Greetings -
I've been "clock crazy" since I was a kid, inspired by my grandfather who loved Packard automobiles, stamp collecting, and clocks... and not especially in that order. I just picked up a Seth Thomas - Talley this weekend and I'm waiting on a delivery of tools and oil to get started on that. More on that in another thread.
My grandfather's home was full of clocks and a fond memory was being with him on Saturday as he wound his collection. Best of all was the cacophony of sound on the hour when all the clocks struck. I was about 15 when he passed and my aunt's took all the expensive clocks back to Connecticut, but I was offered one, a Sessions Regulator.
The family story is that my grandfather, a well-to-do tinkerer, visited the neighborhood post office regularly to buy stamps for his collection and do other business. There he struck up a friendship with the Postmaster and offered to repair the PO's Sessions wall clock. This favor occurred several times over a decade or more. When the PO finally converted to an electric clock, the Sessions Regulator was offered to my grandfather as the only person the Postmaster knew who would want it, or keep it running. From there it hung in my grandparent's kitchen wall until the late-60's when the home was sold at their deaths.
I still have that clock, and I've been servicing it regularly since that time. I see a LOT of electric and quartz copies of this time-only Regulator, but I've never seen another original. At one time there must have been thousands, but this may be a sole survivor.
These days, I've slowly morphed into a retired mechanical engineer / gentleman tinkerer, the exact same as my grandfather !! The nut does not fall far from the tree. I'm looking forward to reading and writing more here. As was said, I have the Seth Thomas and an Astonia Cathedral waiting for service and several more.
Cheers !
I've been "clock crazy" since I was a kid, inspired by my grandfather who loved Packard automobiles, stamp collecting, and clocks... and not especially in that order. I just picked up a Seth Thomas - Talley this weekend and I'm waiting on a delivery of tools and oil to get started on that. More on that in another thread.
My grandfather's home was full of clocks and a fond memory was being with him on Saturday as he wound his collection. Best of all was the cacophony of sound on the hour when all the clocks struck. I was about 15 when he passed and my aunt's took all the expensive clocks back to Connecticut, but I was offered one, a Sessions Regulator.
The family story is that my grandfather, a well-to-do tinkerer, visited the neighborhood post office regularly to buy stamps for his collection and do other business. There he struck up a friendship with the Postmaster and offered to repair the PO's Sessions wall clock. This favor occurred several times over a decade or more. When the PO finally converted to an electric clock, the Sessions Regulator was offered to my grandfather as the only person the Postmaster knew who would want it, or keep it running. From there it hung in my grandparent's kitchen wall until the late-60's when the home was sold at their deaths.
I still have that clock, and I've been servicing it regularly since that time. I see a LOT of electric and quartz copies of this time-only Regulator, but I've never seen another original. At one time there must have been thousands, but this may be a sole survivor.
These days, I've slowly morphed into a retired mechanical engineer / gentleman tinkerer, the exact same as my grandfather !! The nut does not fall far from the tree. I'm looking forward to reading and writing more here. As was said, I have the Seth Thomas and an Astonia Cathedral waiting for service and several more.
Cheers !
