Nowadays, Super-LumiNova, which is entirely non-radioactive and non-toxic, is the most used lume in watchmaking. Clocks produced in the early 1900's are particularly concerning in this regard. They had one in Brazil for a while and I think also in Hong Kong. Through a friend I purchased an apparently antique key wind up long wooden and glass cased clock. Westclox Scotland produced its first clock on 21 September 1948; a spring wound alarm with a 4-inch (10cm) dial. As radium luminosity came under attack in the 1930s, Westcloxs other updates to the Big Ben design were far more practical and uncontroversial. My father (Richard Ristau Sr.) worked here for 48.. Even if the Western Clock Co. wasnt born in Chicago or headquartered here, the immediate aftershocks of the companys cultural and industrial impact certainly reached our shores in a hurry, no interstate required. 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. We would like to redo the entrances and lobby areas and show the history of the building right on site but have not found much anywhere. Radium - The First Rolex Luminous Material. Going back further in time, here is a pretty hypnotizing silent film released by Westclox in the early 1920s to promote the Big Ben and other products. These efforts, combined with an ahead-of-its-time factory welfare department and employee benefits packages, led to a lot of workers spending their whole lives with Westclox. Early in the 20th century there was a medical practice that revolved around a new treatment involving the radioactive material called radium. US radium dial painting factory. I bought a 1970s Westclox pocket watch with a Hotwheels face that says authorized seller on it. I cannot date it. With alarm clocks, they were so common that when people repaired them they did whatever they could to get them going. I tried selling some of my surplus electric Big Bens on eBay and they just didnt go, you could get only about $0.99 for them. They arent hurting it permanently, its just kind of weird. Did westclox stop using radioactive paint by the 1960s? Good old fashioned branding played a major role, as well. I know that it is electric and it requires a dime deposit to set the alarm on it. A radium dial clock from the 1930s. Thank to several professionals who Ive met on Ebay, I have become quite skilled with my restorations plus making dials and alarm function indicators. It has a removable bottom decorative piece as well as a top rounded top flat piece of wood with a verticle wooden slat on the back extending to become a peg-like extension to fit and secure the decorative piece into the top of the clock. The alarm mechanism was also improved as part of Kerns new patents, with an intermittent ringing that kind of acted as an archaic form of snooze alarm. I also need it repaired so that it will be functional and need to find someone that will do that for me. He corresponded with Westclox General Manager Ernst Roth over the weeks that followed, but after a final letter that September, he went silent. The other thing is reproductions. Thanks, Teri. I have a sessions mantle clock duet#1. Can anyone tell me the meaning or significance of this eye? Thank you. The end of the Great War began what was, in many respects, a halcyon time for Westclox, now arguably the best-known timekeeping brand in the world. It had beneath that four long tubes and they were the chimes for the door bell. 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. document.write(year) All I really want to know is about the raised horizontal single eye type decoration on this top removable piece. thanks for your time, was doing research.. Appears from search engine a conversation about D batteries but cant find it in the text.. Can anyone inform me of the different size of D? CAN SOMEONE TELL ME HOW TO RELEASE THE CLICK ON A WESTCLOX MANS WRISTWATCH MODEL A-201? I have an Pine State Ice Cream Milk clock that I would like to find out how much it may be worth. The first style 1a cases had double-hexagon legs, but after about a year they were changed to standard single hex form. Beginning in the 1910s, the girls instructed to put radium in their mouths didn't bat an eyelash. Safety Charles Stahlberg had an idea for making a better, but less expensive alarm clock. I was looking at it and said, aha! Penetrating gamma radiation produced by some dials also represents a significant health risk. [5] Indeed, the body treats radium as it does calcium, storing it in bone where it may cause bone degeneration and cancer.[5]. The use of radium was discontinued since the 1960s. Can anyone tell me about this? Technically speaking, though, Westclox did still produce clocks during the gap years that followed. Thanks very mutch, I just acquired a sir w.h. I will be watching for more articles from Bill Stoddard The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. At the top was a clock covered with a glass door. Radium dials are watch, clock and other instrument dials painted with luminous paint containing radium-226 to produce radioluminescence. They call it Shabby Chic and sell it on eBay for 60 to 80 dollars. 0 Comments; Uncategorized newark advertiser obituaries 2021 . While studying the types of Big Ben style 1 and 1A in WestcloxHistory.com, I noticed the reproduction style 1A, and have acquired about 5 of them. They managed to extract 1 mg of radium from ten tonnes of the uranium ore pitchblende (uranium oxide, U 3 O 8), a considerable feat, given the chemically methods of separation available to them.They identified that it was a new element because its atomic spectrum revealed new lines. However, there`s no easy way for you to tell; there were no labeling requirements then as we have now. Thanks, Paula. They did some limited production (less than 200) in 1908, when they were still perfecting the design, then quite a few in 1909, but it really wasnt nationally advertised until September of 1910. The radium isotope (226Ra) used has a half-life of about 1,600years,[6] so radium dials remain essentially just as radioactive as when originally painted 50 or 100 years ago, whether or not they remain luminous. It was passed on to my sister and for years it was on their mantle along time until it stopped. In the United States there does not seem to have ever been prohibitory legislation passed banning the use of radium in clocks and watches. Their use in prostate brachytherapy dates from 1926. Sometimes getting parts is tough, too, although it turns out Westclox made lots and lots of spare parts. Westclox Wrought Iron Look Wall Clock 12" 32021A. I never realized, even working here, they made so many different models.. When did they stop using radium on clocks? Westclox began as the United Clock Company of Peru, Illinois in 1885. The standard operating procedure of their daily work involved literally placing radium flecked paint brushes between their lips to create a finer point before application. Some years ago I intended to do a write-up on my collection and started researching on the internet and found the Westclox history site with a wealth of info. It would be very interesting if you could provide me with some pictures of the clock. Westcloxs Manual for Employees read, We expect you to work hard, and the pay is accordingly large . In clocks, as in all other lines of goods, there are two classes of consumersthe millions and the millionaires. 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. Production was back in full force and at an all-time high by 1956, with 3,000 employees on staff. WECKER (CCW arrow) knob sets alarm time. Next year, well have been married for 49 years, Mary Ann said. (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. It is encased in hard polymer Plastic and the ends have rivets . Lynda Hinshaw, At this moment I am research a clock by Falconer& co HongKong. Because it was one degree removed from the radium business itself, Westclox seems to have largely dodged the controversy and lawsuits altogether. I met somebody then who told me about the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors and then I joined that and in their bi-monthly magazine I found a man looking for early Westclox information, he is now one of the foremost Westclox researchers. They are just gorgeous watches and very well made. Recently Ive seen people taking an old Baby Ben thats worth a few bucks or so and gluing rhinestones around the bezel on the clock. With a half-life of only 3.8 days, radon "seeds" (Rn gas contained in thin walled gold tubing, crimped and cut into units up to 1cm in length) could be left permanently implanted in the body. dated:1990 ,decorated :hong cong.made in japan.cocacola tradmark. Westclox made an excellent, almost exact, reproduction of the style 1a Big Ben in 1970. In 1931 it merged with Seth Thomas Clock Co. and both became divisions of General Time Corp. One employee, R.D. Importantly, the health risks tied to these old clocks is generally believed to be quite minimal, so long as one avoids long-term exposure or directly ingesting the paint as the Ghost Girls had. Never underestimate the value of an alarm clock when yours broke two years ago and nobody has manufactured a new one since. I tend to be a nitty gritty detail kind of guy. Origin of the eye, forklore or legends surrounding????? 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. Were finally at a point, where were ready to do more than just sit here, said Ruth Spayer, curator for the museum. For example, Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a are the leg model, and Style 2 is the first base model. I wonder if the younger generations are as interested in the older things as we are, although there are some younger collectors out there learning how to do clock repair. When Did They Stop Using Radium On Clock Hands? See the top of this page for a current list of [9] The element was phased out of use by industry acting under its own volition as superior and safer luminous materials entered the marketplace. My Grandmother had a Westclox in her house. Not everyone involved with the manufacturing of Westclox products was employed directly by Westclox, however. Radium dials held near the face have been shown to produce radiation doses in excess of 10Sv / hour. Style 5 dial design]. Here you can see production dates, original retail prices and other knowledge about vintage and antique Westclox clocks and watches. There is a small dial inside of the clock face that has roman numerals like another clock face. . In its place, he ironically dubbed the little bedside clock Big Ben (apparently not copyrighted by the British Parliament), and introduced it to the public in early ads as a gendered he instead of an it., Big Ben is a handsome, well built, refined and bright looking fellow with a clean-cut open face and a deep cheerful voice, one ad read. I have a Westclox Big Ben 1910 style 1a and have not been able to find out the present value/worth. Radium is highly radioactive. Credit: pinimg. By Dave Margulius Dreyfuss revised his changes at the end of the decade, designing the Style 5 and 5a Big Bens in 1938including the featured Loud Alarm dials from our museum collection. Westclox set up a factory in England in the 1940s and also in Scotland. 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. I like to find the ones before that and study their history. [6] Decaying radium also produces the gas radon, recognized as the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States[6] and the United Kingdom. Not to mention theres the Big Bens so that doubles it right there. . The only thing I found is the word Germny engraved on the back. Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. This past weekend, thanks to the Westclox Museum, its doors were opened and former workers were welcomed back for Homecoming Day. I have a Westclox Magnet Key Part number 031723 I think was used to open a door as it has an arrow on 1 end. who can refurbush big ben still runs good perfect time purchased in 1950 cataloge #885(885). Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses . I have been purchasing these clocks as and when I got an opportunity. I first saw the clock in 1957. when did westclox stop using radium; when did westclox stop using radium. I took it back and the repairman told me it was like a large Timex watch and just not worth being fixed. Even so, our case-less dials are certainly best left behind glass and out of reach, a sad reminder of a terrible and preventable episode in industrial history, the effects of which continued to plague the town of Ottawa for many years afterward. Well, the company certainly maintained some major salesrooms here, and many of their employees came from the city and its suburbs. I have been collecting, repairing, and restoring mostly Westclox Big Bens for several years. Just as pilots in World War II had radium on the dials in their cockpits for all-condition visibility, many people who purchased Big Ben alarm clocks during the same periodincluding the very style in our museum collection (made from 1939-1946)went to bed each night sleeping next to a tiny box of radioactivity. Westclox also made about 5000 gold-plated reproductions. In terms of my own collection, Im still trying to find some of the really early Big Bens. She was 107 when she died on March 1 in Middlebury, Conn . . He also recalled playing in the factory. This 1964 Westclox Christmas ad describes their features. The NAWCC is dedicated to providing association services, promoting interest in and encouraging the collecting of clocks and watches including disseminating knowledge of the same. bailey oceans tide clock dated 1880, with a Fusee movement. The greater surprise, though, is that they didnt abandon the use of radium in the years that followed. Big Ben Style Series. Contact the Webmaster for perceived copyright infringement (DMCA Registration Number 1010287). . the clock face is 16, ca 1900. the clock belonged to pheobe appersons family at their ranch in sunol california. In the comprehensive Big Ben & Baby Ben Identification Guide, organized by researchers Richard Tjarks and Bill Stoddard, they credit the original brilliant marketing of these little wonders almost entirely to one mana 28 year-old French immigrant named Gaston Le Roy. Company in 1888 and installing another talented German, Ernst Roth, as the general manager. I had developed some sort of fascination for Big Ben and Baby Ben clocks. This was a wonderful article to read. The thing I remember most is working with the people, Ristau said. So, does Westclox really belong in the Made In Chicago Museum? But the chances that you have a radium clock are slim, unless it is very old. Westclox closed its Peru factory 35 years ago. Any suggestions of where to get a replacement preferably in Canada? Theyre just scattered in different places all over the country, little collections of hands, springs, screws, and things like that. Debbie Blake, I have a small Westclox wind up clock dating around 1937. 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. Thanks, I have come across a mantle clock that has been in my husbands family for as long as he can remember He estimates his bother purchased the clock around 1950. . [citation needed] This rate probably only represents the dose rate from gamma emission, as the alpha emission will be stopped by the lacquer, or crystal, or case; hence, the dose rate following ingestion or inhalation of the dust could be much higher. I took it all apart and asked my dad to help me put it back together, but he cut his finger on the spring. 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. $25.99. The women also left a legacy to science that has been termed invaluable., shifting from serif to sans-serif typefaces and from slightly ornate to more streamlined minute and second hands, all of which eased legibility; setting the clock face closer to the glass, reducing shadows; and creating a slightly smaller form overall., three women fainted, several clerks were trampled, and four showcase windows were shattered before police untangled a jam of 2,500 women and a few stout-hearted men who converged on the store., For That Healthy Glow, Drink Radiation . The trademark "Westclox" which had appeared on their Big Ben alarm clocks as early as 1910 was officially registered in January 1916. So I swapped them, and its worked perfectly ever since. It was only with the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was given oversight of the use of radium. Sometimes extensive casework can be more time consuming than getting the movement running. By the 1960s production went offshore to achieve economies of scale . its about 2 inches long maybe 1/2 in thick with holes on either end to be worn on a key chain perhaps? In 1914, Dr. Sabin Arnold von Sochocky and Dr. George S. Willis founded the Radium Luminous Material Corporation. Can someone get back to me as to what it is and possibe age of it. . There are also some specialty chapters, like an alarm clock chapter and a 400-day clock chapter, one that specializes in wristwatches and one on early American pocket watches. First, if your clock is for display only, I think it is harmless if the paint on the hands is not disturbed. By 1930, all dial painters stopped pointing their brushes by mouth. 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. Gordon Goodrum Finally, with Catherine Donohue serving as a key witness from her death bed in 1938, a groundbreaking Supreme Court case finally delivered some long awaited justice to the victims. I was told it was an antique at that time. A key point to bear in mind is this: the dial is still highly radioactive. German: WECKER (alarm); UHR (clock). I have an antique mantle clock given to my Aunt & Uncle for a wedding gift (approximately 1949) FROM my great grandparents. credit: Northern Illinois University], According to a 1909 article in Commercial America, In clocks, as in all other lines of goods, there are two classes of consumersthe millions and the millionaires. In a few short years, thanks to Dr. Douglas's efforts, the amount of radium available in the US more than quintupled. Thanks so much Sometimes Ive seen them for 300 to 600 dollars. Thanks. Technically speaking, though, Westclox did still produce clocks during the gap years that followed. It is in the manufacture of alarm and one-day clocks that these results are the most noticeable, because in this field the quality of the product had always been subordinated to the market value, and the general feeling was one of let good enough alone., In this particular branch of the clock industry the Western Clock Manufacturing Company has achieved great results in the last twenty years. I know the site informs readers the amount of Big Bens produced in any one year, but does NOT for the reproduction model produced in 1970. From 1917 to 1926, the United States Radium Corporation used radium to produce wristwatches and clocks. I think we threw it away. This Christmas (1930) ad illustrates 61-F Dura Case, style 2 crackle finish Big Ben and Baby Ben, Auto Clock, Pocket Ben and Country Club pocket watches. Richard Tjarks introduced . I live in Scotland but my clock was made in USA. Westclox Classic Alarm Clock Full Size 47602. Theyre making some really nice reproductions of it in China and if you dont know what youre looking for you could be fooled easily. Westclox Clock Construction and Quality. The only marking I can find are the letters ST in old english style inside of a diamond thats inside of a circle, on the clock works. WECKER (CW arrow)/UHR (CCW arrow) knob with ring: CW winds alarm; CCW winds clock. It was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898. I was about 3ft high and recessed into the wall. I have a similar clock. It is 3 diameter with Westclox on the back and PAT.APLOFOR. Your response or advice would be much appreciated. For me its kind of an inexpensive hobby because as a boy I could find them for about a dollar a piece, sometimes in good condition. The company made luminescent paint. Can anyone direct me on how to find this clock? Matthiessen, 1904 Western Clock MFG Co. catalog cover, and the original Peru factory in 1905]. When did Bulova stop using radium? when did westclox stop using radium. Soon, he was running the Western Clock Co. advertising department, and proving his worth with some clever marketing strategies. Immediately after, substances like promethium and tritium were used as a luminous material, and they're still being used today. They were sold in a very attractive hexagonal box which has pictures of antique items on the sides (tricycle, telephone, carriage, etc.) Something about them has always been ingrained in me. it has a picture of a huck finn type boy,carying 2 bottles of coke& a fishing pole,with his dog. That way I got myself another Baby Ben, bringing my collection to three by age 12. Gary Biolchini added more style series in his book 226RA has a half life of about 1600 years and the glow of the paint used on dials and hands decreases because of the damage the alpha particles emitted by the Radium do to the ZnS . AD x Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. Annie Moussin designer intrieur. They have meetings every two months, and educational programs, so thats a really great way to meet collectors and get all kinds of advice. Stoddard: Pay attention to quality. Luminous Processes employees interviewed by a journalist in 1978 stated they had been left ignorant of radium's dangers. . Stoddard: The first Big Bens and Baby Bens went on the market in 1910 and they were wind ups. 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. For my 14th birthday I got a book called The Treasury of American Clocks and there was a picture showing the seven types of Baby Bens. On April 20, 1902, Marie and Pierre Curie successfully isolate radioactive radium salts from the mineral pitchblende in their laboratory in Paris. I am trying to determine the age. styles to organize them One of the objects on display in the Benton County Historical Society's Corvallis Museum is this Westclox Radium Dial Clock. About the only. Old Rose (pink) crackle finish Baby Ben with luminous dial: 1929 1930. Ruth Spayer at the Westclox Museum tracked down a newspaper story from the Daily Post-Tribune on March 21, 1944, describing a scene in which three women fainted, several clerks were trampled, and four showcase windows were shattered before police untangled a jam of 2,500 women and a few stout-hearted men who converged on the store.. Seeking the Big 3 goals of convenience, cleanliness, and cheap production, Dreyfuss rolled out his new-look Big Ben in 1931. The clock can still give considerable amounts of radiation about 2-3 inches from the Crystal measured with a Geiger counter. In 1918 the Big Ben case was improved to make it dustproof, as described in patent #1,300,278 issued to Kern on April 15, 1919. It can be found with some other clocks in a case in the second floor hallway. Selling for $2.50 in the years before World War I (or about $60 in modern money), the 5-inch diameter Big Ben and its half-pint cousin the Baby Ben combined to move over 900,000 units in just 1913 alone, and the Western Clock MFG Companynot yet officially known as Westcloxwas producing more than twice that many clocks annually in total. From that point on I really liked those. So I brought it home and left it hanging and would wind it up every once in a while. That was the first antique clock I owned myself. Can you help I would like to find the value of it. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. I was given an Elias Ingraham Clock many years ago and would like to know a bit more about it and its value. It also says that the patent was re-issued March 31, 1868. The policy of the company is one of highly specialized production. Ref comment #10 from Frank Baker. The first Big Bens and Baby Bens in 1910 were wind ups.. They worked for the United States Radium Corporation painting the numbers and hands on watch. Is this a product that the company would have made or something someone created? thank you, My Husband and I just purchased an antique mantle/shelf clock at an estate sale. It is a wind up. Im trying to determine if it is a legit or reproduction that someone made. var today = new Date() It is and Elias Ingraham Brass Clock with a patent stamp of September 30, 1862. 1970s Many of these workers developed bone cancer . While promoting Westclox products in Europe, the breakout of World War I and the laws of mandatory military service in his native France forced Le Roy to get his affairs in order and head for the front in 1914.

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