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My son’s chime alarm needed some adjustments, and while the clock was opened up, I thought I’d try some quick close up photos with my digital camera. The camera was mounted on a tripod, manual focusing mode was used, no flash, illuminated by the ceiling and bench fluorescent lights. The self timer was used, to avoid any camera shake caused by pushing the button.

The movement is dated 11 50 (November 1950). It is beautifully nickel plated, as were many Westclox movements. This is the full image, resized from 3072 by 2304 pixels to 500 by 375 pixels for web display. It was sharpened with the Photoshop unsharp mask filter and displayed here at 40% JPEG quality:

500 by 500 pixel portion of the image, converted to 40% JPEG quality in Photoshop:

Same as above with unsharp mask filter:

500 by 400 pixel portion of the image showing balance and spring, pallet fork and escape wheel:
Note: for better pictures a setup with floodlights and reflectors can be used. These photos show how good the photos can be using a very quick setup.

Related posts:

1. Historical Pricing of Windup Big Ben and Baby Ben Alarm Clocks
2. A Walk Around the Old Westclox Factory, Peru, Illinois

On Sunday, August 26, my wife Kimberly and I stopped at the old Westclox factory at Peru, Illinois on our way back from my nephew’s wedding in Wisconsin.

The old factory is a huge place, 665,000 square feet on 16 acres of land. Across the street is the 57,000 square foot administration or office building. Westclox ceased operations in Peru in 1980, and the factory complex and office building were offered at auction (with no takers) on May 27, 1981. A number of companies currently occupy various parts of the building, the largest perhaps being Bakery Machinery & Fabrication Company, which has the back lower part of the complex. This part is 5 stories tall and located down the hill from the main part of the building. It still has has the name “Western Clock Co.” in the gable at each end.

The signs of several other companies are shown in the slide show below. Heritage Realty is developing part of the building and also is planning for a Westclox museum.

The pictures in the slide show below start on the east end of the factory and move across to the west end. The administration building across the street is also illustrated. The last picture is an aerial view from Google Earth. I hope to get back to the area soon for a longer visit and to see our friends the Biolchinis and Whitakers.

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Below are shown some original retail prices of Westclox Big Ben and Baby Ben alarm clocks. Shown in parenthesis are the equivalent prices in 2007 dollars, using the Federal Reserve Bank of Minnesota online calculator.

1930 Montgomery Ward and Co. Catalog:

• Big Ben and Baby Ben leg model plain: $3.25 ($39.99)
• Big Ben and Baby Ben leg model luminous: $4.50 ($55.37)
• Big Ben and Baby Ben base model (style 2) with gold non-luminous dial: $3.75 ($46.15)
• Big Ben and Baby Ben base model (style 2) luminous gold dial: $5.00 ($61.53)

1939 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Catalog:

• Big Ben Loud Alarm, plain: $2.75 ($40.66)
• Big Ben Loud Alarm, luminous: $3.75 ($55.44)
• Baby Ben, plain: $2.95 ($43.61)
• Baby Ben, luminous: $3.95 ($58.40)
• Big Ben Chime Alarm, plain: $3.50 ($51.74)
• Big Ben Chime Alarm, luminous: $4.50 ($66.53)

1957 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Catalog:

• Big Ben and Baby Ben, plain: $7.65 ($55.95)
• Big Ben and Baby Ben, Luminous: $8.75 ($63.99)

No related posts.