My favorite electric clocks.

[McHeath]

Yer gettin' purty fancy wit' yer duck raisin' there Matt.

We have some weird clock that keeps time by the power grid, I think.  You plug it in and it sets itself, and as long as there is power it is accurate.  But it does not mention anyplace that it uses radio waves to set itself, not billed as an Atomic Clock, simply that you plug it in to get the time signal.  Bought it at Wal-Mart a few years ago.

[HobieSport]

Yeppers, Heath, I got some pretty high falutin' duckage goin' on here at the farm.

I had a clock just like the one you mentioned, a few years back. Nifty little gadget. It had to be on the window sill facing East to catch the signal from my neck of the woods. It worked fine, but sunlight and condensation killed it pretty fast. So maybe think of the radio-signal clock as a "cell phone" so to speak, and the Teleochron clocks as the classic hard wired old phones that we all know and love.

I "won" my first Telecron clock just a few hours ago; a standard model 8H55 "Selector" as previously stated. It was less than 25 bucks with shipping, as they are cheap and very plentiful on Ebay. Now I'm having fun evil thoughts of all the things I can plug into it to go on and off. But the duck-light thing might not work, as it's a 12 hour clock, not 24 hours. We'll see when I get it into my hot little hands...

I still haven't been quite able to date this model of Telechron. I've read everywhere from 1937 to the late 40s. They are brown bakelite and I love all those 48 little pull-push timer switches around the dial face. On the back is an outlet where you plug in your favorite appliance (1650 watts max) to run off the timer, in 15 minute increments.

[Dan/Panther]

Matt;
I do recall it was the basic shape as yours, but the clock itself was pinned top and bottom, and could swivel back and forth. All chrome with clear plastic.
D/P

[HobieSport]

Dan/P;

Wellsir, since I am a complete newbie with clocks, it of course doesn't ring a bell (er...sound an alarm?) in my meager mind, but perhaps Bingster or someone else here might have an idea?

One of the things that fascinates me with the clocks is that even within one company, like Telechron (or maybe especially Telechron?) is that there are hundreds of designs and variations.

For anyone at all interested, I do highly recommend "Pappy's" excellent site, at

http://www.telechrontime.net/main.shtml

Not only is it extremely comprehensive, but it's just plain fun and entertaining to browse through, look at clocks, and read Pappy's wit and modest yet very real wisdom and experience. Even if one may not be that interested in Telechrons or clocks in general.

-matt/hobie

[bingster]

Dan's clock doesn't ring a bell right now, but I'll give it some thought.

Matt, the Telechron site is an old favorite of mine.  I used to be an active member of the old forum there, and I'm a member of the new one, even though I haven't posted much.  The model pages do show a bewildering array of clocks, don't they?  I'll find some of my favorite Telechrons and post them shortly.  Welcome to the Telechron fold! 

[HobieSport]

Thanks Bingster;

Yep, I'd truly love to see some pictures/descriptions of some of your various Telechrons posted here sometime, or over on Pappy's Telechron forum, or preferably both. I just joined Pappy's forum two days ago and have so far enjoyed a welcome and a bit of (I hope) decent conversation. I did notice that you actually haven't posted on the new forum there at all yet. I don't know anything about the history of the Telechron forum(s) as it's all completely new to me. Pappy seems like a great good person, and I love his way of thinking and writing, and his Telechron website is just plain incredibly well done.

-matt

[HobieSport]

I just have to show these clocks.

The "Modernique" by Telechron. circa 1928. I venture to call them Art Deco.

[bingster]

If they're not Art Deco, then nothing ever was.  That's probably my all-time favorite Telechron.  I'd have to take out a bank loan to get one, though.  It was designed by Paul Frankl, one of the primo Art Deco designers.  The "Skyscraper" (which is often credited to Frankl, but he actually had nothing to do with it) is another beaut.  It came in ivory Plaskon with silver metal trim and brown bakelite with gold metal trim.

[HobieSport]

I love the Telechron "Skyscraper" as well. It's "Electrolarming".
Though not of Frankl design, it still oozes deco.

[foots]

I was having a discussion recently about my love of old stuff. One thing that I love is that almost everything made was not only made to work well but also made to look good. These clocks are perfect examples of what I was talking about.

[HobieSport]

One thing that I love is that almost everything made was not only made to work well but also made to look good.

I don't know why we ever stopped doing just that. Was it when industrial design became geared to a "throw away economy" and "planned obsolescence"? Nowadays most consumer items seem to just look good in the commercials.

[HobieSport]

Here's a link to see many good things deco, clocks included:

http://www.modernism.com/prod_gen.cfm?load=1016

[McHeath]

Good question Hobie about when we changed from things built well and to last and built to throw away.  Seems to have happened gradually in the last 40 years, though we see it even on Western Electric phones in the 40's.  Take the feet on a 302, bolted on, and on a 500, riveted on.  The rivets are cheaper, and not easily fixable, so already we are cheapening the product.  Indeed the 500 is a good example of how this progression happened, over the years most of the changes were to lower the cost of production, until the final cheapening which was shipping all of WE's production of them to China in the late 80's.

[bingster]

Here's a link to see many good things deco, clocks included:

http://www.modernism.com/prod_gen.cfm?load=1016

Ahhhh, I had forgotten about the jadeite Skyscraper.  What a sweet clock. 

And a great link, too!  Geez, they've got some gorgeous stuff.  I'd hate to think what some of it goes for.  They don't list prices, and as the old saying goes: "If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it."

[HobieSport]

Yep, the stuff at modernism.com is of course way out of my league to say the least. Fun to look at though.

Bingster, I've been wishing to see some pics of your Telechrons, but it's probably a lot to ask. Would you mind sharing just some model numbers/names of some  of your favorite Telechrons, whether in your collection or not?

We have a thread started at Pappy's forum about the various Telechron designs and designers, if you're interested:

http://telechrontime.net/smf/index.php?topic=349.0