Clockantiques.org

Candles were used as clocks; an idea introduced by Alfred the Great of England.

 

 

The first mechanical clock was constucted in France.

Italy produced the first domestic clocks.

England''s earliest known public clock was installed at the Salisbury Cathedral. It had no hands but told the time by striking on the hours.

 

 

The mainspring was invented by Peter Henlein of Nurnberg.

Fusee was invented by Jacob the Czech.

Screws for metal work became available.

Galileo (1564-1642), an astronomer, physicist and college professor, born in Pisa, Italy, is credited with discovering the properties of the pendulum. Galileo was a 20 year old college student(according to some sources, slightly younger) when aon a visit to the city''s cathedral, he watched a suspended lamp swinging to and fro. Timing it with the beat of his pulse, he discovered that a short swing moveed slowly while a long one moved more rapidly. Because of this, the time taken for the completion of a swing back and forth was the same for both.

 

 

Pendulums with anchor or dead-beat escapement replaced the less accurate foliot balance. Amoung the colonists who settled in 1607 and 1620 were skilled workers, including those with clock making knowledge. They made clocks one at a time, relying on England for their supplies.

The first successful settlement in North America was established at Jamestown, in what is now the stste of Virginia.

The manufacture of Black Forest clocks began.

The first american tower clock was completed in Boston.

Dutch scientist, Christiaan Huygens, created the first pendulum based on Galileo''s observations. The pendulum''s back and forth swinging motion served as a clock''s regulating mechanism. This inventor''s name is spelled in various ways by different authors. Most spell his first  name with one "a" while his last name has been seen as "Huilghens," "Huygens" or "Huyghens."

The balance or hairspring first came into use.

George Graham''s two essential contributions to clock making were the dead-beat escapement and the mercurial compensation pendulum.

Second hands made their first appearance.

A London made grandfather clock cost about $57. Its ebony case had fancy carving and gilded metal applied decorations. It could also have been made of walnut.

 

 

Clocks appeared in homes as a mark of prosperity.

The deadbeat escapement for use on regular clocks was invented.

A public clock built by Joseph Phillips tolled the news of Washington''s inaugeration in New York City.

Graham''s mercurial pendulum was put into use.

Ebenezer Parmelee of Guilford, Connecticut, built a clock that was installed in the town''s church tower.

John Harrison''s gridiron pendulum was put into use.

The German clock maker Anton Ketterer made his first cuckoo clock.

In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Abraham Leroy made quality tall case clocks with brass dials. In colonial days, a few women were clock makers. One of them, Anna Maria Leroy, the daughter of Abraham Leroy, had the opportunity to watch her father at work and later produced clocks. She married Wilmer Atkinson in 1749. The dials of her clocks from 1750 to 1760 bore his name.

The first cuckoo clocks were made in the Black Forest region of Germany, but it took several decades before the style of clock became popular.

Mahogany was used for British clock cases.

Round dials were introduced for shelf clocks. Edward Duffield made Philadelphia''s first town clock.

The most noted clock maker from the Philadelphia area was David Rittenhouse. In the years before the Revolutionary War, he inherited some books and tools from his uncle, whicj may have aroused his interest in mechanics. He began making high quality clocks in 1749. After the former English colonies became the United States of America, Rittenhouse came to know and work with American leaders including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. He made astronomical instruments and started the first observatory in the United States. He was recognized as a scientist as well as a maker of quality clocks.

Lever escasement was invented by Thomas Mudge of London.

The four Willard brothers from Grafton, Massatchusetts, were clock makers. The first one to take up his trade, around 1760, was Benjamin who worked in various places including Grafton. A clock maker was able to produce between 12 and 20 clocks a year. A hundred years later the output of shelf clocks would be in the 150,000 range. This great increase was due to the development and use off mass production methods.

The compensation balance was first made by Pierre Le Roy of Paris.

David Rittenhouse set up a clock shop in Philadelphia. Tall case clocks with brass works were hi specialty.

Eli Terry was considered the "father" of the clock making industry.

In colonial America, craftsmen made clocks to order, one at a time. This was an expensive process. Brass movements were fashioned by hand with simple tools. Boston, New York and Philadelphia were all centers for the production of the tall case floor clocks, better known as grandfather clocks. During this time, there were several hundred clock makers at work in the colonies.

Clock making in the colonies came to a halt during the Revolutionary War as clock makers joined the fighting forces or made equipment for the soldiers. Many clock makers became gunsmiths.

Amos Jewett(1753-1834), a clock maker in New Lebanon, New York, made wooden tall clocks with printed paper dials. He numbered and dated his clocks so no one knows that clock 12 was made in 1789 whereas clock 38 was a 1796 product.

Gideon Roberts, a Revolutionary War veteran, possibly was the first to use mass production methods in his Bristol, Connecticut, clock factory where both hanging wall clocks and tall case clocks were made. Many were sold to out of state buyers. Since brass clock works were expensive, he created his own wooden movements and used printed paper dials. Some clocks were made without cases. Since the pendulum could be seen easily as it swung back and forth, the descriptive phrase "wag on the wall" became an appropriate name for these caseless clocks. Of course, a buyer could make a case or have a wood worker fashion one and then he would own a conventional clock. Roberts assembled his 30 hour tall case clocks with their wooden movements in groups of 10 or more at a time. This innovation speeded up the production process and made less costly clocks available to buyers.

David Rittenhouse served as the director of the U.S. mint in Philadelphia.

Following the completion of his apprenticeship, Eli Terry began making clocks near Plymouth, Connecticut.

Eli Terry was awarded a patent for an "equation clock" which had 2 dials. One dial showed sun time and the other true time.

 

 

The production of wooden clocks began in the United States.

Gideon Roberts owned an assembly plant in Richmond, Virginia. Eli Terry learned how to use water power to drive machinery. This helped to increase the production of clock parts.

Simon Willard made about 4,000 clocks during this time span. One was the banjo clock which sold for $35.00. Early 19th century clocks making was a problem because metal was scarce and the supply of glass was limited.

Everything had to be done by hand and the craftsman and his apprentice used the simplest tools in their work: a hammer, drill and file.

Banjo clocks were made in the United States.

Simon Willard patented his "improved Timepiece," later called "banjo" because of its shape. Originally, most examples were time only. This popular clock style has been copied consistently over the years. Eli Terry''s first factory established.

Eli Terry was making about 200 clocks a year.

The Jefferson Embargo limited the importation of material from English factories.

Eli Terry contracted to make an unheard of 4,000 hang up clock movements at $4 each in three years'' time. The water power driven machines he designed produced identical interchangeable wooden parts for inexpensive (grandfather type) clock works. Silas Hoadley and Seth Thomas worked for him. Terry is credited with introducing the factory system of mass production. This helped start the factory system in the United States. Inexpensive clocks, made in quantities, became available to the public.

Eli Terry established a partnership with Seth Thomas.

Seth Thomas and Silas Hoadley bought Eli Terry''s Plymouth clock shop. Thomas sold out in 1813 and Hoadley continued in business.

Eli Terry set up an experimental shop that produced low priced wooden shelf clocks.

Six Ives brothers, including Joseph and Chauncey, were involved in the clock industry.

Seth Thomas set up his own shop in Plymouth Hollow, Connecticut, where he became a prolific clock maker.

Eli Terry patented a pillar and scroll shelf clock with a 30 hour wooden works that evolved from his plain box type case. This clock cost about fifteen dollars and ran 30 hours on a single winding. For a short time, Chauncey Jerome made clock cases for Eli Terry.

Joseph Ives made a brass clock movement with steel plates. An agreement was reached between Seth Thomas and Eli Terry that stated Thomas was to pay a royalty of 50 cents for each clock made. Sales under this agreement produced about 5,000 clock movements.

Joseph Ives(1782-1862) applied for a patent for looking glass clock cases.

The firm of Joseph Ives and Company was dissolved.

Large numbers of wall mirror clocks were made by Birge and his associates.

The manufacture of side column clocks began.

Circumventing Terry''s patent, other companies varied the pillar and scroll clock, frequently using brass eight day movements.

Most of the Connecticut clock industry produced wooden shelf clocks. These clocks sold for less than $10. Brass clocks, on the other hand, ranged in price from $15 to $33 or more.

Joseph Ives of Bristol patented a looking glass clock, but Aaron Willard claimed that Massachusetts makers had been using looking glasses to add variety to clock fronts for some 25 years.

The "Lighthouse" clock was patterned after the Eddystone Lighthouse at Plymouth, one of the earliest in England. This clock was introduced by Simon Willard. It was eight day, weight driven and had an alarm. A glass dome covered the clock.

Birge was associated with the clock makers Ives,Case,Gilbert,Fuller and Peck.

Chauncey Jerome formed a partnership with his brother, Noble, and Elijah Darrow for the manufacture of clocks. The firm was called Jeromes & Darrow, and was the largest producer of clocks at the time. Joseph Ives perfected a spring driven shelf clock using flat leafed springs instead of coiled ones.

Jerome patented a "bronze looking glass clock" with a 30 hour wooden movement, using a mirror instead of a tablet and bronze colored pilasters. Jerome specialized in case building and usually bought his movements from others. Joseph Ives had learned how to make rolled brass. He moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he stayed briefly and invented the wagon spring to power a clock. The wagon spring is a series of flat leafed arched springs that resemble those used in wagons.

"OG" or "ogee," S-curved, veneer-framed clocks were made and sold widely throughout this 95 year period. They were prolonged best sellers.

Chauncey Jerome invented a one-day weight driven clock named the OG which sold for one dollar. Over one half million sold in a single year.

Elias Ingraham settled in Bristol as a cabinet  and case maker of clocks. Mark Leavenworth of Waterbury, Connecticut, made wooden movements for clocks.

Samuel Terry (1774-1853) became an important producer of wooden movements in Bristol, Connecticut. Marsh, Gilbert & Company operated a clock business in Bristol.

Eli terry''s son, Silas B. Terry, patented a method for tempering coiled springs so they could be produced in expensiveley.

Irenus Atkins, a Baptist minister, started a clock factory, as no other building was available for his purpose. The spring balance was invented.

Rolled brass became more available for clock movements. Chauncey Jerome gave his brother, Noble, an idea for replacing wooden clock works with inexpensive rolled brass movements. Some authorities feel that Chauncey copied Joseph Ives'' mirror clock and his brass movement.

Elias Ingraham founde the E. Ingraham Company. Terrysville Post Office was established on Dec. 22, 1831, in honor of Eli Terry. J.C. Brown made clocks in Bristol, Connecticut.

Daniel Pratt, Jr., was a clock maker in Reading, Massachusetts.

Burr & Chittenden were making clocks in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Boardman and Wells made a large number of wooden movement shelf clocks, using the facilities of four factories for their manufacture.

Elisha Brewster started a factory at Bristol, which came to be known as Brewster & Ingraham. Eli Terry retired from active clock making.

James S. Ives of Bristol received a patent for a brass coiled clock spring.

The firm of Birge & Mall1844ory experienced prosperous times due to the manufacture and sales of clocks.

The brass shelf clock was developed.

Elias Ingraham, Bristol, designed a sharp Gothic clock popularly called a "Steeple" clock.

Spring driven clocks were introduced. The largest clock factory was the Jerome Company owned by Chauncey Jerome.

Jerome sent a shipment of his brass clocks to England. The English authorities bought the entire lot. He sent another lot and they bought all of these, too. When the first shipment arrived, the English buyers realized that a really inexpensive and reliable clock was being imported and they allowed them to be sold.

All American clocks were weight driven until the Mid 19th century because the United States did not have rolling mills that were capable of producing spring steel.

J.C. Brown became J.C. Brown & Company and also used the name Forestville Manufacturing Company.

This period marked the partnership years of Edward Howard and David P. Davis whose pricipal product was the banjo clock.

The partnership of Boardmen & Wells ended and Wells and other clock makers formed the Bristol Company.

John Birge and Thomas Fuller formed a partnership that lasted until the death of Fuller in 1848. Brothers Elias and Andrew Ingraham formed a partnership with Elisha C. Brewster and started producing the steeple clock which rapidly gained in popularity. This innovation soon repalced the large three section Empire case, known as a "triple decker", which was a popular item among Connecticut clock makers of the 1830s. Chauncey jerome had 12 brass clock factories in Bristol and a case factory in New Haven, Connecticut.

When one of Jerome''s Bristol factories burned down, 50,000 to 75,000 brass movements were destroyed. By this year clocks were made in Connecticut at the rate of nearly a million a year.

Jerome moved his entire operation from Bristol to New haven, connecticut.

An economic depression stopped American clock making and was the end of the wooden clock movements.