Ansonia Clock Co. The "Bee" aside an original red packing tin. Travel clock. 216030.

These one-day clocks have developed a following. They are spring-powered and designed to run one day fully wound. The Bee uses the rear cover of the clock case as a combination winding key, mainspring barrel, and ratchet wheel. You wind this clock by rotating the back. Their small size, measuring approximately 3 inches in height, made them handy to travel with. The cases were most often nickeled. The glass in front is beveled. Dial formats can vary. Most are paper and retain the Ansonia trademark. A few are decorated with applied embellishments. They also offered this clock with an alarm option where the bell is mounted and displayed on the top of the case.

Many of these clocks were sold to other outfits and to hobbyists that cased these clocks in a number of formats. We have seen wooden cases in the shapes and styles of tall case clocks, wooden cases resembling larger shelf clocks, glass cases, and metal cases of numerous forms.

One collecting category relates to the clocks being sold in lithographed tins. Collectors actively seek these tins out. Clocks found in their original tins are fun to find. The tins have beautiful graphics and some variations to their printing. This one retains a red tin, which is a very popular color. Collecting the colors can be fun and challenging. Other colors available include yellow, blue, salmon, brown, and variations of them.

Inventory number 216030.