Most importantly, they were forbidden to point the tip with their lips, and they avoided to ingest or inhale the luminous paint. Westclox closed its Peru factory 35 years ago. Eventually we became best friends and started researching together. I am pleased that I came across your article. I have a small westclox alarm clock. A key point to bear in mind is this: the dial is still highly radioactive. . Westclox 0.9" LED Plasma Screen Alarm Clock with USB Charging Port 71014X. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. Stahlberg knows that no other noteworthy clock company has ever succeeded west of the Hudson, let alone smalltown Illinois, but he dives into the challenge, establishing his first factory. its about 2 inches long maybe 1/2 in thick with holes on either end to be worn on a key chain perhaps? This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. 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. Style Information: Plain dial: 1918 - 1935 Black luminous dial: 1921 - 1935 There are variations in the lettering on the dial and back. Before we get to that, though, we have to start with the issue of geography as it concerns the business in question. By Dave Margulius 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 . 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. In 1931 it merged with Seth Thomas Clock Co. and both became divisions of General Time Corp. Advertisement: Illustrates crackle green Tiny Tim, crackle blue Big Ben and crackle pink Baby Ben clocks. Purchased from a man who claimed to have salvaged them from the backroom of an unnamed Chicago watch repair shop, each round and weathered face represents the lasting work of an international manufacturing giant at the peak of its powers. When was Westclox Big Ben made? - WhoIsWh 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. Buy Now. It would be very interesting if you could provide me with some pictures of the clock. Handle on top: down alarm off; up alarm on. What replaced radium in watches? - TimesMojo Thank you. 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. It is in working order and chimes on the hour and half hour. hi, I have a cocacola square clock. Can anyone direct me on how to find this clock? 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.. 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. How do you date a Westclox Baby Ben? Dozens of radium dial painters around the country developed similar symptoms, although the effects could take years to manifest, making it more difficult to pinpoint the phenomenon from its first cases in the early 1920s. Are Watches With Radium Dials Safe? New Study Offers Warning i use a 1980s I believe westclox pocket ben sweep 2nd hand, I actually had a westclox bullseye from the early 1990s when I was in elementary school. 0 Comments; Uncategorized newark advertiser obituaries 2021 . After several changes of ownership, it became . England. I live in Scotland but my clock was made in USA. Unbelievable true story of the 'radium girls' - NZ Herald Hundreds of thousands of clocks were produced a year, until closing its doors in 1980. Big Ben style, and there are other styles with names instead of numbers. It had beneath that four long tubes and they were the chimes for the door bell. His ideas were patented on as US patent #326,602. By the 1960s production went offshore to achieve economies of scale . I tend to be a nitty gritty detail kind of guy. 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 never seen this mentioned anywhere. What You Want To Know About Watch Luminant - aBlogtoWatch Marie and Pierre Curie isolate radium - HISTORY Despite Westcloxs deep German roots, the Illinois factory was a huge contributor to the U.S. military again during World War II, supplying upwards of a billion small parts for use in various defense products. Richard Ristau Jr., former plant manager, said hes happy to see the space being used for the museum. Eventually, safer options were discovered, and the use of radium was discontinued in the 1960s. Buy Now. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. They were officially Americas preferred wake-up call provider. On March 31, 1980, the Peru-LaSalle plant was officially closed, narrowly missing its 100-year anniversary. When did westclox start making clocks? Any help would be appreciated. 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. Many thanks. 1919 -1922, Luminous, Westclox in Roman text: 1923 - 1927, Luminous, projection on the "x": 1928 - 1935. Is Westclox still in business? - Quick-Advice.com Production was back in full force and at an all-time high by 1956, with 3,000 employees on staff. In her 2017 book, The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women, author Kate Moore notes that many of the new girls at the Radium Dial factory started out painting the famous Westclox Big Ben clocks before moving on to the smaller and more challenging Baby Ben, and finally the Pocket Ben and Scotty pocket watches, all produced at the Westclox Works. When did the use of radium stop? She was 18. Stoddard: Some of the old American pocket watches are just beautiful so I have several in my collection. "[4], According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, "radioactive antiques [including watches] are usually not a health risk as long as they are intact and in good condition. The precise, delicate skill of painting clock dials with radium powder promised a much higher salary than most factory jobs available to women at the time (upwards of $18 a week), and the company soon employed as many as 200 female workers in its Ottawa plant. Radium dials held near the face have been shown to produce radiation doses in excess of 10Sv / hour. According to Periodic. 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. 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. You do not want to open them up, lest you breath radioactive dust from old paint or spread it around. On April 20, 1902, Marie and Pierre Curie successfully isolate radioactive radium salts from the mineral pitchblende in their laboratory in Paris. Same as the nickel version but in a gold-plated case. I have a collection of alarm clocks, but slowly selling many. Which is interesting because many of the electrics are scarcer but people just arent into collecting electric clocks. When I walked along the street, Iwas aglow from the radium powder., [Mrs. Charlotte Purcell, like Catherine Donohue, was one of 15 former workers at the Radium Dial Company who contracted cancer and sought justice in the late 1930s]. These clocks were produced in the thousands and many can be bought on eBay for under $10. 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. Sep 6, 2008. potz said: Afaik Radium was used right up to the 1950's. Some sources even say it was used up to 1968 in watches and 1978 in clocks. In this interview Bill Stoddard talks about collecting antique Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben alarm clocks, and discusses clock collecting in general. If you want to identify an item, try posting it in our Show & Tell gallery. 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. When did they stop using radium for watches? Westclox Model 66 Movement Series Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. Westclox Radium Dial Clock. How did I get interested in clocks? Could you suggest how I could go about finding out this information. Charles Crow Penn Valley, Ca, I have run across and old clock that I would like to know something about. Sep 23, 2011 Charles Stahlberg headed a group from Waterbury, Connecticut, who came to Peru in 1884 to build clocks based on a new idea by Stahlberg. Westclox Scotland produced its first clock on 21 September 1948; a spring wound alarm with a 4-inch (10cm) dial. The Timeless Appeal of the Westclock Big and Baby Bens You just cant imagine the size of this factory its just gigantic. They had one in Brazil for a while and I think also in Hong Kong. I worked here for 28 years. Credit: pinimg. 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. In fact, one of their designs for the military, the terrifying sounding WarAlarm, spurred a small shopping riot in Chicago in 1944 when a small batch of the clocks was made available for commercial purchase at a downtown store. 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. 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 way I got myself another Baby Ben, bringing my collection to three by age 12. It is a wind up. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. I first saw the clock in 1957. All Rights Reserved. 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. For example, Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a are the leg model, and Style 2 is the first base model. 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. This past weekend, thanks to the Westclox Museum, its doors were opened and former workers were welcomed back for Homecoming Day. In 2006 I started collecting vintage advertisements. But hes taken some that are really rusty and had the backs replaced beautifully and reproduced some dials, and hes actually had some selling for several hundred dollars, so thats a totally different thing. Has the mechanics of the clock been changed/upgraded or could there be another issue at play? Old Rose (pink) crackle finish Baby Ben with luminous dial: 1929 1930. I was about 3ft high and recessed into the wall. So, rather than having the classic oversized bell or double-bell on top of the unit (to smash with your palm at 6am), the ringing mechanism was housed inside the back of the case, and a big winding key occupied the summit. I always wondered why the dial of my Baby Ben clock, which I have had from late 60s, was marked off in 48ths of an hour instead of minutes. I have a Westclox Bachelor alarm clock from probably the 50s as it was always there when I was growing up. 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. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. About 1931 they made the first electric Big Ben, and they were plug ins. WHAT IS A Moonbeam clock? - Thecrucibleonscreen.com 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. About the only. The other thing is reproductions. On 3rd January 2099, Terry Shields asked if anyone had information regarding his clock signed G .Falconer, Hong Kong. National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors Inc (A 501c3 non-profit corporation). Stoddard: The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) is headquartered in Pennsylvania but has chapters throughout the country. 1980 By the early 1950s, Westclox employed thousands of LaSalle-Peru residents. Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie. 1970s Many of these workers developed bone cancer . Frank Baker. Above all else, though, the rise and fall of Westcloxand the deeper history of these Big Ben clocks, in particularis simply far too intriguing to dismiss just because of a long-distance commute. Gordon Goodrum Its got a round brass dial and a painting in the door, really neat. The front is in Roman Numerals with a dome shaped raised glass. Westclox began as the United Clock Company in Peru, Illinois in 1885. When Did Glow In The Dark Watches Stop Using Radium? Radium dial - Wikipedia 5 17 15 is May 17, 1915 . Westclox began as the United Clock Company of Peru, Illinois in 1885. I know that it is electric and it requires a dime deposit to set the alarm on it. Sometimes Ive seen them for 300 to 600 dollars. Ristau said he remembered when the Westclox factory was the heart of the city, and recalled enjoying his time with Westclox. WECKER (CW arrow)/UHR (CCW arrow) knob with ring: CW winds alarm; CCW winds clock. It looks like you mount it to the wall. The first Big Bens and Baby Bens in 1910 were wind ups.. can anybody tell me about this piece?

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