Posted 4 years ago
Mason2801
(1 item)
Can anyone date this clock. I can not find any labels on it. It works perfectly. I picked it up at a yard sale for $60. I'm not interested in selling it I am just trying to date it. Any help would be much appreciated.
Hi, Mason2801. :-)
Beautiful.
FYI, the Collectors Weekly Show & Tell software doesn't play nicely with all photograph sources, particularly some smart phones and tablets.
I did a bit of investigation on the pictures in another post that were all sideways, and noticed that the dimensions in pixels were all 2880 x 2160, which gives the picture an aspect ratio of 1:33:
https://toolstud.io/photo/megapixel.php?compare=video&calculate=uncompressed&width=2880&height=2160
That's what yours currently is.
To orient your photo properly, you could try editing a copy, trimming off the unneeded margin underneath the clock, then editing your post to replace the current copy with the edited one.
As to your clock:
The text on the dial face of your clock reads, "THE NEW HAVEN CLOCK CO USA."
About that company:
*snip*
Incorporated February 7, 1853, the New Haven Clock Company was formed by clockmaker Hiram Camp and others to supply clock movements to the Jerome Manufacturing Company, then the largest clockmaking operation in the world. Three years later, the Jerome firm went bankrupt and in April of 1856 the New Haven Clock Company raised an additional $20,000 and purchased the Jerome operation.
*snip*
In March of 1946, the firm resumed clock and watch manufacture and was reorganized as the New Haven Clock and Watch Company. That year it fell into the control of foreign inventors involved with Swiss watchmaking interests. Whitehead resigned as president and thereafter the firm deteriorated steadily. In 1956, it was reorganized under Chapter X of the bankruptcy act and in 1960 the operation ceased and the clock manufacturing facilities were sold on March 22-24, 1960 at public auction and by private negotiation.
*snip*
https://www.clockguy.com/SiteRelated/SiteReferencePages/NewHavenClockCoHistory.html
Somebody else here at CW S&T posted a similar New Haven clock:
*snip*
It runs, strikes (albeit not regularly) and seems to have fair age (Patent of Feb. 11, 1879).
The paper says this is a striking 8-day Dandy Line; the clock even appears to feature some dandelion-like plants on the glass. LOL.
*snip*
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/200145-new-haven-dandy-line
The patent seems to be for the clock face, which is a bit different from yours:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US212220A/en
You might try inspecting the back of the clockworks on yours for any more information.
Thank you. I did edit the photo. Thank you for letting me know. It was driving me crazy.
Woo hoo!
Yeah, it kind of drives everybody crazy, especially because a lot of CW S&T regulars are people of a certain age with arthritic necks. };-)
I just checked and the pixel dimensions are now 1407 x 2160, which has an aspect ratio of width / height: 0.65
https://toolstud.io/photo/megapixel.php?compare=video&calculate=uncompressed&width=1407&height=2160
So, that did the trick. :-)
As to your clock, I'd still look at the back of the clock works to see if there are any more clues.
Hello Mason2801,
Welcome to Collectors Weekly, Clocks!
You've already received some excellent help/advice from keramikos.
You had asked for a date. While I didn't find any exact matches to your model in my reference materials, comparable models were manufactured circa 1885, give or take 5 years.
Most of New Haven comparable models in this era were constructed of Walnut or Black Walnut wood, and they sold for an average of around $6.00. Adjusted for inflation that would be roughly about $165 in 2021.
These types of wood cased mantel clocks (aka Kitchen Clocks, aka Gingerbread Clocks) were a good value and extremely popular across all of the major American Clock Manufacturers of the time. It was a very competitive market and each manufacturer had dozens of models like yours to choose from. Different styles, themes, case materials and movement options.
The glass tablets were almost always elaborately decorated with intricate stenciled designs. I did not see your exact design in my references for New Haven and it doesn't quite properly frame the bottom of the dial. For this reason I believe that your clock's glass may have been replaced at some point in time but I'm not sure.
I think you did well for $60. If you intend to operate the clock, you should have the movement inspected and at the very least, lubricated before you run it. Keep in mind that much more may be needed and that proper servicing of these movements is not cheap. If it needs service, you will without a doubt pay more than $60 to have the clock brought back into good running order. You may have gotten lucky though. It may already be in good, reliable, safe running order. The mainsprings are pretty powerful, so have it looked at if you plan on winding and running it.
Thanks for sharing your antique New Haven.
Regards,
Bruce