Category: Stromberg Carlson

Doesn’t all that ticking drive you crazy?

Circa 1890 French Black Marble mantel clock

No!

As a clock collector I have quite a few clocks in my home. Most are running daily. There are 34 clocks ticking away in my home as I write this blog article.

I have accepted them as normal sounds in my home

Some collectors have a dedicated clock room in their home but mine are scattered throughout the house. I try to arrange each one so that it fits more or less into the decor of the room. It is a big house and thankfully we have quite a few rooms in which I can display my clocks. I have all manner and styles of clocks including mantel, wall clocks, shelf clocks, carriage clocks, desk clocks, anniversary clocks but just one floor clock. My particular preference is wall clocks; I have 13 of them.

Kienzle clock on display with Ingraham Huron
Kienzle clock on display with Ingraham Huron balloon style shelf clock
Gustav Becker Vienna Regulator and Seth Thomas round top
Arthur Pequegnat Brandon in an upper hallway
Arthur Pequegnat Brandon in an upper hallway
Mauthe Westminster chime mantel clock atop a Stromberg Carlson radio
Mauthe Westminster chime mantel clock atop a Stromberg Carlson radio

So how do I put up with the cacophony of clock noises in the house? One, I thoroughly enjoy the sound of a mechanical clock and two, I have accepted them as normal sounds in my house.

However, there are rules in our house.

  1. No striking or chiming clocks in or near the master bedroom.
  2. No clocks in the bathrooms.
  3. Clocks are stopped in those areas where guests are sleeping unless they do not object.

Are there clocks in the bedroom? Of course, three to be exact. Two are 400 day clocks like the one in the next photo and the third is a banjo clock.

9 inch 400 day Kundo clock
9 inch miniature 400 day Kundo clock

The Ingraham Nordic banjo clock has a front-wind lever escapement and I would challenge anyone to hear this clock across a room. Is is no louder than an old alarm clock. The 400 day clocks are, of course, virtually silent.

We have a Mauthe box clock in our family room that makes such a wonderful sound that I actually pause the TV to listen to it

Ingraham Nordic Banjo Clock
Ingraham Nordic Banjo Clock

This is my advice to those of you who love mechanical clocks but are bothered by the “noise”:

  • Some clocks are loud tickers and some are not. As a general rule American clocks tend to be much louder tickers than German or French clocks. Loud clocks should be placed in noisy areas
  • Avoid clocks that have a striking or a chiming train. If you are not fond of the sound of an hourly or quarter hour strike clock, simply search for a time-only clock.
  • Most chiming clocks (Westminster chimes are the most common) have a shut-off feature located on the dial face.
  • For time and strike clocks simply wind the time side only. However, purists would say that this is not good for the clock.
  • Carriage clocks, clocks with lever escapements (like the Nordic above) and 400 day clocks are exceptionally quiet and do not normally strike or chime (however, some carriage clocks do strike).
  • Locate your clocks in an area where you will not be bothered by them, a dedicated room, for instance.
  • Stop your clock or never wind it. Perhaps you can appreciate your clock as a piece of art or furniture rather than as a timepiece.
  • For the nostalgic, run your clocks only at certain special times of the year.
Box clock
Mauthe Box clock

I rarely hear my clocks. Yes, I am aware of the ticking if I stop and listen. By and large I am not at all bothered by the sounds of my clocks. In fact, we have a Mauthe box clock in our family room that makes such a wonderful bim-bam sound that I actually pause the TV to listen to it.

Tick-Talk Tuesday – #1 -question about Stromberg Carlson master clock

Tick-Talk Tuesday

Tick-Talk Tuesday is about the letters and comments I have received from you, the reader, concerning your clocks, issues you might have had and challenges you face and my responses to your questions with advice on your  particular clock concern(s). For those comments and questions that stump even me, I consult within my clock circles for the best possible answer.

Stromberg Carlson master clock
Stromberg Carlson master clock

DP writes to me and asks what the lever does on the anchor (left arrow) and what happens if you move it one way or the other. He also asked about the purpose of the slot as indicated by the right arrow. The right part of the photo refers to a lower part of the clock.

Well, first of all what is DP referring to. This is a Stromberg Carlson master clock manufactured in 1947. Stromberg Carlson was a telecommunications equipment and electronics manufacturing company in the United States, formed in 1894. It was one of five companies that controlled the national supply of telephone equipment until after World War II.

A master clock is a precision clock that provides timing signals to synchronize slave clocks as part of a network of clocks. Networks of electric clocks connected by wires to a precision master pendulum clock began to be used in institutions like factories, offices, and schools around 1900. Many of you might recall the Simplex clock in your classroom which was but one slave clock among dozens in your school all physically connected to one clock, the master clock.

I do not have a particular expertise in Electric horology and asked him if I could consult within my clock circles.

Later on that day I responded. “Regarding your question (s), I gather you know that you have a master clock from which any number of slaves are run. The arrow on the left appears to be a contact activator similar to what one one might find on an IBM master clock, for 2 second contacts to advance slave clocks at a fast rate of impulse every two seconds. The slot on the right looks like it would be for an anchoring screw.”

Stromberg Carlsen movement
Stromberg Carlson movement

DPs response. “As you can see in this other clock mechanism that it doesn’t have that lever so yours is a good explanation. There is 6351-M stamped on my clock mechanism. However, the clock itself is not in its original configuration. I was told that originally it was used as a master clock in a school to control all the other clocks.  I was told that an electrical engineer reworked it so that it would run off of house current.  Too bad that he didn’t leave it the way it was originally. You can tell from the holes in the back wooden panel and now an occupied ceramic insulator that the was much more to it.”

As DP states, his clock was converted. In fact many were converted from 20VDC to 110 volts AC. Presumably a safer way to run the clock but unfortunate because it takes away some authenticity.

In answering DPs question I have now expanded my knowledge of electro-mechanical clocks.

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