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Style 1 Baby Ben Alarm Clock History
Style 1 Baby Ben Models and VariationsNote: There are many variations in the patent dates stamped on the backs of these clocks. The early baby Ben style 1 clocks have some particularly interesting logos on their backs. I plan to illustrate them.
Style 1 Baby Bens with Dealer Imprint dialsDealer imprint dials show the name of the dealer who sold the clock. These dials are common on Big Ben style 1 alarm clocks, are seen occasionally on earlier examples of Big Ben style 1a clocks, but are seldom seen on Baby Ben style 1 clocks. Here are some examples.
Model Introduction SummaryIn 1909, the tooling was being made for the Baby Ben Two Inch alarm clock. It was first marketed in 1910. It must been obvious that this design was not satisfactory, for drawings for an improved clock (Baby Ben style 1) had been started by the first quarter of 1911, and were complete by the second quarter. The style 1 Baby Ben was put into production around June or July of 1912. Major improvements had to be made to the movement over the next two and one half years, and the clock was first nationally advertised in the Sept. 25, 1915 Saturday Evening Post. (I am indebted to Jeffrey R. Wood for his detailed research into the development of the style 1 Baby Ben movement.) Sales figures for the first years of the Big Ben and Baby Ben
Trademark registrations pertaining to Baby Ben
We have never seen a clock marked "Little Ben" (except for a much later clock made in the 1970's). A pocket watch labeled "Little Ben" dated 1914 has been reported, and perhaps the "LITTLE BEN" trademark in the above table refers to that watch. Historical NarrativeBaby Ben Two Inch1910 to 1912 Gaston LeRoy mentioned the possibility of a smaller version of the Big Ben in his March 1908 advertising report. The first, early version of the Baby Ben was made with a variation of the “2 Inch” movement that has an alarm mechanism added on to the rear, forming a “two layer movement.” We thus refer to this clock as the “Baby Ben Two Inch”, and examples dating from 10-18-10 to 5-15-12 are known to exist. This clock has no name on it, just the patent dates Oct. 28, 1902; June 9, 1908; and Dec. 15, 1908 on the back. This web page shows photos and dates of known examples. The following brief history is summarized from Westclox department reports of 1908 to 1912. Starting in the second quarter of 1909, case body drawing tools and some movement tooling was made for a clock referred to as the “Little B. B.” In the second quarter of 1910, tooling was being made for a clock referred to as “Little Ben” and Little B.B.” (in a few places it appears that the name Little Ben had been changed to Little B. B.) The second quarter 1910 (Mar. 28 – June 18) manufacturing report states “We have made about 200 Baby Ben movements so far and after vacation we intend to start assembling them regularly and slowly increase the quantity as we get the help broken in to work on them.” The 3Q 1910 Engineering Department report states “Work on the “Little Ben” drawings is going forward.” The 4Q 1911 Manufacturing report (dated Jan. 12, 1912) states “The baby Ben clock at present is gotten out in connection with the two inch movement. The production of two inch is 300 [units per day] and the baby Ben 60. This occupies a floor space of 2048 square feet. To produce 1000 baby Ben will take a floor space of nearly 3000 square feet, which room will have to be provided.” The baby Ben Two Inch is so much different from the main line of Baby Bens, that it is considered by many collectors to not be a “real” baby Ben at all. It certainly does not have a good movement design, and in fact a good movement for the Baby Ben was not produced until late 1914 or early 1915 (the “Type 2 movement discussed in the next section). Baby Ben Style 11912 to 1930 The “baby Ben Two Inch” proved to be unsatisfactory, and was replaced with the Baby Ben Style 1 in 1912. The following information was summarized from Westclox department reports. The engineering report from first quarter 1911 states “NEW CLOCK DRAWINGS – LITTLE BEN REPEATER. Drawings have been started on this new clock and some have been delivered to the tool room.” The 2Q1911 report states “The Little Ben Repeater drawings are completed.” The 2Q1911 and 3Q1911 reports list many tools made for “Little Ben Repeater.” The 4Q1911 report again lists many tools for this clock and then states “We have about completed the Tools for Little Ben Repeater.” At this point the name “baby Ben” must have been applied to the “Little Ben Repeater”, as the advertising department states in their Jan. 13, 1912 report: “The manufacturing department is working on a new baby Ben which will be brought out in the future and a campaign of advertising and sales will be inaugurated as soon as a sufficient stock can be accumulated to provide for the demand created by such a campaign. It will certainly be necessary to have sufficient room to take care of these in the same manner as Big Ben (packing, labeling and boxing.)” Also, the 1Q1912 tooling department report lists more tools for “baby Ben” and states that “The baby Ben tools are completed.” However, tool reports for the next three quarters list more tools made for baby Ben, but these may have been improved versions of existing tools, or duplicate tools for increased production. The Jan. 27, 1913 sales report states “baby Ben shows the greatest increase, running over 100%. The new model of this clock was available in limited quantities about Sept. 1 [1912], but as a sufficient stock could not be made up it was decided to wait until this year to push it strongly.” Evidently, the clock was not as reliable as desired, so more improvements were made, and baby Ben was not officially introduced to the public until advertised on page one of the September 25, 1915 Saturday Evening Post. Jeffrey Wood has documented 3 major types of early baby Ben Style 1 movements:
Movement types 1 and 1a were not much more satisfactory than the Two Inch baby Ben movement. The type 2 movement was more satisfactory and was used until being replaced with a new design in late 1926. In late 1926 the case pendant was changed from oval to round, and the rear leg was changed from a flat to a rounded end. A new movement was phased into production during late 1926 and early 1927. The alarm barrel was changed from a going barrel to a winding barrel, and the alarm winding direction was changed to clockwise. The gearing was modified to change the beat rate from 15,000 beats per hour to 14,400 beats per hour. This movement, with and minor changes, remained in production through 1960, when it was replaced by the single key wind Baby Ben movement. The dials on the first baby Bens are made of celluloid over paper, and the regular paper dial was used starting in the first quarter of 1914. The name on the clock was “baby Ben” until 1916 when it was changed to “Baby Ben”. In 1917 the trademark “Westclox” was added above the words “Baby Ben.” From 1917 to ca. 1922, “Westclox” was in italics; from ca. 1923 – ca. 1927, “Westclox appeared in Roman font with a flat-top “X”, and starting ca. 1928 the “Westclox” had a loop-top “X”. The company name was put at the bottom of the dial starting in late 1915. About 1919 the luminous dial using radium paint was introduced. From that time on, Baby Bens first and then Big Bens were available with either the plain or luminous dial. A few Baby Ben style 1 clocks ca. 1927 have white painted metal dials. The style 1 Baby Ben was made until 1930. ReferencesSales figures: "Westclox Annual Sales Statistics Ledger", Collection 116, Box 28, held by the the Regional History Center at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. Information about the Baby Ben with two inch movement, and information about tooling up for Big Ben and Baby Ben production: "Westclox Department Reports, 1904 - 1922", Collection 116, Box 7, Files 3 - 14 , held by the Regional History Center at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. Jeffrey R. Wood, personal correspondence. Jeff is gathering detailed information about variations of early Big Ben and Baby Ben clocks. Westclox, An Identification and Price Guide, Gary Biolchini, Schiffer Publishing, 2003. Big Ben and Baby Ben Identification Guide, by Richard Tjarks and Bill Stoddard. |
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