64 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



February, 1910 



A banjo clock 



An old banjo clock 



A Willard clock 



hang-up wooden clocks which hitherto had been the leading 

 type, were forced out of existence. The shape of the scroll 

 top case is rectangular, the case, with small feet and top, 

 standing about twenty-five inches high. On the front edges 

 of the case are pillars twenty-one inches long, three-quar- 

 ters of an inch in diameter at the base, and three-eighths at 

 the top, having, as a rule, square abaci and bases. The 

 dial, which takes up a half or more of the whole front, is 

 eleven inches square, while below is a tablet about seven 

 by eleven inches. The dial is not over-ornamental, and has 

 suitable spandrels in the corners. I'he scroll top is found 

 plain as well as highly carved, but always the idea of the 

 scroll is present. 



Terry sold the right to manufacture the clock to Seth 

 Thomas for a thousand dollars. At first they each made 

 about six thousand clocks a year, but later increased the 

 output to twelve thousand. The clocks were great favor- 

 ites, and sold easily for fifteen dollars each. 



Another conservatism of the Colonial clock-makers was 

 the sharp division which they made between the use of 

 wood and brass in the manufacture of the movements. The 

 one-day clocks were made of wood throughout, and this 

 prevented the use of them on water or even their exporta- 

 tion, because the works would swell in the dampness and 

 render the clock useless. The eight-day clocks were made 

 of brass, but the extra cost for movements sufficient to 

 make the clock run eight days excluded many people who 

 had to remain content with the one-day clock. It was not 

 till 1837 that it occurred to any of these ingenious makers 

 of timepieces to produce a one-day clock out of brass. To 

 Chauncey Jerome, the first exporter of clocks to England, 

 in the year 1824, the honor was reserved to apply the prin- 

 ciple of the cheap wire pinion to the brass one-day clock. 

 Thus began the revolutionization of American clock manu- 

 facturing, which has placed this country before all the world 

 as a leader in cheap and accurate watch and clock-making. 



One of a collection of fifty 



A delightful type The old grandfather's clock 



Banjo clock 



Banjo clock with ship picture 



