103-C-0498

WM. L. GILBERT TAMBOUR CLOCK
INDEX # : 103-C-0498

circa: 1915-1930

CLOCK STYLE Tambour

CLOCK NAME N/A

MANUFACTURE

Wm. L. Gilbert Clock Co., Winsted, Conn.

William L. Gilbert (1806-1890)

CASE MODEL # 2036, Normandy Chimes

MOVEMENT TYPE #23, Brass, 8 day, T&S, spring driven, dual tone strike.

CASE SIZE & CONSTRUCTION Base=20 1/4", Height=10", Depth=4 1/2"

LABEL INFORMATION No label

DIAL INFORMATION Replacement paper dial, with black Arabic numerals, 4 1/2" chapter ring.

MISC. FEATURES N/A

ACQUIRED FROM Gift from my Aunt Nola.

CONDITION WHEN ACQUIRED Case in poor condition, dial bezel broken, movement door broken. Movement is in fair condition.

RESTORATION N/A

HISTORICAL DATA

The William L. Gilbert Clock Corporation factory as it appeared c. 1850
William L. Gilbert was born in Litchfield, Ct. on December 30th, 1806, son of James and Abigail Kinney Gilbert. He spent most of his youth working on the farm with his father. At age 22, and after borrowing $300 dollars, he and his brother in law went into partnership manufacturing clock parts in Bristol, CT. This was the start of a long and productive career in the clock making industry for Mr. Gilbert.
Gilbert and Lucias Clarke acquired the old Riley Whiting Clock Factory in Winsted/Winchester, Conn. in 1841. They made clocks with the name Clarke, Gilbert & Company, and later as Gilbert and Clarke. In 1851, the company name was changed to W.L. Gilbert and Company. In 1859, the then bankrupt S.B. Terry became Gilbert's movement designer, and Forman for several years. The business operated as the Gilbert Manufacturing Company from 1866 until 1871. It was reorganized as the William L. Gilbert Clock Co. in 1871, and operated under this name until 1934 when the company changed it's name to the William L. Gilbert Clock Corp. From 1941 until 1945, the U.S. government permitted the company to manufacture paper mache clocks (especially alarm clocks) since metal was needed for W.W.II and alarm clocks were in demand. The corporation was taken over in 1957 by General Computing Machines Co., which operated it under the name General-Gilbert Corp. In 1964 it was sold off to the Spartus Corp. located in Louisville, Mississippi. William Gilbert died in June 1890.

One of his biographers wrote "His habits were simple and regular, his wants few, his life frugal. He was always a temperance man in principal and practice. In connection with strict, careful and methodical attention to business, he developed a capacity for managing and controlling affairs and men that secured him a large property and gave him a place in the front rank of the business men of the state"

The image to the left was the William L. Gilbert Clock Corporation factory as it appeared c. 1850

REFERENCES 1. "American Clocks and Clockmakers" by Robert W. & Harriett Swedburg, 1989, brief company history on page 17.
2. NAWCC Bulletin #177, August 1975 - Article on Gilbert History

NOTES N/A

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CLOCK STYLE	Tambour
CLOCK NAME	N/A
MANUFACTURE	Wm. L. Gilbert Clock Co., Winsted, Conn. William L. Gilbert (1806-1890)
CASE MODEL #	2036, Normandy Chimes
MOVEMENT TYPE	#23, Brass, 8 day, T&S, spring driven, dual tone strike.
CASE SIZE & CONSTRUCTION	Base=20 1/4", Height=10", Depth=4 1/2"
LABEL INFORMATION	No label
DIAL INFORMATION	Replacement paper dial, with black Arabic numerals, 4 1/2" chapter ring.
MISC. FEATURES	N/A
ACQUIRED FROM	Gift from my Aunt Nola.
CONDITION WHEN ACQUIRED	Case in poor condition, dial bezel broken, movement door broken. Movement is in fair condition.
RESTORATION	N/A
HISTORICAL DATA The William L. Gilbert Clock Corporation factory as it appeared c. 1850	William L. Gilbert was born in Litchfield, Ct. on December 30th, 1806, son of James and Abigail Kinney Gilbert. He spent most of his youth working on the farm with his father. At age 22, and after borrowing $300 dollars, he and his brother in law went into partnership manufacturing clock parts in Bristol, CT. This was the start of a long and productive career in the clock making industry for Mr. Gilbert. Gilbert and Lucias Clarke acquired the old Riley Whiting Clock Factory in Winsted/Winchester, Conn. in 1841. They made clocks with the name Clarke, Gilbert & Company, and later as Gilbert and Clarke. In 1851, the company name was changed to W.L. Gilbert and Company. In 1859, the then bankrupt S.B. Terry became Gilbert's movement designer, and Forman for several years. The business operated as the Gilbert Manufacturing Company from 1866 until 1871. It was reorganized as the William L. Gilbert Clock Co. in 1871, and operated under this name until 1934 when the company changed it's name to the William L. Gilbert Clock Corp. From 1941 until 1945, the U.S. government permitted the company to manufacture paper mache clocks (especially alarm clocks) since metal was needed for W.W.II and alarm clocks were in demand. The corporation was taken over in 1957 by General Computing Machines Co., which operated it under the name General-Gilbert Corp. In 1964 it was sold off to the Spartus Corp. located in Louisville, Mississippi. William Gilbert died in June 1890. One of his biographers wrote "His habits were simple and regular, his wants few, his life frugal. He was always a temperance man in principal and practice. In connection with strict, careful and methodical attention to business, he developed a capacity for managing and controlling affairs and men that secured him a large property and gave him a place in the front rank of the business men of the state" The image to the left was the William L. Gilbert Clock Corporation factory as it appeared c. 1850
REFERENCES	1. "American Clocks and Clockmakers" by Robert W. & Harriett Swedburg, 1989, brief company history on page 17. 2. NAWCC Bulletin #177, August 1975 - Article on Gilbert History
NOTES	N/A