Saturday, January 24, 2015

Dad's Ads - Sepia Saturday

When I was a child my father's side business was repairing watches and clocks.   A few months ago I was searching the newspapers most local to Mineral Ridge, Ohio, and was pleased and surprised to see that he had advertized during the time his children were young.  There are probably more ads I haven't found yet.

I know my dad hoped the business would grow to become full-time employment but it never generated enough income to enable him to give us his regular employment.  As a part-time, second job he spent many hours working on clocks and watches that people brought to our home for repair.

In this ad from 1948 is interesting because of the phone number.  Within a decade Ohio Bell changed the numbering system and our number became OLympic 2-7979.

The Mineral Ridge Volunteer Fire Department held an annual festival that was the highlight of every summer.  The school's lawn was given over to rides, booths, games, and food.  The Ridge was canvassed for supporters who paid a sum to have their names included as sponsors of the Festival.  The ad below could almost be a directory of businesses in the Ridge in 1954. 

Until I was 10 or 12 my father had a sign on the side of our front porch and one at the top of our street, indicating the way toward our house.













The last ad is one he placed during the Christmas season one year after he'd made several grandmother and granddaughter clocks.  Looking at it now I find it strange that he included directions to our home but did not include a phone number -- which means that people could show up at any time on our front doorstep, asking to see the clocks.  (Of course, people appeared on our doorstep unannounced when they brought watches for repair.)

Dad was probably in his mid- to late-50s when he took up woodworking and began building clocks.  They were not only time-consuming but required much care and attention to detail.  He preferred making the grandmother clocks, probably because they were more substantial.  His favorite wood was cherry but he also used walnut.  He was an excellent craftsmen and they were beautiful.

The grandmother clocks stood about 6 feet tall.  The granddaughters were a foot or more shorter.  I once asked him if he would make a small clock for my husband and me.  We envisioned a clock that was small enough to lift and carry in two hands.  He envisioned a granddaughter clock and promptly told us they weren't worth his time to build.  When we explained further he agreed to make us a clock.  Of course we still have it -- and I need to take some photos of it.

I don't know how many grandmother/granddaughter clocks he made but he sold all but two of them.  He kept one for my mother and him to enjoy and gave one to my brother (I think).

This post is a contribution to Sepia Saturday #263.  After you've decided on your purchase here head over there to see what others are offering for sale.

--Nancy.


Copyright © 2015 Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.

24 comments:

  1. A fascinating story and how nice to have pictures of the ads to go with it.

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    1. Thanks, Liz. After I published this post I thought maybe I should have included a photo of my father, too. But there are several other posts about his clock business so I decided not to come back and add one. It was a nice surprise to find the ads in a contemporary local newspaper.

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  2. I have heard of Grandfather clocks but i had not heard of Grandmother of Granddaughter clocks previously.

    Today phone and website is mentioned and often not the address!

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    1. I think grandfather clocks are 7' or taller; grandmother are about 6'; and granddaughter are about 5' tall -- more or less. The grandfather clocks are more substantial whereas the grandmother and granddaughter clocks are slimmer. (Huh! It sounds sexist, doesn't it?)

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  3. My father was really good at woodworking and made some great furniture for our home.

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    1. Hi, Postcardy. Do you still have some of the furniture? I hope so. It would be a great treasure, I should think.

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  4. How interetsing that you have such a personal account and photos to post. I can’t imagine anyone making a clock on request.

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    1. Dad had several variations he used for the clock patterns. I guess it would be a little like having a tailor make a suit.

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  5. How wonderful to have a clock made by your father -- holding your family's time in your hands!

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    1. Hi, Deb. I hadn't thought of it quite that way -- holding our family's time in my hands -- but yes, I like that idea. It is great to have my father's clock. It is 35 or so years old by now and needs to get to the shop. It runs slow and winds tight.

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  6. Such a moving tribute to your father's work.

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  7. I wonder how many homes these days have a clock that needs cherishing and winding. They are all battery operated or digital. Yet a proper clock was always a thing of beauty.

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    1. Not only are most clocks battery or digital but so are watches. I think part of the reason my father quit repairing clocks and watches was because they became battery and digital. And disposable.

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  8. A lovely family story illustrated by your father's advertisements. Like Sharon, I hadn't heard of grandmother or granddaughter clocks before. Perhaps they are slightly smaller than grandfather clocks?

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    1. Thank you. Yes, the grandmother and granddaughter clocks are smaller. The grandmothers are about 6' tall, the granddaughters are about 5' tall.

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  9. I have an ad somewhere about my uncle Hugh's watch repair business. He never took to clock building though. I had not known about Grandmother and Granddaughter clocks before, only the grandfather ones.

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    1. You'll have to share your uncle's ad some time. It would be fun to see. The grandfather clocks are usually 7' or taller; the grandmothers are about 6'; and the granddaughters are about 5'.

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  10. Hello Nancy, your post just gave me an idea! One of my Aunts owned a jewellery shop, but I’ve never thought to look for adverts about it – I will now. I am so enjoying reading all the Sepia Saturday posts because they spark of ideas, just as your post did.
    I’m thinking it must be you standing in front of the sign, what a beautiful child you were.

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    1. Hi, Barbara. I get ideas, too, by reading others' posts. I hope you find some ads for your aunt's shop.

      The girl in the photo is my older sister. She was a beautiful child.

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  11. This is particularly interesting to me because my grandfather, Enoch, also ran a part-time watch and clock repair business (he combined it with being a window-cleaner). How I wish I had some adverts from his little business but I suspect he never was that organised.

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    1. Oh, Alan, I hope maybe you'll find an ad or two for your grandfather business, either watch repair and/or window cleaning. Of course, maybe word of mouth was all he needed. It certainly seems like it might be so in the window cleaning business.

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  12. So your ads are the real thing with you living the times. Jewelry stores did most of the repairing of clocks and watches when I was growing up.

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    1. Yes, Larry, these are the real ads from during my lifetime. My father was also a jeweler but for some reason, in those ads, he emphasized the watch and clock repairs. Don't know why.

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