RARE AUBURNDALE WATCH CO POCKET WATCH ADVERTISING THERMOMETER, 1880s 10 1/2 INCH

Description: Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 RARE AUBURNDALE WATCH CO --"POCKET WATCH" MANUFACTURE COMPANY-- AN ADVERTISING THERMOMETER, ---1880s--- 10 1/2 INCH ACROSS. LOOKS LIKE WALNUT WOOD AND PAINTED TIN DIAL WITH LOTS OF DISCOLORATION OF THE PAINT FROM REACTION WITH THE TIN. A FINE PIECE OF WOODWORK AND A RARE EXAMPLE OF A WATCH COMPANY STRUGGLING TO KEEP IN BUSINESS. THERE ARE 2 PATENTS FOR THE THERMOMETER--- SEE THE ARTICLE BELOW BY THE AUTHOR OF A BOOK ON AUBURNDALE WATCH CO. THIS IS STILL WORKING AND ACCURATE AND THE ALL ORIGINAL GLASS HAS A FEW BUBBLES SO THIS IS ALSO THE ORIGINAL GLASS. IT SHOULD BE WORTH MUCH MORE THAN THE WATCH WHICH CAN BE FOUND AROUND FAIRLY EASILY. By Edwin A. Battison THE AUBURNDALE WATCH COMPANY: Up to this time, about November 1, 1879, the Auburndale Watch Co., had existed as a private company; now it was incorporated with a book value of $500,000, and William B. Fowle, who at this point had invested about $250,000 (mostly unrecoverable) in the enterprise, was elected president, and George H. Bourne was elected secretary and treasurer. After a quantity of these Lincoln and Bentley watches had been manufactured[46] and it had become clear that they could not be attractively priced to the trade, the company sought a product adapted to their factory equipment for which a constant market could be found. The product chosen was a line of metallic thermometers.[47] Two patents, 240058 and 240059, 66 were issued to William A. Wales, assignor to the Auburndale Watch Co., of Weston, Massachusetts, on April 12, 1881. Whether these patents represent the first thermometers made at Auburndale or reflect the result of experience gained in making conventional models is not clear. The earliest evidence dating the appearance of the thermometer is the 1881 Boston directory which appeared on July 1. This illustrates the same model of thermometer seen in figure 22. The patents cover means of eliminating springs of any sort from the mechanism, so that the hand or dial pointer is entirely under the influence of the fused bimetallic thermal strips. Manufacture of the timers was carried along with thermometer manufacture at first, but production of the timer was finally dropped, as the stock on hand was constantly increasing, and for a while the factory was at last operated at a profit, on thermometers alone. These were furnished in cases from 20 inches in diameter down to the size of a ten cent piece, according to the advertising. Unfortunately Mr. Fowle had suffered so much loss through the watch venture and from other investments that he was forced to make an assignment of his personal estate. The watch company, without his support, was carrying too large a burden of debt to be self-supporting. In the fall of 1883 a voluntary assignment was made and the equipment was sold in February 1884.[48] The Newton directory of 1885 lists W. B. Fowle as a thermometer manufacturer on Woodbine Street, “house near.” His home, “Tanglewood,” was on Woodbine Street and perhaps the thermometer business was operating in one of the outbuildings. William A. Wales assigned to the Auburndale Watch Co. patent 276101, of December 4, 1883, covering details of a unit counter for keeping score in games, and for similar work. Among the relics in the author’s collection is a box bearing the label “Auburndale Counter, W. B. Fowle & Son, Auburndale, Mass.” These counters were packed two in a box, the box just mentioned being suitable to contain counters the size of the thermometer in figure 22. Figure 23 shows a larger counter measuring 4-1/2 inches in diameter. From this and the fact that Fowle as late as 1887, is carried in the Newton directory as a manufacturer of metallic thermometers, it seems that some attempt was made after dissolution of the watch company to carry on manufacturing, 67 or perhaps only the assembly on a small scale of parts previously manufactured. The Directory of 1889 lists Fowle as an accountant on Ash Street, Auburndale. He had bought this property in 1887, presumably after disposing of “Tanglewood” which now would be too large for his needs. In the editions of 1891 and 1893 he is listed as United States collector of internal revenue, with an office at the Post Office building, Boston. In 1895 he appears as an accountant at the same

Price: 399.99 USD

Location: Tampa, Florida

End Time: 2025-01-29T17:07:03.000Z

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