when did westclox stop using radium

It led to life-saving regulations and, ultimately, to the establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which now operates nationally in the United States to protect workers. AD x Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. . They made the most of the perk, wearing their good dresses to the plant so theyd shine in the dance halls at night, and even painting radium onto their teeth for a smile that would knock their suitors dead.. . I know it was purchased in 1937 because it belonged to my elderly friends who were married in 1938. They were told that eliminating lip-pointing had ended earlier problems. It sits on a small brass stand with Westclox on it. bailey oceans tide clock dated 1880, with a Fusee movement. 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. Your email (will not be published) (required), The Timeless Appeal of the Westclock Big and BabyBens, The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Not Your Grandmas Cuckoo: Decapitating, Rat-Eating Clocks of the Black Forest, The Care and Repair of 19th-Century American Clocks. There is a small dial inside of the clock face that has roman numerals like another clock face. These folks here that are responsible for this are doing a marvelous job, Ristau said. American manufacturers were quick to see that the millionaires are a negligible quantity as consumers, and that, not chronometersnot marvels of intricacy and originalitywere needed, but timepieces within the reach and want of all. Westclox also made about 5000 gold-plated reproductions. . For at least four generations, the Western Clock Manufacturing Company, aka Westclox, was the lifeblood and largest employer in the small town of Peru, Illinois (with a mailing address in its twin city of LaSalle). Richard Tjarks introduced I read (but cant remember where) that about 40,000 were made. They make alarm and one-day lever clocks only, and with practically two different articles, known as the 4-inch and 2-inch movements, they have an output of in their factory at LaSalle, Ill., of nearly two million clocks a year. A radium dial clock from the 1930s. Immediately after, substances like promethium and tritium were used as a luminous material, and they're still being used today. Westclox did make a couple of documented advertising clocks, but very few. Old Rose (pink) crackle finish Baby Ben with luminous dial: 1929 1930. Stopping this practice drastically reduced the amount of radium ingested and therefore, the incidence of malignancy. 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. It has a cracked front lens that I would like to replace. They worked in unvented rooms, they wore smocks that they laundered at home. It was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898. Thank to several professionals who Ive met on Ebay, I have become quite skilled with my restorations plus making dials and alarm function indicators. Stoddard: The main thing is the originality of the dial and if its a wooden shelf clock, having the original painting in the door would be really important. That was the first antique clock I owned myself. At the top was a clock covered with a glass door. While most of our Big Ben dials are black with luminous numbers, there were also white dials with black numerals in production at the same time. They call it Shabby Chic and sell it on eBay for 60 to 80 dollars. 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. During World War II they had some fantastic ads that you can see on my website like, Victory Wont Wait for the Nation Thats Late, and Guard Your Big Ben where they show a bulldog and a soldier with a gun guarding a Big Ben because during the war they stopped making clocks for the consumer market and totally switched over to military work. Luckily for Charles, however, he is living in the same small town as Frederick William Matthiessena fellow German, but one with a hell of a lot more money and business experience. Stahlbergs company goes bankrupt not once, but twice, within its first several years. A Big Ben typical of those made from late 1910 to mid-1915. There are many Westclox alarm clock models named Big Ben. Westclox Wrought Iron Look Wall Clock 12" 32021A. There are also some other makers clocks Ive gotten into, like the Seth Thomas 30 hour ogee, which is a weight-driven shelf clock. can anybody tell me about this piece? I believed it was manufacturing tag. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. Big Ben: butler nickel case, gold leaf numeral dial 1930 1932. How can people be exposed to Radium? Any help would be appreciated. Theres a clock that came down the family, my great great granddad bought it used in about 1885, it was actually sold new in about 1839, one of the first of the weight-driven brass clocks. I have purchased 1) Style 1 Baby and Big Ben with the Gold Leaf dial (seller stated raised letters); and, 2) a Style 1 Baby Ben with Baby Ben De Luxe on the dial. [Former Westclox workers Art and Mary Ann Windy (standing), 2015], This is amazing, Art said. 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. This has probably been discussed before but my search turned up nothingdo the luminous hands on a Big Ben alarm clock contain painted radium? Former employees showed up to view a collection of watches, clocks, tools, photographs of the old factory, a short black and white film of the factory in action and remember working for Westclox. I have a Westclox Big Ben 1910 style 1a and have not been able to find out the present value/worth. He corresponded with Westclox General Manager Ernst Roth over the weeks that followed, but after a final letter that September, he went silent. The company later changed its name to the United States Radium Corporation. Radium paint itself was eventually phased out and has not been used in watches since 1968. . When I was 11 or 12, I started mowing lawns for money and paid another man to repair it for me, but when it came back it would run for a while and then stop, pretty erratic. Seeking the Big 3 goals of convenience, cleanliness, and cheap production, Dreyfuss rolled out his new-look Big Ben in 1931. But he only comes upon receipt of signed price agreement. the knobs have foreign words ie wecker & UHR.would like to know about his clock The lume used on vintage Rolex watches was radium-based, and radium remained the standard for nearly all Rolex lume until 1963, when growing health concerns forced a shift away from it. I have a similar clock. When did the use of radium stop? 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. 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. Only reason I can think of and it looks pretty odd not to have minutes on a clock face. 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. [7], Ingestion of radium has been linked to anemia, cataracts, broken teeth, and reduced bone growth.[8]. Radium paint can be ingested by inhaling flaking paint particles. Westclox Big Ben Style 1a Alarm Clock Date Summary: 1918 - 1935 (and a reproduction was made in 1970) Characteristics: Ring on top, two legs in front, no screws through the front of the bezel. But the chances that you have a radium clock are slim, unless it is very old. By Dave Margulius US radium dial painting factory. Westclox Radium Dial Clock. dated:1990 ,decorated :hong cong.made in japan.cocacola tradmark. 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. 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. I would like to find the value of it. Can anyone tell me about this? 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., [Automatic machinery certainly sped up the manufacturing process, by plenty of human skill and attention was still required to make the Big Ben. Site of the Old Westclox factory 211-201 Hunter Street, Peterborough Ontario. JavaScript is disabled. I tend to be a nitty gritty detail kind of guy. Never underestimate the value of an alarm clock when yours broke two years ago and nobody has manufactured a new one since. Style 10 is the last numbered Art and Mary Ann Windy [pictured] have been married for 49 years, met as Westclox employees and were present for the open house. 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. I would also like photo and more details of his clock, since I intend to write a follow-up article. i have a large ansonia wall clock 32 1/2 x 32. I have a collection of alarm clocks, but slowly selling many. In 1913, with help from the US government, Dr. Douglas formed the National Radium Institute, to mine radium from uranium ores recently discovered in Colorado. Something about them has always been ingrained in me. I have a sessions mantle clock duet#1. Also Telechron, which was a big maker of electric clocks. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. See the top of this page for a current list of Museum Artifacts: Luminous Big Ben & Baby Ben Clock Dials (1940s) and Style 1A Big Ben Alarm Clock (1920s), Made By: Western Clock MFG Company, aka Westclox, 350 5th St., Peru, Illinois [LaSalle]. Stoddard: The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) is headquartered in Pennsylvania but has chapters throughout the country. I have been purchasing these clocks as and when I got an opportunity. 1919 -1922, Luminous, Westclox in Roman text: 1923 - 1927, Luminous, projection on the "x": 1928 - 1935. After the discovery of radioactivity in 1896 by French physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Antoine Henri Becquerel, many other scientists began to search for uses of radioactivity. Just remember, old luminous clocks are full of radium! It is battery operated and takes a D battery. 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. The work involved using luminous radium paint to make the numbers on clocks, watches and aeronautic dials glow in the dark. Westclox Clock Construction and Quality. Required fields are marked *. You do not want to open them up, lest you breath radioactive dust from old paint or spread it around. This 1964 Westclox Christmas ad describes their features. 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. A clock without hands might seem indifferent to the passage of time, but these old Big Ben and Baby Ben dials have some serious stories to tell. [5] Indeed, the body treats radium as it does calcium, storing it in bone where it may cause bone degeneration and cancer.[5]. It is stamped on the back of the casing DRP&GM. Radium is an almost pure white alkaline radioactive earth metal, and is found in nature in uranium ores. Question: Are both 1) and 2) marriages of Style 2 mechanisms put in a Style 1A Big Ben and Style 1 Baby Ben. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. Ref comment #10 from Frank Baker. I know that it is electric and it requires a dime deposit to set the alarm on it. I hung it on my wall and we tried to get it fixed but the repairman couldnt fix it. Theyll take an old Big Ben from 1930 and make a new dial that says Indian Motorcycle or Victola, and put it on eBay. During the early 1900's, the effects of radiation exposure were not well understood, and radium was frequently . var year = today.getFullYear() I also like some of the older American weight-driven clocks. Stoddard: Pay attention to quality. Clock Repair and Hermle Chime, Mantel and Wall Clocks for Sale at Bill's Clockworks. This was a wonderful article to read. The first Big Bens and Baby Bens in 1910 were wind ups.. Did Westclox use radium? I have a mantel clock,its floral in color,made by Ansonia Cock Co.USA.New York. Which is interesting because many of the electrics are scarcer but people just arent into collecting electric clocks. So you find clocks where parts have been switched, so thats one challenge, determining originality. [9] The element was phased out of use by industry acting under its own volition as superior and safer luminous materials entered the marketplace. A lot of American clocks have veneer over the base wood so if thats starting to peel it can be really expensive to get fixed. When Westclox changed over to the style 8 Big Ben and Baby Ben in 1964, they used 4 divisions per 5 minutes, I believe to make the alarm easier to set. Is Westclox a good brand? 514 Poplar Street Gary Biolchini added more style series in his book Also, its not just Americans who collect, its worldwide. The internet is fantastic, you can find out anything about just any kind of clock, exchange pictures easily, correspond with people and work together on research. 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. [citation needed] The use of radium to provide luminescence for hands and indices on watches soon followed. Your email address will not be published. Annie Moussin designer intrieur. Inhaled or ingested particles may deposit a high local dose with a risk of radiation-caused lung or gastrointestinal cancer. Westclox set up a factory in England in the 1940s and also in Scotland. Based in Flora, Indiana, Bill can be reached via his website, clockhistory.com, which is a member of our Hall of Fame. It started early in the 20th century, around 1910, when some companies began to use radium on watch dials and hands to create a "glow in the dark" effect. All the rods in my clocks are verticle that is from top to bottom of the case, four on each side at the back of the movement. I am looking to get an approxmiate value of this clock. Thank you. UHR (CW arrow) knob sets clock time. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. 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. He also recalled playing in the factory. [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. Columbia, PA 17512 I am pleased that I came across your article. when did westclox stop using radium. Henry Warren invented a little synchronous motor that could go inside a clock. Any information would be very helpful. Big Ben style, and there are other styles with names instead of numbers. I have a Westclox Bachelor alarm clock from probably the 50s as it was always there when I was growing up. Debbie Blake, I have a small Westclox wind up clock dating around 1937. Lynda Hinshaw, At this moment I am research a clock by Falconer& co HongKong. The NAWCC has an online forum with a lot of different categories. As the dark cloud of fear and suspicion grew over the small town of Ottawa into the 30s, the Radium Dial Company itself refused to take any responsibility, claiming innocence and ignorance. Advertisement: Illustrates crackle green Tiny Tim, crackle blue Big Ben and crackle pink Baby Ben clocks. I bought a 1970s Westclox pocket watch with a Hotwheels face that says authorized seller on it. They were sold in a very attractive hexagonal box which has pictures of antique items on the sides (tricycle, telephone, carriage, etc.) His ideas were patented on as US patent #326,602. 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? How do you set the time on a old fashioned alarm clock? I have a Seth Thomas Mantle clock that my older sisters husbands Aunt had on her mantle for years.