David Howard of Needham, Massachusetts.

The History of the D. Howard working in Needham, Massachusetts. The producer of a #70 Wall Clock.

By David Howard

By the mid 20th century very few people, in the USA, were creators of clock cases and movements. People _making clocks_ were building replicas of those that were historic, interesting and popular. I, for a short time, became one of them in 1976 to 1979. There are several events in my life that led to the production of the D. Howard Needham #70 clocks. I was a member of the NAWCC for many years, since 1969. During these years I taught myself to repair all kinds of clocks; however, I did not work on watches. I had also befriended an older man, Mr. Clayton Patnod that I met at local clock meetings and was used to taking him along to the various places where the chapters met. Then on a trip to Chicago, IIl, I went looking for the person that was advertising #2 Seth Thomas clock cases, in the _Mart,_ and met the owner of Time Tek Corp., Andy Wyrwicz. He convinced me to take a try at selling his clock parts and I began to do that at the local chapter meetings in New England. One evening, I believe in 1976, I received a phone call from the son of Mr. Patnod and was told of his sudden death. He had advised his wife and son to contact me, regarding his collections, should anything happen to him. I ended up purchasing all of his clocks and watches. In the collection was an E. Howard #70 oak case clock. After looking over this clock and with all the connections and networking I had going at the time, I then decided to make a _batch_ of these clocks. At the time I was residing at 119 Green Street, Needham, MA – hence the name of the clock was born. _D_ (for David) rhyming with the _E_ (for Edward Howard) and of course _Howard_ for _Howard_; and “Needham” for the town in which some of the parts were made and where the cases were fitted. This project turned out to be an interesting challenge. The components involved included the case with its various parts, a weight driven movement to fit the case and having the correct pendulum length, a dial with hands that fit the chapter ring and fit onto the movement.

The following number of cases and bezels were made:

21 black walnut cases

38 cherry cases

8 cases believed to be cherry

2 oak cases

5 oak bezels only

A total of 69 cases and 5 bezels. However not all cases were fitted with movements as some were sold to people who must have had their own movements.

After reading this you can perhaps feel the labor of love that went into the making of these clocks. Lots of hand work and consideration was employed. The first showing was at a chapter meeting in Seekonk, MA, in 1977. However, it took time for interest to grow before clocks were sold. I decided to sell the clocks\/cases unfinished and with or without movements. In retrospect I think I may have had more success if I had made more of the cases in oak wood and with the ‘green’ glass. My records are not so complete and therefore I don’t have the names of all the people to whom they were sold. I also don’t have a complete record of the people who bought cases without movements. When I closed up my shop, in 1987, I sold all my left-over parts to Foster Campos and I understand he made and fitted up a few cases.