How old is my Westclox? - Rampfesthudson.com The work involved using luminous radium paint to make the numbers on clocks, watches and aeronautic dials glow in the dark. You just cant imagine the size of this factory its just gigantic. During the early 1900's, the effects of radiation exposure were not well understood, and radium was frequently . Radium dial - Wikipedia 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. On 3rd January 2099, Terry Shields asked if anyone had information regarding his clock signed G .Falconer, Hong Kong. Radium: a medical treatment in the early 20th - College of Physicians Contact the Webmaster for perceived copyright infringement (DMCA Registration Number 1010287). 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. I am sure I can give Mr. Shields further information about his clock. Store - The WestClox Source So I swapped them, and its worked perfectly ever since. Westclox Wrought Iron Look Wall Clock 12" 32021A. Westclox did make a couple of documented advertising clocks, but very few. theres the problem, there were two gears that were in backwards. 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. I cant find out anything about him or any other clocks by him. I live in Scotland but my clock was made in USA. I have a Seth Thomas Mantle clock that my older sisters husbands Aunt had on her mantle for years. Stoddard: Pay attention to quality. 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. [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.]. I have been collecting, repairing, and restoring mostly Westclox Big Bens for several years. 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. In 2006 I started collecting vintage advertisements. This dustproofing is accomplished by fittings around the set knobs and winding keys and on the regulator. They were, incredibly enough, instructed to ingest a radioactive poison all day, every day, and never properly warned of any potential hazards. When did they stop using radium for watches? 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 quite a few pieces of both of them I have even one big Ben pocket watch which is still working after , I do not know how many years. knowledge about vintage and antique Westclox clocks and watches. I tend to be a nitty gritty detail kind of guy. Patton, had joined Charles Stahlbergs original start-up back in 1886 at the age of just 13, and he was still on board in 1936, 50 years later. 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. The company later changed its name to the United States Radium Corporation. I worked here for 28 years. The story begins with a Connecticut clockmaker named Charles Stahlberg getting a patent for a new alarm clock design in 1885. 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. It was a gift from him to her the year before they were married. You must log in or register to reply here. Without a crystal poses a serious Health risk because the Radium paint flakes off and can become airborne. They typically have a round brass base with a glass dome over them; they were made in Germany from the 1890s up through the 1970s, and a lot of people collect them. I also need it repaired so that it will be functional and need to find someone that will do that for me. 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. 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 had beneath that four long tubes and they were the chimes for the door bell. 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. 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. Annie Moussin designer intrieur. Advertisement: Illustrates crackle green Tiny Tim, crackle blue Big Ben and crackle pink Baby Ben clocks. Sometimes getting parts is tough, too, although it turns out Westclox made lots and lots of spare parts. From that time on, Baby Bens first and then Big Bens were available with either the plain or luminous dial. 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. I was given an Elias Ingraham Clock many years ago and would like to know a bit more about it and its value. 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. Radium - Element information, properties and uses | Periodic Table Sometimes Ive seen them for 300 to 600 dollars. Radium paint can be ingested by inhaling flaking paint particles. Could you suggest how I could go about finding out this information. Westcloxs Manual for Employees read, We expect you to work hard, and the pay is accordingly large . who can refurbush big ben still runs good perfect time purchased in 1950 cataloge #885(885). 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. By 1930, all dial painters stopped pointing their brushes by mouth. 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. My clothes, hanging in a dark closet, gave off a phosphorescent glare. I was told it was long ago before even my aged family was servicing watches. 1978. (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. Back then, radium wasn't considered to be dangerous in small doses. . Kind regards, Ben van Vliet. All Rights Reserved. Thats another story. . Underneath the #12 on the face it says: G. Falconer & Co. LTD. Hong Kong. If you do not expect to work hard and carefully, you are in the wrong place. credit: Northern Illinois University]. when did westclox stop using radium. The phosphor deterioration means you can't see a glow anymore, but . 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. Technically speaking, though, Westclox did still produce clocks during the gap years that followed. The policy of the company is one of highly specialized production. When I walked along the street, Iwas aglow from the radium powder., [Mrs. Charlotte Purcell, like Catherine Donohue, was one of 15 former workers at the Radium Dial Company who contracted cancer and sought justice in the late 1930s]. Dont know if someone ingraved date on when took down or if the original. CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO RELEASE THE CLICK ON A WESTCLOX MANS WRISTWATCH MODEL A-201? 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. The Forgotten Story Of The Radium Girls, Whose Deaths Saved Thousands Of Workers Lives, by Kate Moore, A Rude Awakening: The History of Alarm Clocks , Western Clock MFG Co. (Westclox), est. But the chances that you have a radium clock are slim, unless it is very old. when did westclox stop using radium - Simssuccessgroup.com Am I missing something here? I know that it is electric and it requires a dime deposit to set the alarm on it. Health effects of Radium radiation exposure | Mass.gov Many thanks. Next to the original Westcloxes I have an interesting collection of European copies by a.o. Can you help 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. For example, Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a are the leg model, and Style 2 is the first base model. I have a mantel clock,its floral in color,made by Ansonia Cock Co.USA.New York. The Timeless Appeal of the Westclock Big and Baby Bens I hope to document Style 5 Baby Bens this winter. Handle on top: down alarm off; up alarm on. Is Westclox still in business? - Quick-Advice.com What is Radium Used For? - WorldAtlas I read (but cant remember where) that about 40,000 were made. I always wondered why the dial of my Baby Ben clock, which I have had from late 60s, was marked off in 48ths of an hour instead of minutes. 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. 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]. Phone: 717-684-8261. Westclox History Database Main Menu Their factory in LaSalle, Illinois closed down in about 1980 when they moved all their production down south, but the building is still there. Charles Stahlberg had an idea for making a better, but less expensive alarm clock. At this moment I study horology at West Dean College in the UK. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. Only reason I can think of and it looks pretty odd not to have minutes on a clock face. Westclox Clock Construction and Quality. Not to mention theres the Big Bens so that doubles it right there. Westclox style series. In 1898, the Curies discovered the existence of. 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. As the dark cloud of fear and suspicion grew over the small town of Ottawa into the 30s, the Radium Dial Company itself refused to take any responsibility, claiming innocence and ignorance.