The Ithaca Calendar Clock Company was established in 1865 using Henry B. Horton''s perpetual roller-type calendar clock patent. Two calendar clock patents were issued to him, one on April 18, 1865, and the other on August 28, 1866, which was an improvement on his first patent. Because Horton''s clock was a perpetual calendar clock, it could be adjusted automatically to accommodate Leap Year.
The Ithaca Calendar Clock Company specialized in only making calendar clocks. Henry Bishop Horton (1819-1885) could not find men in the connecticut area to use his mechanism in their clocks. He was independent enough, however, to establish a factory in Ithaca, New York where the cases and calendar mechanisms wre made.
From about 1855 until the turn of the century, calendar clocks were very popular and the larger companies manufactured several models of them. On most of the calendar clocks, corrections were made for the irregular number of days in different months and for leap year because a simple calendar device was used. By using a perpetual calendar system, no manual changes would have to be made for the entire year.
The clock faces on the Ithaca clocks were made up of two circular dials, one above the other. The time was indicated on the top dial while the bottom dial showed the date of the month, the day of the week and the month of the year. In most cases the two dials have the same diameter, but in some cases the top dial is smaller than the bottom one.
These unique clocks were shipped to various parts of the world and were available in 15 different languages. Claendar clocks were produced in great numbers after 1850. Most ran for eight days, although some 30-day clocks existed. Painted cases as well as those made from walnut or rosewood, were available.
Unfortunately, in 1876 a fire destroyed the Ithaca clock factory. Destructive fires were common occurences amoung clock companies. Undaunted, Henry Horton secured another building and business continued as usual.
The business began to decline after 1900 and finally went bankrupt. Perpetual calendar clocks are extremely expensive to buy today. Prices can soar to heights of $4,000 and more.
