My Clocks

You can't turn back the clock but you can wind it up again.

After posting the ten Boom clock I thought you might enjoy seeing some of MY clocks. Of course they've all been gifts from Mom and Dad but they are mine. They each have a story around them... I hope I get them right.
The kitchen clock. This is a key wind up clock that hung in the kitchen on the family farm when Dad was growing up. There's a little screw on the bottom of the pendulum to adjust the swing and speed of the clock. The numbers are hand painted on the front. You can look closely and see the pencil lines where someone measured out the placement and drew the numbers in. The decals were added many years after it's purchase. Dad offered to take them off and repaint the clock but I wanted it just like it is.
The wall clock. Dad got this one for about $5. back in the 1960's. He'd buy things before people were collecting them. It hung in the Fairbanks scale house on our farm for many years, keeping spiders and mice company as it hung out there in cold winters and hot summers. I always asked him when and if he was going to refinish it someday. It seemed lonely and forgotten out there. When he was finally refinishing it, I etched the glass in the bottom square by using a casserole lid to make the oval where the acid didn't reach and painted the glass black with a gold trim on top. Dad offered to get a new face for me but I appreciate the original. This also gets wound by a key.
The alarm clock. The "Early Bird" gets the worm. I remember the day this clock came into our home in a box of clocks and parts Dad got at an auction or on a random search. (I'll have to ask him.) It's always fun to search through a box of treasures and as a youngster I picked this one out quickly when I saw the robin that has a tug of war with a worm going in and out, on each tick of the clock. This clock sat on our fireplace mantle for many years and entertained children and adults alike. I mentioned how much I liked the clock and a few years ago was surprised with it as a birthday present.
My Dad loves clocks. I've seen him take many of them apart and put them back together again. He's got everything from the large 9 foot grandfather clock, a chiming Waterbury grandfather clock that chimes every 15 minutes (it's normally not going as the chimes keep a person up all night) and it also keeps track of the moon phases, a clock with wooden gears, a pool clock for timed matches, to many pocket watches and of course everything in-between. He's fixed many a clock for friends and neighbors and I've sorted clock and watch parts in the basement for him where he has a work place. I guess you could say his obsession for clocks has rubbed off on Mom as she enjoys his collection, as it decorates the home, whether it's against a wall, on a table top, or across our fireplace mantle. I guess you could say it has rubbed off on his children too...

Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived.

ten Boom Carriage Clock

Mom and Dad have an antique carriage clock that was purchased by Dad's cousin, Beth Swanson, when she worked on stage in the opera in Europe in the 1960's. She knew of Dad's interest in clocks and found this one for him. It has ten Boom on the face of the clock in hand painted porcelain. We have always wondered at the chance it would be from the ten Boom family, since hearing of Corrie ten Boom's "The Hiding Place" story.
Corrie was a Dutch Christian Holocaust survivor who helped many Jews escape the Nazis during World War II. She began training as a watchmaker in 1920 and in 1922 became the first female watchmaker licensed in the Netherlands, following in her family business. Wouldn't that be amazing if our clock did come from that family of clock makers?
The clock has a box with a glass front for protection and viewing. A carriage clock is in a rectangular housing, designed for travel in the 19th century. Since people traveled by carriage in this period, these clocks needed to stand up to the rigors of a trip without failing. Carriage clocks reached their zenith in the late 1860s. Several characteristics can be used to identify a carriage clock. The first is the case, which is usually made from polished brass or another bright metal. The face of the clock is covered in glass, while the hands may be placed on a porcelain background to make them clearly visible.
If anyone reading this knows more about this clock please contact me.