[fhs-65] Re: Spring forward
- From: "donnakasch" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ("donnakasch")
- To: fhs-65@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2022 15:15:35 -0500
Thanks for sharing Steve! One question: Is the mantle clock cast iron? The style reminds me of the Ansonia clocks, made in NY. I have one with a patent dated 1882 that was a wedding gift for my parents from her parents. Ansonia made many styles over the years, and many if not most have the pillars on the front like yours. They are well documented online.
Like you, John is a clock and watch enthusiast. We have several clocks ... maybe 4 or 5 ... that he's collected. And watches? I don't want to know!! Donna
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
-------- Original message --------From: Steve <sfgrob@xxxxxxxxxxx> Date: 3/12/22 2:01 PM (GMT-05:00) To: FHS-65 <FHS-65@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [fhs-65] Spring forward
Well, it's that dreaded time of year again where we have to go
through this stupid ritual of moving the clocks ahead 1 hour.
Personally, I really hate this.
There is a movement on congress to dump yearly time changes, but
this will go nowhere as there just is no consensus as to which way
to go. Surveys indicate that 31% of Americans wanted to keep
switching the clocks back and forth every year, 36% who wanted
Daylight Saving Time all year around, and 30% who wanted Standard
Time all year around. With the country divided by so many other
things, this time change thing will be sure to stay on the shelf.
With this impending task looming, I thought I would take count of
all the clocks and watches in our home. I'm rather fond of clocks
so I knew there would be quite a few. I counted 26 time pieces,
and probably one or two were missed. Fortunately, only about half
of that count are in active use and will require adjustment.
Here are a few of the oldest/interesting (to me anyway) time
pieces.
Above mantel is probability the oldest, and most
difficult clock to date, but most likely was made in the 1850s to
1880s. There is no brand or serial number on the clockworks, but
there is a label on the back of the clock identifying the clock as
a "Belmont". This clock was mass produced and inexpensive. Tons
of these were made and sold as "house" brands for large department
stores. The clock is still running today and keeps reasonably
good time. I just have to adjust it a minute or two when I wind
it each week. Story is this clock was a wedding present to the
parents of
my
grandmother's oldest sister's husband.
Above is a collection of pocket watches. Top left
is an Elgin "Sidewinder" made in 1880. On the top right is
Hampden "Sidewinder" made in 1903. The interesting thing about
the sidewinders is the fact that the stem for winding is at the
three o'clock position and the hands are set by unscrewing the
bezel that holds the crystal to expose a small lever at the five
o'clock position. Pulling out this small lever engages the stem
into the hand setting mode.
I always thought these top two were my
grandfathers watches, but found out after a little research that
my grandfathers were mere toddlers when these pocket watches were
produced. So unless they acquired them used, which seems
unlikely, ownership goes back even further on the family tree.
The 1880 Elgin keeps remarkably good time for something 142 years
old.
The Hamilton on the bottom was my father's pocket
watch from 1946. Still keeps great time but needs a good
cleaning.
The above clock is a Waltham 8 day clock made in
1916. Again, this was a very popular clock. It was categorized
as a "transportation" clock as it was rugged and used in cars and
aircraft of the time. This same model of clock was in the
airplane that Lindbergh famously used to cross the Atlantic. Tons
of these clocks were produced over several decades so they are not
rare. Except this one. It considered quite rare as it was
manufactured specifically for the U.S.Army Aviation Section Signal
Corps (see the A.S.S.C. on face). One unique aspect of this clock
is that has two mainsprings allowing to run for 8 days with
increased accuracy.
But the back story is interesting too. My great
uncle was a "rigger" in the Army Signal Core during WWI. The
Signal Core is where aviation got its start in the military. His
outfit trained new pilots on the Curtiss JN "Jenny" that was a
fabric covered tail dragging bi-plane. One day, one of these
Jennys went down and crashed beyond repair, and my uncle salvaged
this very same clock from that downed JN trainer.
Winding down,
Steve
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