...Just Visiting...: July 2013

I have previously mentioned in this blog of my interest in antiques, especially functional ones. I love that fact that items such as old cars, telephones, toys, tube radios etc. can not only be admired, but can be made to work as they did when the were new. Recently this interest has lead me to another area of household antiques, that being electric clocks.

Circa 1937 Telechron Electric Clock - "The Pharaoh", Model 4F61

Over the past few months, I began purchasing some antique clocks and doing some research on how to restore them. Through this research, I happened to stumble across a wonderful book called "Electrifying Time" by Jim Linz. Much of the information below appeared in one form or another in this great book, documenting Telechron and General Electric and the history of the electric clock.

Electric clocks had their heyday in the 1930's, 40's and 50's, replacing the spring and pendulum clocks as the primary time keeping mechanism for the general public. Later in the 1960's these electric clocks were then displaced by a cheaper and quieter battery operated quartz clock technology. Henry Warren and his company "Warren Telechron" (and General Electric) were THE leading manufacturers of electric clocks during this era. Millions and millions were produced. You or your parents probably owned one. If you have ever seen a clock radio from the 1940's or 50's then you have seen a Telechron clock. All clock radios of that era used Telechron clocks. I remember as as a kid having a noisy electric clock in our living room. Nowadays, electric clocks have gone way of the rotary phone and Tang !

Henry Warren, Inventor

If Warren were ONLY the president of a major clock company that existed over 60 years ago he really wouldn't be all that interesting. However, Warren contribution to OUR day to day life was much bigger than this, and is still relevant even though no one knows who he is or what a Telechron clock was. For Warren's real contribution to modern society was that his invention made it possible for the linking and sharing of electric power between electrical generation stations, and help set up the modern electric "grid" that we know today.

All of this started because Henry Warren was an inventor. He had a passion for time, and wanted to invent a reliable battery operated clock. Around 100 years ago, in the 1910's Henry Warren founded the Warren Clock Company, which later became the Warren Telechron company. Then around the year 1912 Warren came up with a design and was granted a patent for a battery operated electric clock. Although the clock worked well it was a commercial failure. This is because of the size and reliability of battery technology at the time. Batteries in those days were bulky and heavy (see below) and would only hold a charge for several hours. Warren was correct about battery operated clocks, but he lived in the wrong era. His clocks were a failure because they were too far ahead of their time. Effective battery operated clocks would have to wait until the 1960's to be practical. Ironically, battery operated clocks replaced the electric clocks that he and his company became so famous for.

Far Left, Example of a battery from the 1920's. Far right, a modern 9V battery.

With battery powered clocks found impractical, Warren next turned his attention to electricity to power his clocks. He designed and built an accurate clock motor that would run on the standard current of that time (and our time) 60 Hz Alternating Current (AC). AC electricity consists current in waves with peaks and valleys (up down up down). 60 Hz means that there are 60 peaks and valley's that occur in 1 second. Warrens electric clock motor relied on the fact that the current begin generated was synchronized EXACTLY at 60 Hz.

Diagram of Alternating Current. Peak to Peak is 1 cycle. Normal Household current is 60 cycles per second (Hz)

Warren built a number of clocks but found that at times the clocks either ran too fast (gained time) or too slow (lost time). After a number of experiments he discovered that it was not his clocks or clock motors at fault it was the quality of the electricity that was being produced by power company.

Warren then went to work to try to not only convince the power companies that there was something wrong with the way they were generating electricity, but also to invent another machine to help solve the problem. The machine he invented was a type of "regulator", a mechanism which could be used at a power generation plant to control the speed of the generators (increase or decrease their speed) in order to produce a steady 60 Hz AC current.

His invention was called a "master clock" regulator and worked as follows. There were two clocks in the device. The first was a very accurate pendulum clock which would keep the "master time" The second clock was one of Warrens Electric clocks synchronize to keep accurate time at a 60 Hz frequency. His electric clock would be connected to the current being produced by the power plant. If the electric clock lost time compared to the master clock, the generators were running too slow and needed to be sped up. If the electric clock was gaining time the generators were running too fast and needed to be slowed down. Warren's Master Clock allowed the speed of the generators to be regulated to produce a current with a steady output of exactly 60 Hz.

Warren "Master Clock" to regulate frequency of generated electric current

Warren convinced the Boston Electric Company to install his "master clock" regulator at their power plant in 1916 and the tests were successful. Soon other power companies followed and purchased his regulator. The regulation of the production of power was a very big thing. Up until that point it was impractical (and very expensive) to share power between two generating plants because of the difference in frequency of the power being produced. Having all the power generation on a single universal frequency (60 Hz AC) allowed the sharing of power and help set up the electrical grid that we now know today in this country and the North American continent.

Multiple sources of electric generation on the same electrical grid.

The second but equally important benefit of universal power generation cannot be understated. For the first time, electrical appliances made for one region of the country could be used in another region of the country. Think about this for a second. You purchase a radio (or toaster) in New York, you travel to Philadelphia less than 100 miles away, and your radio does not work because the current is different. This was a tremendous deal. It allowed for the electrification of the nation, because now electric appliances could work anywhere in the country.

A toaster purchased in New York might not work in Philadelphia

The General Electric Company (you might have heard of them) took notice of Warren's "master clock" and it's effect on the power generation of the nation and purchased a 49% interest in the Warren (Telechron) Clock Company. For the next 40 years both Telechron and General Electric dominated the electric clock market.

With a uniform power grid now in place, electric clocks became practical. The production of electric clocks went from 87 thousand in 1927 to 4.3 million in 1937. Corresponding the sale of wind up clocks went down from 2.4 to 1.5 million in the same time period.

Advertisement for Telechron Clocks

Telechron Christmas 1937 Ad

Telechron "Quacker" 1937 - Novelty Clock. Not part of my collection, but I wish I had one.

From the 1920's into the 1950's all General Electric and Telechron Clocks were made in the Telechron factories in Ashland Massetusetts. We will cover more of this history of General Electric and Telechron clocks in a later post. Below are some examples from my own personal collection of GE and Telechron clocks from the 1920's through late 1940's in both restored and un-restored condition.