01-C-0591

CLOCK STYLE	Tambour
CLOCK NAME	Cymbal #5 Westminster Chime Clock
MANUFACTURE	Seth Thomas Clock Co., Thomaston, Conn. Seth Thomas (1785-1859)
CASE MODEL #	74
MOVEMENT TYPE	Brass, spring driven, (T&S, chime), Westminster Chime, 8-day. Movement stamped 124.
CASE SIZE & CONSTRUCTION	Base = 20", Height = 9 ¼", Depth = 5 ½" Mahogany veneered case. False inlay decorative pattern below dial.
LABEL INFORMATION	Original label in excellent condition, located on inside of movement door on back of case. 119 West 44th Street, New York City 111 No. Canal Street, Chicago 178 Post Street, San Francisco
DIAL INFORMATION	5 ½" silvered dial with raised black Arabic numerals.
MISC. FEATURES	Westminster chimes on ¼, ½, ¾, and 1 hour
ACQUIRED FROM	"Antiques on the Square", Schafferstown, PA
CONDITION WHEN ACQUIRED	Original condition, not running. Mahogany veneer case in very good condition.
RESTORATION	July 1991 - Time and strike springs replaced by Mr. Kury, Lebanon, PA. in July 1991
HISTORICAL DATA The Seth Thomas's Case Factory c.1885 in Thomaston, Conn.	Clock listed for $85.00 in 1922 Seth Thomas catalog. Pretty expensive for those days. Seth Thomas (1785-1859) apprenticed to Eli Terry. He along with Silas Hoadley worked for Terry from around 1807-1810 making wood tall case movements. This was the point in history were the mass production of clock movements started. Terry contracted with the Porter's to make 4,000 wooden tall case movements in three years, a feat which had never been accomplished before. Terry had introduced a method of using interchangeable parts to make these movements, an idea he had supposedly gotten from Eli Whitney. After the contract was fulfilled, he sold the business to Thomas and Hoadley who continued manufacturing the wood tall case movements. Thomas eventually bought out Hoadley's interest in the business, and began producing shelf clocks with Eli Terry's patented wood 30 hour shelf clock movement. Seth Thomas had an elaborate career making wood and brass movement shelf clocks, and his company became the most well known name in the clock business. He was not considered to be inventive or much of a risk taker, but he was certainly a sound businessman. In 1853 his company became the Seth Thomas Clock Co., and operated under this name until 1931 when it became a division of General Time Instrument Co. (Seth Thomas's Great Grandson was chairman of the board until he died in 1932). In 1949, The company became a division of General Time Corp. In 1970, became a division of Tally Industries, who still produces clocks with the Seth Thomas Trademark. The town of Plymouth Hollow, Conn. changed it's name to Thomaston in 1866 to honor the clock maker.
REFERENCES	1. "Seth Thomas Clocks and Movements - A Guide to Identification and Prices". Tran Duy Ly 1985. Movement Description on page 240. 2. "Seth Thomas Clocks and Movements" . Tran Duy Ly 1996. Description on page 222, Item 740. 3. "NAWCC Bulletin #240 - The Clock Repair Primer", by Philip E. Balcomb, page 32, procedure for replacing mainsprings encapsulated in barrels.
NOTES	This was the clock that started the "addiction". My wife, KL, and I were browsing through an antique store, and she noticed this tambour just crying out for someone to take care of it. She asked my opinion, and after some negotiations with the proprietor, we decided to take the clock home, even though it was not in running order. Little did we know that this one clock would start a chain reaction that forced us to use the criteria "Our clocks would fit and display nicely in this house" when purchasing subsequent homes