when did westclox stop using radium when did westclox stop using radium

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. They asked me to give some programs myself at some of the chapter meetings so I became a little bit better at being a public speaker, and its been great meeting people. lds missionary clothing stores; June 24, 2022 . 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. Westclox 0.9" LED Plasma Screen Alarm Clock with USB Charging Port 71014X. They call it Shabby Chic and sell it on eBay for 60 to 80 dollars. I cant find out anything about him or any other clocks by him. We have photos of all the employees between 1927-1945 at the Peterborough Ontario Location but not much else. It is 3 diameter with Westclox on the back and PAT.APLOFOR. The movement was mounted to the inner case back. Radiums luminosity was part of its allure, Moore writes. hi, I have a cocacola square clock. Phone: 717-684-8261. Am I missing something here? Stoddard: The National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) is headquartered in Pennsylvania but has chapters throughout the country. Westclox also made about 5000 gold-plated reproductions. When did Bulova stop using radium? In the United States there does not seem to have ever been prohibitory legislation passed banning the use of radium in clocks and watches. Your cooperation would be greatly appreciated. How can people be exposed to Radium? I like to find the ones before that and study their history. 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. and again 1243 is this an antique its gold but looks brand new but also an antique at the same time does anyone know what kind of pocket watch this is or if its gold or a replica of something or what it might be worth?? Most importantly, they were forbidden to point the tip with their lips, and they avoided to ingest or inhale the luminous paint. I tend to be a nitty gritty detail kind of guy. Radium paint can be ingested by inhaling flaking paint particles. 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. Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. Sometimes getting parts is tough, too, although it turns out Westclox made lots and lots of spare parts. 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. Thanks very mutch, I just acquired a sir w.h. 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. Not to mention theres the Big Bens so that doubles it right there. . You do not want to open them up, lest you breath radioactive dust from old paint or spread it around. We pay his railroad fare on all orders for a dozen or more, we brand him with your name in lots of 24., unconsciously characterized the manunaffected, direct, devoted to his cause., Radiums luminosity was part of its allure,, The dial painters soon became known as the ghost girls because by the time they finished their shifts, they themselves would glow in the dark. [Former Westclox workers Art and Mary Ann Windy (standing), 2015], This is amazing, Art said. The use of Radium changed over several years but it was not until late 1960ies when the last were made. All the aforementioned to ask you if you know how many of the 1970 style 1As were made. Radium is highly radioactive. Now I know that theres probably 14 basic shapes, but a lot more variations than that depending on how far you want to take things. Posted on 1 second ago; June 24, 2022 . They are just gorgeous watches and very well made. He invited us in to look around, so we got to go up and down the big freight elevator and he found some old music boxes that were never used that he gave to us (Westclox made one or two little clocks with a music box in them). They made them with wooden works until about 1840, then with brass gears and I like some of the early brass-geared American clocks. 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. So, does Westclox really belong in the Made In Chicago Museum? From 1942 to 1945, Westclox ceased all production intended for domestic civilian sale and dedicated its production resources to the war effort. 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. Both the Big and Baby Bens were housed in a newly refined bell-back clock case. This classic clock is known for its loud and distinct bell-like . Thanks, Teri. One employee, R.D. When Did They Stop Using Radium On Clock Hands? bailey oceans tide clock dated 1880, with a Fusee movement. Advertisement: Illustrates crackle green Tiny Tim, crackle blue Big Ben and crackle pink Baby Ben clocks. It sits on a small brass stand with Westclox on it. Safety This practice resulted in the ingestion of radium, which caused serious jaw-bone degeneration and malignancy and other dental diseases. I have been searching for one like as the clock went with the house after my Grandmother passed away. the clock face is 16, ca 1900. the clock belonged to pheobe appersons family at their ranch in sunol california. 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. For example, Big Ben Style 1 and Style 1a are the leg model, and Style 2 is the first base model. For the town of Peruwhich had tied much of its identity to Westclox for the better part of a centurythe damage went beyond financial. Radium dials held near the face have been shown to produce radiation doses in excess of 10Sv / hour. The drinking fountain worked.. Then my friend and I went around the neighborhood asking people if they had anything they wanted to give away, like old clocks and cameras and tape recorders. Sometimes extensive casework can be more time consuming than getting the movement running. The clock is several houndred pounds, and keeps great time. 2023 by Andrew Clayman. If you do not expect to work hard and carefully, you are in the wrong place., Big Ben is a handsome, well built, refined and bright looking fellow with a clean-cut open face and a deep cheerful voice,, A well-dressed, steady and punctual chap, up to the minute and always on the job., Big Ben always comes to you straight from home, LaSalle, Illinois,, But he only comes upon receipt of signed price agreement. In all my research I can not confirm that The Style 1 models every had 1) and 2) above. Stoddard: Pay attention to quality. The clock is shielded From the glass crystal. Thank you. If you want to identify an item, try posting it in our Show & Tell gallery. These paints were used on the dials of clocks and watches to make them glow-in-the-dark. There are variations in the lettering on the dial and back. Eventually, safer options were discovered, and the use of radium was discontinued in the 1960s. Also Telechron, which was a big maker of electric clocks. [7] A 2018 study by researchers from the University of Northampton found that a collection of 30 vintage military watches with radium dials kept in an small, unventilated room produced a radon concentration 134 times greater than the UK's recommended "safe" level. It was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898. "[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. Similarly, 1968 Who made westclox? You must log in or register to reply here. Unfortunately, they also hint at a tragic chapter in American industrial history, when the appeal of a luminous new kind of paint wound up putting hundreds of workersmostly young womenat great personal risk. Various lettering on the dial and various patent dates (later, numbers) on the Like style 1a non-luminous with dealer name on dial. (All images in this article courtesy Bill Stoddard, www.clockhistory.com), I found this article very complimentary to the Westclox company and an intriguing piece to read. The incidents occurred at three different factories in United States: one in Orange, New Jersey, beginning around 1917; one in Ottawa, Illinois, beginning in the early 1920s; and a third facility in Waterbury, Connecticut, also in the 1920s. Hi I need the face plate for a black face big ben with the alarm dial on its face do you have any you could sell me alonf with the radio dials, it was probably outsourced meaning westclox sold some watches to hot wheels, I had a westclox electric dialite like that. . I think we threw it away. 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. It is in good condition and has the original pendulum and key. When radium was discovered in the early 1900s, people were fascinated by its mysterious glow and it was added to many everyday products, including paints. In the production of ordinary clocks adapted to the needs and means of the millions, America produces results of remarkable excellence. You just cant imagine the size of this factory its just gigantic. 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. I have never seen this mentioned anywhere. Can anyone direct me on how to find this clock? Eventually, scientists and medical professionals realized that these workers' illnesses . The dial painters soon became known as the ghost girls because by the time they finished their shifts, they themselves would glow in the dark. They worked in unvented rooms, they wore smocks that they laundered at home. I thought, oh boy, I just need four more and Ill have them all! Theres a seller on eBay now whos doing some really outstanding restorations of Big Bens. A radium dial clock from the 1930s. If you do not expect to work hard and carefully, you are in the wrong place. credit: Northern Illinois University]. A Big Ben typical of those made from late 1910 to mid-1915. when did westclox stop using radium old restaurants in lawrence, ma . [3] The Radiolite series, made in various sizes and models, became a signature of the Connecticut-based company. Westclox Model 66 Movement Series Welcome to the Westclox Clock and Watch History Database. Richard Ristau Jr., former plant manager, said hes happy to see the space being used for the museum. My love is for the style 1 peg leg Big and Baby Bens; mostly Baby Bens. In 2006 I started collecting vintage advertisements. I think the clock was electric but could have been a wind up or maybe even a pendulum. When did westclox stop using radium? it has a picture of a huck finn type boy,carying 2 bottles of coke& a fishing pole,with his dog. I have a collection of alarm clocks, but slowly selling many. 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. In some respects, the early rise of the Western Clock MFG Co. is even more impressive considering the company didnt have all the resources of an established, major metropolis to draw from. Most are in nickel finish cases, but some were made in gold plated cases. 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. I have a small westclox alarm clock. Can you confirm? Charles Stahlberg had an idea for making a better, but less expensive alarm clock. The greater surprise, though, is that they didnt abandon the use of radium in the years that followed. Technically speaking, though, Westclox did still produce clocks during the gap years that followed. I know it was purchased in 1937 because it belonged to my elderly friends who were married in 1938. A 'radium cow' or sample of radium would continually yield a supply of the nuclide. Radium was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie. 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. dated:1990 ,decorated :hong cong.made in japan.cocacola tradmark. Big Ben: butler nickel case, gold leaf numeral dial 1930 1932. The Forgotten Story Of The Radium Girls, Whose Deaths Saved Thousands Of Workers Lives, by Kate Moore, A Rude Awakening: The History of Alarm Clocks , Western Clock MFG Co. (Westclox), est. Westclox set up a factory in England in the 1940s and also in Scotland. But this is not how the story of Westclox began. Im trying to determine if it is a legit or reproduction that someone made. As Kate Moore explains it, The radium girls case was one of the first in which an employer was made responsible for the health of the companys employees. Richard Tjarks introduced In the production of ordinary clocks adapted to the needs and means of the millions, America produces results of remarkable excellence. Has the mechanics of the clock been changed/upgraded or could there be another issue at play? The new company tripled in size by the turn of the century, employing 232 people at its growing Peru plant (145 men, 73 women, 14 children) and producing 500,000 clocks annually. However, there`s no easy way for you to tell; there were no labeling requirements then as we have now. Buy Now. As my first name is Ben, I started to collect these alarmclocks since about 1970. AD x Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. Collectors Weekly: When did you discover that there were other clock collectors? I am trying to determine the age. On the Style 9, they went back to actual minute markings. Clock Repair and Hermle Chime, Mantel and Wall Clocks for Sale at Bill's Clockworks. I am sure I can give Mr. Shields further information about his clock. This eye is horizontally elliptical in general shape, about 4 3/4 long and 1 3/4 tall with a circle in the middle making it look like a single eye. When he made his first clock and plugged it into the wall it worked fine except it wasnt accurate, it was off by plus or minus a half hour a day, because the 60 cycles were not regulated at that time, so it could vary quite a bit. Even today, with the considerable help of a thing called Interstate 80, its still about a two-hour journey from LaSalle Street to LaSalle County. In this interview Bill Stoddard talks about collecting antique Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben alarm clocks, and discusses clock collecting in general. How do you date a Westclox Baby Ben? These folks here that are responsible for this are doing a marvelous job, Ristau said. I read (but cant remember where) that about 40,000 were made. 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. Behind the light, theyd been left in the dark. Even if the Western Clock Co. wasnt born in Chicago or headquartered here, the immediate aftershocks of the companys cultural and industrial impact certainly reached our shores in a hurry, no interstate required. . 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. Another thing people do is make fake advertising clocks. Good old fashioned branding played a major role, as well. Hundreds of thousands of clocks were produced a year, until closing its doors in 1980. Stoddard: I was pretty much on my own until college. I am reading, studying, and learning more about the Westclox. Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben Identification Guide ClockHistory.com, Keeping Time in Peru Chicago Tribune, October 18, 1998, Remembering the Great War and The Clock That Caused a Near Riot WestcloxMuseum.com, For That Healthy Glow, Drink Radiation Popular Science, August 17, 2004, The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of Americas Shining Women, by Kate Moore, 2o17, The Forgotten Story Of The Radium Girls, Whose Deaths Saved Thousands Of Workers Lives, by Kate Moore, Buzzfeed.com, One-Day and Alarm Clocks Commercial America, Vol VI, 1909, A Rude Awakening: The History of Alarm Clocks ThroughoutHistory.com. She was 18. Your email address will not be published. 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.. [left to right: F.W. At the end of one hand is a star and the other hand is the moon. The Westclox Big Ben Alarm Clock Vintage is an iconic timepiece that has been around since the early 1900s. About 1931 they made the first electric Big Ben, and they were plug ins. I recently added the Big Ben Style 1 and Baby Ben Style 1 Dial and Back types. . The Ghost Girls might have been the envy of the other girls in town, but no one yet realized just how much danger they were being subjected to. 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.. Stoddard: My grandma gave me an old Baby Ben alarm clock that didnt work when I was seven. Westclox did make a couple of documented advertising clocks, but very few. The NAWCC has an online forum with a lot of different categories. Westclox Wrought Iron Look Wall Clock 12" 32021A. By Dave Margulius He also recalled playing in the factory. At one time they employed about 3500 people, making about 35, 000 clocks and watches per day. Next year, well have been married for 49 years, Mary Ann said. So I swapped them, and its worked perfectly ever since. My Grandmother had a Westclox in her house. It might be the only one in the country, Spayer said. Many folks might not realize that early vintage clock dials were painted with radioluminescent paint, which is a mixture of fluorescent salts (these produce the glow) and radium-226, which is a dangerous and highly radioactive element. A Westclox Museum has been opened within the original facility, showing off rare collections from the millions of timepieces once manufactured there. 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. I spent many an evening here, watching him bowl.. In terms of my own collection, Im still trying to find some of the really early Big Bens. Located at 41.3275 N, 89.1290 W on the map, the companys former plant is admittedly on the absolute fringes of what would typically be designated Chicagoland turf. Some years ago I intended to do a write-up on my collection and started researching on the internet and found the Westclox history site with a wealth of info. Here you can see production dates, original retail prices and other knowledge about vintage and antique Westclox clocks and watches. Jessie, good observation. I was told it was an antique at that time. They worked for the United States Radium Corporation painting the numbers and hands on watch. $26.95. Before we get to that, though, we have to start with the issue of geography as it concerns the business in question. When did they stop using radium on clocks? The thing I remember most is working with the people, Ristau said. The style 1a can be distinguished from style 1 in several ways: The movement was changed for style 1a so that the mounting nuts were on the back. Thank to several professionals who Ive met on Ebay, I have become quite skilled with my restorations plus making dials and alarm function indicators. In the 1970s, radium was phased out of wristwatches and clockdials. 7&a half X 6..desk clock. Debbie Blake, I have a small Westclox wind up clock dating around 1937. [citation needed] This rate probably only represents the dose rate from gamma emission, as the alpha emission will be stopped by the lacquer, or crystal, or case; hence, the dose rate following ingestion or inhalation of the dust could be much higher. Thanks for any info you may be able to supply Before OSHA was set up, 14,000 people died on the job every year; today, it is just over 4,500. Ironically, the war that had cost them Gaston Le Roy had also stifled much of the companys European competition, opening up an even bigger share of the world marketplace in the 1920s. Westclox set up a factory in England in the 1940s and also in Scotland. [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. [Left: The first national Big Ben advertisement appears in the Saturday Evening Post in 1910: Big Ben is a thin, beautiful and punctual sleepmeter with a silent motor that will not annoy you on your lie-awake nights and a deep musical voice that will call you on your sleepiest mornings. Right and Below: A style 1A Big Ben from our museum collection, circa 1920s.]. US radium dial painting factory. styles to organize them Handle on top: down alarm off; up alarm on. I have a Westclox Big Ben 1910 style 1a and have not been able to find out the present value/worth. They were told that eliminating lip-pointing had ended earlier problems.