Clock Porn! (Waltham 5-tube from Algonquin Club of Boston)

[michaelbarth]

Yesterday, and for $300 no less, I acquired the Waltham 5-tube grandfather clock from an estate sale. This clock was liquidated from the Algonquin Club of Boston, one of the old racist and sexist clubs down on Comm Ave near the common. The seller had no idea what he had, and accepted my low offer.

Serial number is 8690. The stamp next to it says Waltham Clock Co, USA. I think there's a stamp on the back of the wood case that says 1107. The tubes are large diameter with black rubber or plastic inserts on each end, and are also marked Waltham. The Waltham movement's thick plates and large winding arbors make Herschede look like a child's toy. Does anyone know what this dates to?

Thanks and enjoy the day!
Mike
Marlborough, MA

 

[Burkhard Rasch]

What a great clock , whish it were mine
Congrats!
Burkhard

 

[J. A. Olson]

Waltham produced an assortment of tubular bell chime hall clocks and movements throughout the 1910's and 1920's. The one I remember seeing many years ago was a substantially built piece, it hadn't been serviced in ages but it kept perfect time and was in very good cosmetic condition. Randy Thatcher claimed in his old Herschede seminar that Herschede made Waltham's hall clock cases.

The time period between 1892 to 1929 marked the golden age of American chime clock manufacturing. Several clock companies and retailers associated with the best quality imaginable spearheaded the scene. Durfee, Jacques, Herschede, Waltham, Tobey, Horner, Colonial... Sadly the stock market crash of 1929 decimated this momentum and the few companies that survived had to tighten their belts to keep going. Cutting costs became a higher priority than unabridged workmanship... There are good books about Herschede and Durfee but there is still much to discover and publish about other manufacturers of the period.

So have a nice Waltham advertisement from over 100 years ago. Christmastime was always a golden season for clock manufacturers.
Lincoln Cathedral is featured in the portrait, but Waltham's customary six bells chime was named 'Oxford'.

 

[gvasale]

Nice catch!

 

[Robert Gift]

View attachment 739115
Really Lincoln Cathedral? Looks too grandiose.
1920's watch or clock range from $250 to 1,500 or more?? What would that be today?

 

[Jeff Salmon]

Actually, I looked into this very question several years ago. There are several sites where one can enter the cost of an item in any given year and come up with a present value. It's really interesting. There is also a site that one can use different currencies.

Here is one for the US Dollar:

Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2022 (usinflationcalculator.com)

Here is another site with far more complexity in terms of time and currency:

Historical Currency Converter (historicalstatistics.org)

It's interesting to look at a copy of an old catalog or ad from long ago, or even a reference in a book with the price and wonder how much that would be in current money.

 

[rmarkowitz1_cee4a1]

Yesterday, and for $300 no less, I acquired the Waltham 5-tube grandfather clock from an estate sale. This clock was liquidated from the Algonquin Club of Boston, one of the old racist and sexist clubs down on Comm Ave near the common. The seller had no idea what he had, and accepted my low offer.

Serial number is 8690. The stamp next to it says Waltham Clock Co, USA. I think there's a stamp on the back of the wood case that says 1107. The tubes are large diameter with black rubber or plastic inserts on each end, and are also marked Waltham. The Waltham movement's thick plates and large winding arbors make Herschede look like a child's toy. Does anyone know what this dates to?

Thanks and enjoy the day!
Mike
Marlborough, MA

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Do you have a picture of the whole clock?

There's more to a clock than just tight close ups of the movement and chimes.

Here's a Globe article about the club:

A stalwart of old Boston society is reinvented for modern sensibilities - The Boston Globe

Apparently, the club's interior has undergone a total renovation and redesign by its new owners. It was probably decided that the Waltham didn't fit with the new image, a stated desire for a more diverse membership, and new name, the 'Quin House".

Here's their website:

About – The 'Quin House (thequinhouse.com)

What interests me is the great purpose-built clubhouse, as it were. Designed by McKim, Meade and White. An architectural gem.

RM

 

[JTD]

Really Lincoln Cathedral?

Yes.

JTD

 

[Andy Dervan]

Timeline for Waltham Clock Co. manufacturing chiming hall clocks is incorrect.

Waltham Clock Co. began manufacturing them in 1898 using Durfee tubes under license and continued well into 1930s even with the depression. I talked with Waltham employee who worked in clock department in 1930s and he had some great stories, but they were still manufacturing these clocks.

Highest grade movements were 9 tube, 7 tube, 5 tube, and also time and strike in traditional tall clock cases.

See my NAWCC Bulletin article on Waltham Clock Co.

Andy Dervan

 

[J. A. Olson]

Do you have a link or article number for your bulletin? It would be interesting for us all to read it.
Never seen a depression-era Waltham hall clock, only their older products.

 

[J. A. Olson]

Found the article in the April 2005 NAWCC bulletin. A good read and lots of nice Waltham clock photos. These bulletins are a great source of information that is not to be found anywhere else online. If one is not a NAWCC member, I would recommend joining.

 

[zedric]

Really Lincoln Cathedral? Looks too grandiose.

Yes.

JTD

Presumably drawn from the same angle as this photo was taken

Lincoln Cathedral - Discover Britain

Anyone who has been anywhere near the charming city of Lincoln will have noticed its cathedral which towers against the skyline, perched

www.discoverbritainmag.com