Postal Telegraph Clock, US Army Air Force, Working Electric Clock

This is a working, Postal Telegraph, Hammond Bichronous electric wall clock made by the Hammond Instrument Co. The window of manufacture is 1937 to 1941. On the face of the clock is’Property – Air Force United States Army’. This piece has changed hands a couple of times in its civilian life, but the story that has been passed down with it is that this clock hung in the Officer’s Club at Wendover Airfield in Utah. The clock is large and intended to be hung on a wall. It is about 20″ in diameter and 4 1/2″ in depth. The glass face of the clock is 15. The numbers are 1 3/8″ – 1 1/2″ in height. The face is kind of beige-y and may have yellowed some with age. There are some darkened areas on the face from 3 to 7. I assume the glass is original, it has one skinny bubble in it. Otherwise the glass is shiny and undamaged. The power cord has been replaced somewhere along the line by a modern cord that is UL approved. The numbering and lettering on the face and painting of the outside frame are original. The dust cover on the clock back is original. The frame (painted black with some green paint splatters), is made up of concentric circles, step-down fashion, to meet the wall. The first circle around the clock face is silvery, could be chrome plated. The design of the frame combined with the number font and the cool shape at the end of the second hand give it a strongly Art Deco feel. I’ve had no luck determining a definition for’bichronous’. The main one is the electric current from being plugged in. The secondary power source is from a battery that is recharged as the clock runs and will power the clock for 15 minutes or so if the power is interrupted. Although, that secondary battery power does not seem to work at this point. Another potential meaning of’bichronous’ is that starting the clock is a two step process. After plugging it in, one must turn the thumb screw quickly on the back of the clock to initiate the starting of the motor. Both of these attributes are accurate features for this clock. Laurens Hammond founded The Hammond Clock Co. In the 1920s with the concept of developing a very accurate clock by using the frequency of the 110 volt, 60 cycles electricity from the power grid to keep time. He was not the first to develop this system of timekeeping. He further determined that if there was a glitch in the power and the electricity was shut off, a self starting clock would begin time again where it left off. In reality that could be confusing as the clock should be reset to the actual time. His contribution to time keeping was to have his clocks not be self starting. The clock keeper would need to reset the time on the plugged-in, electric clock and then spin a thumbscrew on the back to get the clock to restart. A clock using this method had a greater chance of showing the actual time than one that would restart automatically when the power was restored. I started the clock and had it running for a 24 hour period. The Hammond Clock Co. Became the Hammond Instrument Co. In 1937 when it became evident the company would not survive by making just clocks. They added musical instruments to their product line and ceased the manufacture of clocks altogether in 1941. Their most well known product after that time was the Hammond organ. Below is a link to a video by Brian Nielson, of PocketFullofTime. The item “Postal Telegraph Clock, US Army Air Force, Working Electric Clock” is in sale since Tuesday, June 11, 2019. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Lamps, Lighting\Lamps\ Non-Electric\Gas”. The seller is “kelly8800″ and is located in Portland, Oregon. This item can be shipped to United States.

• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States