07-C-0991

SETH THOMAS TAMBOUR CLOCK
INDEX # : 007-C-0991

circa: 1910-1920

CLOCK STYLE Tambour

CLOCK NAME Tambour No. 3

MANUFACTURE

Seth Thomas Clock Co., Thomaston, Conn.

Seth Thomas (1785-1859)

CASE MODEL # N/A

MOVEMENT TYPE ST 89Y, Brass, spring driven, T&S, hour strike on cathedral gong, 8-day, dead beat escapement.

CASE SIZE & CONSTRUCTION Base = 13 ¾", Height = 9", Depth = 4 ½"

Mahogany veneered case.

LABEL INFORMATION No label, original paper label missing.

DIAL INFORMATION

5" white enameled dial with Seth Thomas trademark, raised black Arabic numerals.

MISC. FEATURES N/A

ACQUIRED FROM Ray at the Portsmouth Livery Stables, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

CONDITION WHEN ACQUIRED Not running, case was very dirty (he had stored it in a barn for a number of years).

RESTORATION March 1995 - Cleaned and oiled movement, stripped old finish off case and re-finished (old finish was not salvageable). Cleaned, oiled and adjusted movement.

HISTORICAL DATA

The Seth Thomas's Case Factory c. 1885 in Thomaston, Conn.
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 to make 4,000 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 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. 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.

List price of clock from Seth Thomas catalog was $18.00.

REFERENCES 1. "Seth Thomas Clocks and Movements - A Guide to Identification and Prices". Tran Duy Ly 1985. Movement Description on page 223.
2. "Seth Thomas Clocks and Movements", by Tran Duy Ly, 1996, page 330, item 1273.

NOTES The clock bug had bitten fairly hard by now. My wife and I decided to take a trip to New Hampshire for our wedding anniversary. This decision wasn't based on "lets go see the fall colors in the northeast". Instead, it was based on the fact that most of the prominent clock makers in America were from the New England states, therefore, there must be a lot of antique shops with more clocks for our growing collection. We were slightly disappointed in the Antique shops in Portsmouth, as there were not as many clocks for sale as we expected. We decided to take a carriage ride around Portsmouth, and while making small talk with the driver, Ray, we mentioned that we collected clocks. He startled us when he said "I got an old clock in the barn ya can have". After making a small donation towards feeding Ray's horses, we added this clock to our collection.

It was also at this point that I realized that if I was going to continue to accumulate clocks that were not in working order, I was going to have to learn how to work on them. I purchased several "how to" books from the NAWCC museum. This clock was the first movement I disassembled, cleaned and reassembled.

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CLOCK STYLE	Tambour
CLOCK NAME	Tambour No. 3
MANUFACTURE	Seth Thomas Clock Co., Thomaston, Conn. Seth Thomas (1785-1859)
CASE MODEL #	N/A
MOVEMENT TYPE	ST 89Y, Brass, spring driven, T&S, hour strike on cathedral gong, 8-day, dead beat escapement.
CASE SIZE & CONSTRUCTION	Base = 13 ¾", Height = 9", Depth = 4 ½" Mahogany veneered case.
LABEL INFORMATION	No label, original paper label missing.
DIAL INFORMATION	5" white enameled dial with Seth Thomas trademark, raised black Arabic numerals.
MISC. FEATURES	N/A
ACQUIRED FROM	Ray at the Portsmouth Livery Stables, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
CONDITION WHEN ACQUIRED	Not running, case was very dirty (he had stored it in a barn for a number of years).
RESTORATION	March 1995 - Cleaned and oiled movement, stripped old finish off case and re-finished (old finish was not salvageable). Cleaned, oiled and adjusted movement.
HISTORICAL DATA The Seth Thomas's Case Factory c. 1885 in Thomaston, Conn.	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 to make 4,000 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 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. 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. List price of clock from Seth Thomas catalog was $18.00.
REFERENCES	1. "Seth Thomas Clocks and Movements - A Guide to Identification and Prices". Tran Duy Ly 1985. Movement Description on page 223. 2. "Seth Thomas Clocks and Movements", by Tran Duy Ly, 1996, page 330, item 1273.
NOTES	The clock bug had bitten fairly hard by now. My wife and I decided to take a trip to New Hampshire for our wedding anniversary. This decision wasn't based on "lets go see the fall colors in the northeast". Instead, it was based on the fact that most of the prominent clock makers in America were from the New England states, therefore, there must be a lot of antique shops with more clocks for our growing collection. We were slightly disappointed in the Antique shops in Portsmouth, as there were not as many clocks for sale as we expected. We decided to take a carriage ride around Portsmouth, and while making small talk with the driver, Ray, we mentioned that we collected clocks. He startled us when he said "I got an old clock in the barn ya can have". After making a small donation towards feeding Ray's horses, we added this clock to our collection. It was also at this point that I realized that if I was going to continue to accumulate clocks that were not in working order, I was going to have to learn how to work on them. I purchased several "how to" books from the NAWCC museum. This clock was the first movement I disassembled, cleaned and reassembled.