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 did they stop using radium for watches? Has the mechanics of the clock been changed/upgraded or could there be another issue at play? [9] Prior to that date, "the federal government had a limited role, if any, in ensuring the safe use of radium," according to the NRC. For example, Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a are the leg model, and Style 2 is the first base model. Im trying to determine if it is a legit or reproduction that someone made. It also says that the patent was re-issued March 31, 1868. In the production of ordinary clocks adapted to the needs and means of the millions, America produces results of remarkable excellence. My husband has a Big Ben clock that he inherited, it was took down from a mill and given to his grandma. These paints were used on the dials of clocks and watches to make them glow-in-the-dark. Could you suggest how I could go about finding out this information. The company made luminescent paint. US radium dial painting factory. Its hard to fathom in retrospect, but in the early 20th century, it was generally believed that small amounts of radium were perfectly harmless to humans, and thus, the substances natural, long-lasting glow actually made it something of an attractive novelty of the time periodnot just on clock dials, but in the worlds of quack medicine, fashion, cosmetics, and even a proto version of energy water, called Radithor.. I live in Scotland but my clock was made in USA. My father (Richard Ristau Sr.) worked here for 48.. Westclox made an excellent, almost exact, reproduction of the style 1a Big Ben in 1970. [Former Westclox workers Art and Mary Ann Windy (standing), 2015], This is amazing, Art said. 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. Don Spayer, volunteer and former Westclox employee, said the bulk of the museums collection was built through donations. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. I have looked high and low in my attempts to find out how any of these resproduction style 1A were produced. $38.00. These clocks were produced in the thousands and many can be bought on eBay for under $10. I took it back and the repairman told me it was like a large Timex watch and just not worth being fixed. 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. 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. Here you can see production dates, original retail prices and other Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. The sound is very good when I compare it with the Howard Miller and the Jauke I just purchases, its loud and resonates very well. I spent many an evening here, watching him bowl.. [Workers assembling Big Ben alarm clocks at the Westclox plant, 1910s. 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. While the painting technique of the Ghost Girls was replaced with supposedly safer methods like silk screening, traces of radium were still used by many companies to get that desired glow effect throughout the 1940s and even as late as the 60s. Westclox set up a factory in England in the 1940s and also in Scotland. It is encased in hard polymer Plastic and the ends have rivets . 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. Buy Now. 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. can anybody tell me about this piece? Initially hired as a low level clerk, Le Roy worked his way up the company ladder in the early 1900s as an on-the-road sales rep, soliciting business from Chicago to New York to parts unknown. 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 . Sometimes getting parts is tough, too, although it turns out Westclox made lots and lots of spare parts. It is something that we should know before everyone starts throwing away every luminous dial clock they own. Read more about "Radium Girls" here. 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. Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. One time a friend and I were down there behind the factory and we got talking to a man who was leasing the back half of the factory to make machinery for bakeries. 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. 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. Its got a round brass dial and a painting in the door, really neat. Ristau said he remembered when the Westclox factory was the heart of the city, and recalled enjoying his time with Westclox. With alarm clocks, they were so common that when people repaired them they did whatever they could to get them going. So I brought it home and left it hanging and would wind it up every once in a while. Condition is important, but clocks can be restored. Thats another story. So yes. Radium dials were produced throughout most of the 20th century before being replaced by safer tritium-based luminous material in the 1970s and finally by non-toxic, non-radioactive strontium aluminatebased photoluminescent material from the middle 1990s. when did westclox stop using radium; when did westclox stop using radium. [9] The element was phased out of use by industry acting under its own volition as superior and safer luminous materials entered the marketplace. Helen. who can refurbush big ben still runs good perfect time purchased in 1950 cataloge #885(885). Sep 23, 2011 I bought a 1970s Westclox pocket watch with a Hotwheels face that says authorized seller on it. I have been searching for one like as the clock went with the house after my Grandmother passed away. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. Your email address will not be published. When I walked along the street, Iwas aglow from the radium powder., The radium girls case was one of the first in which an employer was made responsible for the health of the companys employees. 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. The style 7 Big Ben and Baby Ben (1956 to 1964, the first Bens with concentric alarm hand) has minute markings. . His ideas were patented on as US patent #326,602. Quite a few who try to get every basic model, but fewer who get into the rarer models and do research. Also Telechron, which was a big maker of electric clocks. It still works. Their Scottish factory was a full manufacturing plant, at which all their clocks were assembled from start to finish with only the basic raw materials being brought in by outside suppliers. 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. The center is in the shape of the world map. In a few short years, thanks to Dr. Douglas's efforts, the amount of radium available in the US more than quintupled. Westclox Radium Dial Clock. They were told that eliminating lip-pointing had ended earlier problems. The pioneering spirit is there, but the business skills soon appear lacking. Annie Moussin designer intrieur. Westclox Big Bens and Baby Bens are full of the stuff. 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. Was this done so the alarm could be more easily set on the quarter or half hour? styles to organize them I have a small westclox alarm clock. At this moment I study horology at West Dean College in the UK. July 17th, 2008. Stopping this practice drastically reduced the amount of radium ingested and therefore, the incidence of malignancy. The work involved using luminous radium paint to make the numbers on clocks, watches and aeronautic dials glow in the dark. AD x Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. 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. Could you please try to help me find out what kind of clock this is. Beginning in the 1910s, the girls instructed to put radium in their mouths didn't bat an eyelash. Did westclox stop using radioactive paint by the 1960s? dated:1990 ,decorated :hong cong.made in japan.cocacola tradmark. [3] The Radiolite series, made in various sizes and models, became a signature of the Connecticut-based company. Big Ben: butler nickel case, gold leaf numeral dial 1930 1932. From 1917 to 1926, the United States Radium Corporation used radium to produce wristwatches and clocks. Theyre just scattered in different places all over the country, little collections of hands, springs, screws, and things like that. The new features, according to a synopsis from the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, included: 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.. 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. 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. Their use in prostate brachytherapy dates from 1926. I have a collection of clocks, and amongst my collection are Westminster chime wall clocks, I have two Keinzle and two Junghans. It looks like you mount it to the wall. Advertisement: Illustrates crackle green Tiny Tim, crackle blue Big Ben and crackle pink Baby Ben clocks. Style Information: Plain dial: 1918 - 1935 Black luminous dial: 1921 - 1935 There are variations in the lettering on the dial and back. When did Junghans stop manufacturing Westminster Chimes, and when did Keinzle stop manufacturing Westminster chimes. The women also left a legacy to science that has been termed invaluable.. All I really want to know is about the raised horizontal single eye type decoration on this top removable piece. It was a gift from him to her the year before they were married. 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. Can anyone tell me about this? But the chances that you have a radium clock are slim, unless it is very old. Their factory in LaSalle, Illinois closed down in about 1980 when they moved all their production down south, but the building is still there. They call it Shabby Chic and sell it on eBay for 60 to 80 dollars. 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.