Wabash Electric Time

[ccpjim]

So, In my searches on-line here, I do not see any postings for a small Electric clock with a green marble octagon case. It has across the dial "Electric Time" and on the back it is marked "Wabash Electric Time" made or distributed by Wabash Distributing Co. out of Chicago, IL I believe.
Any information would be greatly appreciated. Jim

 

[eskmill]

"Wabash Electric Time" is another one of Chicago's many labeled "Electric Time" clocks I've not run across since participating in the Message Board for over a dozen or more years. Your photos suggest that the clock has been re-cased during it's life.

I would hazard a guess, that if you remove the movement it will likely be one of Max Knobel's simple spin-to-start design; one often seen in Chicago made clocks but rarely with the actual manufacturer's name or patent data. Knobel was a physics professor and inventor, not a manufacturer.

 

[Movementman]

I have seen these online at a website quite a while ago. they were branded "Cadillac" and they were forced to change the name when GM started to use the Cadillac name on cars. Hope this helps.

 

[eskmill]

I don't think the Wabash Electric Time was a "re-brand" of the "Cadillac" AC electric clock but instead, just another one of the many clocks made in the Chicago area during the early 1930's when inexpensive AC electric clocks were available.

The Cadillac automobile first appeared around 1904, fully thirty years before AC electric clocks were made.

A good question is, "why the proliferation" of so many AC electric clocks were made in the Chicago area when so few were made in the New England area, a well established clock making area.

In my view, it took five or ten years before the AC electric clocks were heavily produced in the New England area Why were the traditional manufacturers so slow in "tooling-up" to make AC clocks? Was it about money? Was venture capital more available in the Midwest than in New England during the "Great Depression?"

 

[Movementman]

Okay, I see. I read the forum wrong. It was a very similar logo to the Cadillac car logo. GM might have filed a lawsuit, but not likely that they did. This clock was also marketed by Vidrio Products Corporation of Chicago, but made by Wabash. It most likely is one with a movement designed by Max Knobel. Most of the clocks from the Chicago area in this time period were the same clocks with many names on them, I think it could have been a company that made them all, Kodel. I have seen Royal, Washington, Lincoln, Atlas, Havlin, and many other cathedral clocks that are the same thing. I think that the reasons why the traditional clock manufacturers were so slow to make electric clocks was because the needed to spent time an money on perfecting a working movement, but that is just a guess.

The Wabash company could have been a part of Kodel. I have seen a few of Max Knobel's clock movements with the name Kodel. I am just taking a guess, but Kodel could have been the manufacturer of these cheaper electric clocks, that might be why so many were made in the Chicago area.

 

[Thorostub]

This post is quite old, but I'll see if anyone is still watching it! I have the same clock, but mine has the original base that it came with! I think it's very cool! I was doing a random search to see if I could find another like it and came upon this, so I registered and wanted to show mine and get whomever's opinion/value about it! This one is missing the electric cord/plug so don't know if it works or not! Wabash Electric Time, The Wabash Distributing Co., Chicago, Ill. I have quite a few old clock like this and am just starting to pull a lot of them out of storage boxes and thinking about selling most of them! It's going to be a long process as I have a thousand boxes to go through! It's amazing the stuff we collect and keep for decades!