History:
By the first part of the fifteenth century, small domestic clocks started to appear. They were probably made by the local gunsmiths or locksmiths. After 1630, a weight-driven lantern clock became popular for the home use of the very wealthy. When the swinging pendulum was added in 1656, clocks became more accurate. Very early clock movements were mounted high above the floor because they required long pendulums and large cast-iron descending weights. In reality, they were nothing more than simple mechanical works with a face and hands. They were referred to as “wags-on-the-wall” The long-case, or grandfather clock actually evolved from these early wags-on-the-wall prototypes. Wooden cases were used only to hide the unsightly weights and cast-iron pendulum.
Clock Types:
In addition to the self explanatory clock applications (wall,shelf,mantle, tall case) there are various styles of clocks that many different manufacturers made. The following examples are some of the more common types.
Advertising, Banjo, Beehive, Black mantle, Calendar, China , Crystal Regulator, Cuckoo, Grandfather, Kitchen, Mission, Ogee, School house
Additionally, there are many different attributes to clocks. Time only, time & strike, time & calendar, time & alarm, 30 hr(wind daily) 8 day(wind every week) , spring driven, weight driven, wooden works etc.
Manufacturers:
This is just on sample of the many clock manufacturers. From time to time, you will find the following manufacturers represented in our inventory. Ansonia, Atkins, Birge & Peck, Birge & Mallory, Brewster, Davies, Forestville Mfg, Co., Gilbert, Hotckiss, Howard, Ingraham, Ithaca Calendar Clock Co., Ives, Jerome, Junghans, JC Brown, Kroeber, Lux, Miller, New Haven, Seth Thomas, Terry, Waterbury, EN Welch, Welch Spring & Co. & Willard
In many instances a “circa” date is given, meaning the approximate date the clock was made.
For more information on clocks visitwww.nawcc.org The National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors