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Style 5 Big Ben and Baby Ben Alarm Clock HistoryBig Ben Style 5 Chime Alarm: 1939 - 1949 Note: Reproductions having battery quartz movements have been made in recent years Style 5 Big Ben and Baby Ben Models and Variations
Style 5 HistoryThe style 5 case design was first used in 1938 for the electric Big Ben Chime Alarm. In 1939 the wind-up style 5 Bens were introduced. Henry Dreyfuss designed this case and General Time applied for the patent on November 19, 1938. The patent was issued April 11, 1939. Other well known designs by Dreyfuss are the Honeywell round thermostat, the Princess phone, and the Hudson J-3 streamlined locomotive for New York Central Railroad. Dreyfuss also designed the box for the style 5 Bens. Baby Ben style 5 and Big Ben Style 5 Chime Alarm were made in two colors, gunmetal with nickel trim and ivory with brass trim. Gunmetal cases have a white dial with black numerals, or a black dial with luminous numerals. Ivory cases have a white dial with brown numerals, or two different types of luminous dial (brown-banded from 1939 – 1948 and solid brown in 1948 and 1949). Hands on non-luminous gunmetal clocks are blued steel of the form shown in figure 23 (“simplified skeleton style”). Hands on non-luminous ivory clocks are brown and of the same shape. Hands on luminous gunmetal clocks are solid (not skeleton) nickeled blanks with luminous paint applied to the front. Hands on ivory luminous clocks are lacquered brass blanks with luminous paint on the front. The style 5a Big Ben Loud Alarm was made from 1939 to 1946. It came only in gunmetal with nickel trim, and either a white dial with black numerals or a black dial with luminous numerals. The style 5a appears similar to the style 5 but the case is thicker to accommodate the Loud Alarm movement, which is thinker than the Chime Alarm movement. In 1946, the Loud Alarm movement was redesigned to make it thinner, so it would fit into the thinner style 5 case. At this time, the style 5a Loud Alarm was replaced by the style 5 Loud Alarm, still only in gunmetal finish. Most style 5a Big Ben Loud Alarms have a hanger on the back, but it was discontinued in late 1945 or early 1946. Westclox switched over to production of war material during World War II. Consumer clock production ceased July 31, 1942 and resumed in 1945. A Baby Ben “Waralarm” was made during WWII. Movements made during this time were not nickel plated as they usually were. The style 5 Bens were made through 1949. Style 5 ReproductionsA style 5 Big Ben with a quartz movement was introduced in the late 1990’s (please tell me if you know the year of introduction). The reproduction can be identified by having a sweep alarm indicator (instead of having the alarm indicator in a sub-dial below the numeral “12”). Also it has a battery compartment instead of two winding keys. It was available in an all chrome case (the originals always have a painted case. A miniature of the style 5 was made in 1997. It has a quartz movement, and the quantity was limited to 5000 pieces. ReferencesWestclox, 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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| Westclox and Big Ben are registered trademarks of Salton, Inc. ClockHistory.com is concerned with the history of clocks and watches, and is not affiliated with the manufacturers of new products. | |||
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