By Brooks Palmer — Daniel Pratt, Jr., clockmaker, banker, town clerk, legislator, was in present parlance a "solid citizen" of the town of Reading, Massachusetts, in the middle 1800s. Reading is a pleasant suburb twelve miles north of Boston. For that part of the State, Pratt must have been a prolific producer, if the number of his clocks still in existence are any indication. These clocks are still running, or capable of running for many more years. Pratt's other achievements are rather fully...

Forestville Connecticut Clocks

By Brooks Palmer — The name and label of the Forestville Manufacturing Company marks some fine and intelligently made Connecticut shelf clocks. This company was a prolific source of clock making from the 1830s to the 1850s. A large number of its clocks, still running well, are today in the hands of discriminating collectors. The year 1855 being about the last date the name was used, many Forestville clocks are now over 100 years old. Almost all the printed data about Forestville clocks having proved at...

The Care and Repair of 19th-Century American Clocks

By Maribeth Keane and Jessica Lewis — I was working as a jewelry department manager for a department store, and I had a customer who brought a clock in for repair. I was able to fix her clock very quickly and easily, and I didn’t charge her anything. It turned out she had a huge collection, and she asked me to see the rest of them. She had these amazing 18th-century bracket clocks and 18th-century tall-case clocks. She had a gorgeous skeleton clock and even an Atmos clock. So that planted the seed, but it was many years later...

The Timeless Appeal of the Westclock Big and Baby Bens

By Dave Margulius — How did I get interested in clocks? Something about them has always been ingrained in me. My mom’s father had a small collection of antique clocks and when I was a little boy he showed me how to wind them and regulate them. When I was eight we moved to a new house and my mom and I were looking in the attic and found an old octagon wall clock made by Waterbury, probably dated about 1880. That was the first antique clock I owned myself. I hung it on my wall and we tried to get it fixed...