The Waterbury Clock Company was a major clock producer in the Unites States from 1857 to 1944, a period of almost ninety years, It was originally started as a branch of the Benedict & Burnham Manufacturing Company, the largest brass producer in Waterbury. The company manufactured rolled and drawn brass, copper, cabinet hardware, and lamp burners.
The Waterbury Company was originally located in the Benedict & Burnham shops until they found larger quarters in Waterbury, Connecticut. Its growth was so rapid that by 1873 a large plant was built and expanded several times. By the late 1800s Waterbury employed about 3,000 people and made over 20,000 watches and clocks daily.
Waterbury became internationally known in the 1870s when it had offices in Toronto, Canada and Glasgow, Scotland.
Waterbury made and sols movements as well as complete clocks. By the tiun of the century it had a business relationship with Sears Roebuck, one of the big mail order houses. Many styles of Waterbury clocks were sold, including eight day time and strike in oak cases, which sold for two dollars each.
In 1913, a Waterbury factory catalog illustrated over 400 styles of clocks, starting at $1.20 each. Included were alarm, carriage, French mantel, and tall clocks. In the early 1890s they manufactured non-jeweled watches, including the famous dollar watch made for the Ithaca Calendar Clock Company. This latter affiliation lasted until 1891 when Waterbury introduced its own line of perpetual calendar clocks.
During the Depression of the 1930s the company went into receivership, and its case shop and clock making materials ans parts were sold at auction. Waterbury''s life as a clock and watch manufacturer ended when United States Time Corporation bought the company in 1944.
