A Short History of American Antique Clocks and Their Makers



American Clocks and Clockmakers

Clocks were first brought to the American colonies in the early 1600s by wealthy colonists and owning a clock was a status symbol. Most ordinary people could not afford a clock of their own and had to rely on the church clock or the town clock. Privately owned clocks were only found in the finest of homes and were sure to be displayed in prominent position for all to see.

Most early clockmakers were not skilled in woodwork techniques and turned to joiners for their woodworking abilities and the early joiners used the exact same joining techniques and styles they used on furniture.

It wasn't until 1683 that an immigrant, William Davis, actually claimed to be a clockmaker.

By 1799, the great number of clocks attracted horological artisans to the New World. Most of these early artisans settled in populous centres such as Boston and Philadelphia. Later, others came to New York, Charlestown, Baltimore, and New Haven.

The hand-crafting of clocks grew in all areas of the eastern part of the colonies. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, there were many makers of long-case clocks in the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania. The earliest clockmakers from Philadelphia were Samuel Bispam, Abel Cottey, and Peter Stretch. One of the most famous of Philadelphia clockmakers was David Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse succeeded Benjamin Franklin as president of the American Philosophical Society and later became Director of the United States Mint.

Nineteenth Century Grandfather Clocks

After 1800, tall-case clocks were produced more cheaply and in quantities that made them both affordable and available to a greater number of people.

The clockmaking industry spread to Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

In Massachusetts, Benjamin and Ephram Willard became very famous for their exceptionally beautiful long-case clocks. In Connecticut, the first successful, domestic, mass-produced long-case clocks were developed by Eli Terry.

In those days, most clock cases were made by local cabinetmakers. The works, either brass or wood, were made by a firm that specialized in clock works. The cabinetmaker engraved or painted his name on the dial, claiming credit for the completed clock.

The Story of Grandfathers Clock :

Antique Clocks and the story of the grandfather clock - from buy-antique-clocks.comMost people refer to tall clocks as grandfather clocks but interestingly this term didn't come into popular use until the late 19th century.

Tall clocks were previously called either standing clocks, tall-case clocks or hall clocks.

In 1876, a man named Henry Work wrote a song called Grandfathers Clock. It became the most popular song in America and the sheet music cover shown here was probably published in 1879, three years after the introduction of the song.

The song's tremendous popularity lasted well into the 20th century.

The advent of the Industrial Revolution, together with standard working hours and the introduction of train schedules, brought about the need for standardised timekeeping and this really brought clockmaking to the fore.

After 1840, wooden movements were abandoned and the 30-hour brass movement became popular, mainly because of its low price. Soon after, the spring-powered movement came into being and this really paved the way for a variety of new and smaller clock cases.

Nineteenth-Century American Clock Manufacturers Antique Clocks - Chauncey Jerome

Before 1840, manufacturers were mostly individual clockmakers or family-owned companies.

In 1840 however, Chauncey Jerome built the largest clock factory and started shipping clocks all over the world. It is said that the Jerome Clock Company motivated the organisation of the Ansonia Clock Company and the Waterbury Clock Company.

These three companies, along with the Seth Thomas Company, EN Welch Company, Ingraham Clock Company, and Gilbert Clock Company became the major clock producers.

By 1851, there were over 30 clock factories in the USA and from 1840 up to 1890, millions of clocks were produced, of which many surviving examples can still be found.

American Clock Making in the Twentieth Century

During the stock market crash of 1929, many of the large clockmaking companies failed or were reorganized.

The great Ansonia Clock Company sold its assets to the Russian government, shipping its machinery and equipment overseas.

The Seth Thomas Clock Company became a part of General Time Instrument Company.

Of the original giants of the clock industry only three exist today. They are all currently divisions of larger companies.

Seth Thomas is now a division of Talley Industries. The Ingraham Clock Company is now a division of McGraw-Edison and the Gilbert Clock Company has been replaced by the Sparta Corporation.

No spring-powered clocks are currently being mass-produced in the USA.