Seth Thomas 12 Inch Drop Octagon. Mahogany case. Time Strike & Calendar. Dated 1910. This example has it all. 217017.
This 'Drop Octagon Twelve Inch' was made by the Seth Thomas Clock Company of Thomaston, Connecticut, in June of 1910. This clock is dated with the Seth Thomas manufacturer's code on the back. These clocks, or this popular form, are commonly called 'School House' clocks in this country because they are often used in school rooms across this nation. The Seth Thomas version of this clock is the model by which all others are judged.
This is a very special example. The case is mahogany and has recently been refinished. Mahogany examples do not appear in the marketplace very often. The vast majority of the school clocks seen today are constructed in oak. The fact that this example is constructed in mahogany would imply that it was made for an office or perhaps even a residential setting office. The dial bezel is brass and has been recently polished. The spring wound movement is brass construction and is die-stamped by the Maker on the front plate. It is designed to run for eight days on a full wind. These clocks are very good runners. The brass-faced pendulum bob can be viewed through the glass door in the front of the case. This example also has the added feature of having a full-strike train. That means that this example will strike each hour on a wire gong mounted inside the case. The third hand is a calendar hand. This red hand will advance daily. One must make their own adjustments for the variations in lengths of months. The dial is painted on tin and features Roman-style hour numerals. The calendar date in Arabic style numerals is positioned around the perimeter of the dial. The manufacturer's name is painted just below the center of this dial-in block lettering. In addition to this, the firm's name 'P. Orr & Sons \/ Madras Rangoon & \/ Calcutta' is also printed on the dial just above center. The Maker's label, now with losses, is pasted inside the clock onto the backboard. This clock measures approximately measures 23.5 inches long. This is an outstanding example.
The firm P. Orr & Sons had locations in Madras, Rangoon, and Calcutta. It was a firm of Jewelers and gold and silversmiths. They claimed to be one of the pioneering manufacturing firms in India. The Madras factory employed as many as 600 artisans at one time alone. It is easy to speculate that this very clock was purchased by the Orr & Sons firm and displayed in their business. During the approximate period of 1840 through the1920's, the American clock companies did a very healthy business of exporting inexpensive time around the world. This clock is a good example of that process in that it is an American-made clock used in India.
This clock is inventory number 217017.
Seth Thomas was born in Wolcott, Connecticut, in 1785. He was apprenticed as a carpenter and joiner and worked building houses and barns. He started in the clock business in 1807, working for clockmaker Eli Terry. Thomas formed a clock-making partnership in Plymouth, Connecticut, with Eli Terry and Silas Hoadley as Terry, Thomas & Hoadley. In 1810, he bought Terry's clock business, making tall clocks with wooden movements. Seth chose to sell his shares in the partnership in 1812, moving in 1813 to Plymouth Hollow, Connecticut, where he set up a factory to make metal-movement clocks. In 1817, he added shelf and mantel clocks. By the mid-1840s, He successfully transitioned to brass movements and expanded his operations by building a brass rolling mill and a cotton factory. In 1853, He incorporated the business but continued to be the majority shareholder. This clock business expanded until it became one of the "BIG Seven" in Connecticut. Their product line had offerings that competed at every price point, from kitchen clocks to precision regulators. Seth Thomas died in 1859. The community of Plymouth Hollow so revered him that they changed the name on July 6, 1875, to Thomaston in his honor. After his death, his son, Aaron, took over the company's leadership. Aaron is credited with increasing the business by adding a number of new case styles and improving production methods. The company went out of business in the 1980s.
