You just can’t imagine the size of this factory it’s just gigantic. 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). 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. Their factory in LaSalle, Illinois closed down in about 1980 when they moved all their production down south, but the building is still there. Collectors Weekly: It sounds like you’ve learned a lot about Westclox… did you ever see their factory? I tend to be a nitty gritty detail kind of guy. I’m always interested in the history and the variations of clocks and how they fit in the scheme of things, what came before and what came after. It’s got a round brass dial and a painting in the door, really neat. There’s 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. They made them with wooden works until about 1840, then with brass gears and I like some of the early brass-geared American clocks. I also like some of the older American weight-driven clocks. I love the Hamiltons in particular, probably some of the best watches made in America. They are just gorgeous watches and very well made. Stoddard: Some of the old American pock et watches are just beautiful so I have several in my collection. Collectors Weekly: Aside from these Westclox Baby and Big Ben models, what else do you collect? Not to mention there’s the Big Bens so that doubles it right there. Now I know that there’s probably 14 basic shapes, but a lot more variations than that depending on how far you want to take things. I thought, oh boy, I just need four more and I’ll have them all! That summer at an antique store I came across one that wasn’t even in the book, and I thought that was exciting. That way I got myself another Baby Ben, bringing my collection to three by age 12.įor 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. 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. I think we threw it away.īig Ben: butler nickel case, gold leaf numeral dial 1930 – 1932Ī few years later my grandma gave me one that worked, and my aunt gave me another one. I took it all apart and asked my dad to help me put it back together, but he cut his finger on the spring. Stoddard: My grandma gave me an old Baby Ben alarm clock that didn’t work when I was seven. Collectors Weekly: And how did you get started with Baby Ben alarm clocks?

So I swapped them, and it’s worked perfectly ever since. I was looking at it and said, aha! there’s the problem, there were two gears that were in backwards. Once I was winding it and one of the main springs broke, so I decided to take it all apart and fix the main spring. So I brought it home and left it hanging and would wind it up every once in a while. I took it back and the repairman told me it was like a large Timex watch and just not worth being fixed. 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. I hung it on my wall and we tried to get it fixed but the repairman couldn’t fix it. That was the first antique clock I owned myself. Old Rose (pink) crackle finish Baby Ben with luminous dial: 1929 – 1930

Big ben alarm clock