Just hit me as really strange; a clock that uses an electric motor run with 2 - 1-1/2 volt dry cells to WIND it's main spring! Just weird I think! And it has a really heavy lead-weight pendulum too, and ticks away just like any wind-up clock.
Oh well; $75, and after fresh batteries, it WORKS! :)
(http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=20051.0;attach=183452;image)
(http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=20051.0;attach=183454;image)
(http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=20051.0;attach=183456;image)
WU rented these to radio stations,railroads etc.Heavy duty movement. Service gone by 70s
That is a cool clock. :)
Its the best of both worlds. The simplicity of a spring powered clock coupled with the modern marvel of electricity ;D
I have a mid 60s Simplex (all electric) clock that quietly growls away on the wall. Amazing how well some of the older clocks keep perfect time.
Does this clock operate like car clocks did back in the good old (bad old) days? A solenoid, or whatever you call it, makes the spring pop back when it makes contact? Probably a lot more dependably than a car clock, though I knew of one electric clock in a 1966 Impala that ran accurately for about 12 years. The electric clock in my '69 Oldsmobile and then the one in the '78 Pontiac that replaced it never ran well, and I opened them up and tried to keep them going, but I guess I was a kid who didn't know what to do. I was glad when cars went to digital clocks, though I did like to hear the tick-tock-klunk of those old analog electric clocks.
You did well in getting that clock at that price. They started letting them go a few years ago and they have gone up as they have been sold off.
http://www.surplussales.com/Equipment/clock.html
Didn't the clocks marked Naval Observatory Time receive a signal from Western Union that somehow kept the clock on the correct time. If I remember correctly the signal was sent at a certain time then the clock that reset.
Maybe it was a single trigger to both wind and sync the clock?
From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_Winding_Clock_Company
The Self Winding Clock Company and the Western Union Time Service
The relationship between the two separate companies began with an agreement between Self Winding Clock Company and Western Union (WU) being entered into in June 1889. This agreement was for the transmission of time signals over Western Union telegraph lines to synchronize clocks made by Self Winding Clock Company. SWCC owned the clocks and WU installed and maintained them for a monthly fee, ranging from $1.25 to $2.00 per clock per month. SWCC was paid a percentage of the rental fee for providing clocks for the WU customers. If the clock movements required major repairs, they were sent to a SWCC repair facility and a replacement movement was installed by WU at the customer location. The partnership between SWCC and WU ended in 1963 when, as part of a lawsuit settlement, WU purchased all the rental clocks from SWCC. By the late 1960s, the time-service business had run its course and ceased to be profitable. Most of the clocks were simply abandoned. These clocks are sought after by many clock collectors.
Bet that was a boon for the railroads with their critical need for time uniformity across the country.