 1A in WestcloxHistory.com, I noticed the reproduction style 1A, and have acquired about 5 of them. At the end of one hand is a star and the other hand is the moon. var today = new Date() 1919 -1922, Luminous, Westclox in Roman text: 1923 - 1927, Luminous, projection on the "x": 1928 - 1935. First, if your clock is for display only, I think it is harmless if the paint on the hands is not disturbed. Thank you. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. Your email address will not be published. I was looking at it and said, aha! You just cant imagine the size of this factory its just gigantic. 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. Entertainment & Pop Culture; Geography & Travel; Health & Medicine; Lifestyles & Social Issues; Literature; Philosophy & Religion; Politics, Law & Government 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. Has the mechanics of the clock been changed/upgraded or could there be another issue at play? In the production of ordinary clocks adapted to the needs and means of the millions, America produces results of remarkable excellence. 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? 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.. I would like to find the value of it. 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. How can people be exposed to Radium? var year = today.getFullYear() The clock is shielded From the glass crystal. These folks here that are responsible for this are doing a marvelous job, Ristau said. The Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock Vintage is an iconic timepiece that has been around since the early 1900s. Thank you 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. 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. 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. it has a picture of a huck finn type boy,carying 2 bottles of coke& a fishing pole,with his dog. Gary Biolchini added more style series in his book Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses . I just had it repaired & it works & looks great. I cannot date it. Seeking the Big 3 goals of convenience, cleanliness, and cheap production, Dreyfuss rolled out his new-look Big Ben in 1931. He also recalled playing in the factory. For the town of Peruwhich had tied much of its identity to Westclox for the better part of a centurythe damage went beyond financial. This fall, the museum will be open more frequently and for more events. [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. Did Westclox use radium? The style 1a can be distinguished from style 1 in several ways: The movement was changed for style 1a so that the mounting nuts were on the back. Question: Are both 1) and 2) marriages of Style 2 mechanisms put in a Style 1A Big Ben and Style 1 Baby Ben. T. tkarter Registered User. They did some limited production (less than 200) in 1908, when they were still perfecting the design, then quite a few in 1909, but it really wasnt nationally advertised until September of 1910. Westclox set up a factory in England in the 1940s and also in Scotland. Theyre just scattered in different places all over the country, little collections of hands, springs, screws, and things like that. 1968 Who made westclox? Any information would be very helpful. When Westclox changed over to the style 8 Big Ben and Baby Ben in 1964, they used 4 divisions per 5 minutes, I believe to make the alarm easier to set. It still works. 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. . 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. 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. At the start of the decade, the company brought in a skilled new industrial designer named Henry Dreyfuss; a true modernist. Big Ben: butler nickel case, gold leaf numeral dial 1930 1932. 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. Phone: 717-684-8261. It is something that we should know before everyone starts throwing away every luminous dial clock they own. Beginning in the 1910s, the girls instructed to put radium in their mouths didn't bat an eyelash. US radium dial painting factory. Clocks produced in the early 1900's are particularly concerning in this regard. His ideas were patented on as US patent #326,602. Your email address will not be published. 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. I spent many an evening here, watching him bowl.. . 0 Comments; Uncategorized newark advertiser obituaries 2021 . For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. In terms of my own collection, Im still trying to find some of the really early Big Bens. who can refurbush big ben still runs good perfect time purchased in 1950 cataloge #885(885). After several changes of ownership, it became . Ive recently acquired a New Haven decorative wall clock. Sep 23, 2011 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. 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. As my first name is Ben, I started to collect these alarmclocks since about 1970. The whole clock seems to be origional and was maintained by my grandfather who was a watch/clock repairman. Annie Moussin designer intrieur. 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. Going back further in time, here is a pretty hypnotizing silent film released by Westclox in the early 1920s to promote the Big Ben and other products. 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]. About 1920 the luminous dial using radium paint was introduced. There are some blemishes on the wood on the right side. Eventually we became best friends and started researching together. 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. From that time on, Baby Bens first and then Big Bens were available with either the plain or luminous dial. Was this done so the alarm could be more easily set on the quarter or half hour? Similarly, Created with WordPress. Quite a few who try to get every basic model, but fewer who get into the rarer models and do research. 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. These styles constitute the 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.