Many of the earliest wall clocks for use in schools, offices and churches originated in Connecticut. Octagon clocks were frequently referred to as "schoolhouse clocks." They were also popular in large workplaces or factories to keep employees informed of the time. The large round dial gallery clocks, most commonly found in eight-day examples, could be easily read because of their size. These latter clocks have been made since 1845.
An extremely useful wall clock was the regulator. Because of its split second accuracy, it was used in jewelry store windows where passerby could check to see whether their watches were running correctly. Railroad stations also used regulators to make sure trains ran on schedule. Their accuracy enabled them to be used for the regulation of other timekeepers. As time passed, however, a great number of clocks called regulators, or those with this name on their tablets, were not accurate enough to be so named. "Regulator" had just become a generic term for a hanging wall clock.
Two companies, Edward P. Baird of Plattsburgh, New York, and The Sidney Advertiser were active in the manufacture of advertising clocks. From around 1895-1900 Baird made wooden advertising clocks that had embossed or painted ads encircling the dial. The Sidney Company used sound devices in their clocks. For example, one clock had a bell that rang and advertising drums that turned every five minutes.
"Wag-on-Wall" clocks produced by Waterbury were a series of oak hanging study clocks,, either weight or spring driven. Waterbury called these "study clocks" and used numbers to identify them. "Wag-on-Wall" clocks were sold without a case and were the earliest wall clock made. Gideon Roberts (1749-1813) made an all-wooden "wag-on-wall" in the late 1700s. Metal plates enclosed the movement but the exposed pendulum swung below the clock''s body.
In the early 1900 catalog, the Ansonia Clock Company featured wall regulators named after the follwing female regents: Queen Anne, Queen Charlotte, Queen Elizabeth, Queen Isabelle, Queen Jane, Queen Mab, Queen Mary and Queen Victoria. These clocks were eight-day strikers with eight-inch dials and averaged between 37 to 42 inches in height. The woods available for their cases were black walnut, mahogany, or oak. All of the clocks except the Queen Mary were available in the popular oak. The individual purchase price for these clocks was well under $20.
Wall clocks were occasionally found in the Mission-style, which were made of oak and had straight, sturdy lines. They remained in style from the turn of the century until the late 1920s. The 1960s showed a rebirth of mission furniture and reproductions in that style. Although calendar clocks did not appear until the mid-1800s, a calendar movement was put in a tall case clock in England in 1660. Almost two hundred years later, in 1853, J. H. Hawes of Ithaca, New York, was the first known American to patent a simple calendar clock mechanism. The Ithaca Calendar Clock Company, formed in 1865, used Henry B. Horten''s perpetual roller-type calendar clock patent.
The difference between a perpetula calendar clock and a simple calendar clock is how they account for the days in a year. The perpetual clock indicates the day of the week, the month, and the date. It is self-adjusting to allow for leap year. The simple calendar clock requires an occasional manual adjustment to make it accurate.
The Waterbury perpetual calendar clocks could be furnished with languages other than English. Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Swedish, and Italian calendar clocks became available in 1881.
One of the clock makers who developed a calendar dial was Charles W. Feishtinger. The dial showed the day of the week, the month, and the date of the month. A sweep hand marked the dates, which circled the dial. In the middle of the main dial, a short hand marked the month. A rectangular window beneath the month dial indicated the days. The movement and the case that was used for this clock was supplies by the Waterbury Clock Company.
Appendages on wall clocks were influenced by the furnishing style of the Victorian Era, named after England''s Queen Victoria who reigned from 1837 to 1901. In the later half of the 1800s, both drop and upright carved finals, curved moldings and carvings, including heads, were used on clocks as well as furniture. Incised carving prevailed around 1870. Although oak and mahogany were occasionally used for clock cases, walnut was the clock maker''s choice.
The pendulum is one thing wall clocks have in common. The pendulum is a clock weight, often ornamental, that hangs from a fixed point so it can swing to and fro as it regulates the clock''s movement. Brooks Palmer, in his book The book of American Clocks, reminds readers that the term "bob" is commonly used but incorrectly defined. He points ouy that a pendulim "has three parts the pendulum rod and the pendulum ball, which most people call the bob, and the real bob which is the wire loop threaded for the regulating nut."
The weight at the end of the pendulum rod is called the ball or the bob. It is often ornamental as well as necessary. Its shape may be geometrical or round and can be fitted with decorative appendages. Examples include either a man''s head or a woman''s head in low relief often times crystal, sandwich glass and wooden examples are found. Although genuine mercury pendulum bobs were found on French clocks, imitation mercury was used on American examples. The first man to create a practical pendulum was Christaan Huygens in about 1657. Before this invention, Galileo(1564-1642) thought that a pendulum was possible afetr comparing the similarity between it and a swinging lamp.
