I was thinking this would be the 100th anniversary of the mantle clock given to my mother's parents as a wedding present when they married in 1923. While it plausible that my grandmother could have married at 18, I checked my records and they did not marry until 1931, quite late for those times. I think my grandfather was 37 when he married. Mother once said to me that her parents must have had sex at least once, or she would not be here. I didn't but I felt like saying, so you and our father had sex at least four times.
Anyway, on mantle pieces the clock has always sat. On my grandparents' home in Centre Road, South Oakleigh then in North Road, South Oakleigh. In North Road we kids loved to play with it. I am sure we turned the hands backwards and forwards but we weren't responsible for the scratches on the face. I think that was my grandfather's watch that did the damage.
I lived for a short time in my grandmother's house after she died and I decided I would take the clock but by the 70's it had stopped working. It was made by a local jewellers, Dunklings, the chain store was still around, so I took the clock to them for repair. No Sir, sorry we don't repair old clocks. But you made the clock and you should be liable to maintain it and to my surprise they said yes. I think the repair cost around $35, quite a bit of money then but it was well spent.
The clock sat on our mantle pieces in Elwood, East Malvern, Glen Iris, Burwood and Balaclava until here, where without a mantle piece it sits on a shelf. It only gives an approximate time. When freshly wound up, it runs fast and as it unwinds, it runs slowly.
In the eighties Sister who stayed over with us in East Malvern complained about the clock chime, so we let it run down and left it that way. For some reason I mentioned the clock to R recently and he said the chiming never worried him. I wound up the chime spring and it still worked. Amazing. But it took a lot of work to match the chimes to the hours and it ended up being more arse than class that I made it chime correctly. With our bedroom doors closed, we can only just hear the clock when it chimes and it is comforting sound, or one to mark the time when you can't sleep.
So, with a fix in 1978, the clock still works 45 years later, 92 years after it was made. That's pretty amazing.
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We have a similar clock, of similar vintage. It too runs fast after being wound, and slows as the days goes past. And we have spent significant amounts of money to allow it to mark approximate time. For some reason it chimes at two minutes past the hour, and again 32 minutes later. I like its tick and its chimes.
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice thing to have EC. They are clearly not reliable and needed to be reset by checking the local town hall clock, or maybe by then, the time pips on the wireless.
DeleteI like chiming clocks. Often they sort our the correct timing themselves, although it can take a day or two.
ReplyDeleteHaha Tasker, they do indeed at times correct themselves at times.
DeleteThat is a family treasure to keep and pass on.
ReplyDeleteWho knows who would want it Roentare.
DeleteWhat a wonderful heirloom with memories attached.
ReplyDeleteYes, absolutely to both Sandra.
DeleteIt's nice that you have kept that clock. 92 years of memories. You could have it modernised - taking out the old workings and putting in a simple battery-driven quartz mechanism.
ReplyDeleteYP, like I did with the clock in my Humber Super Snipe. Well, not exactly battery drive quartz but back then a more modern system. Still it kept failing.
DeleteMost people these days don't run into the lounge room to check the clock on the mantlepiece, if they want the time. Now it is a precious piece of art that has family history attached.
ReplyDeleteTrue Hels. We look at our phones or digital devices on our wrists, but I am sure you still have a very nice wrist watch.
DeleteI must say, it was very suspenseful waiting for that clock to chime in that first video.
ReplyDeleteThat was the third video I took Kirk. Standing and staring at a clock face with a phone in your hand is very boring.
DeleteLove a proper chiming clock, the ones they make today are not the best.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the videos Andrew.
Margaret, I am sure they aren't and they won't last for nearly 100 years.
DeleteP inherited a very old chiming carriage clock from his dad. We spent a three figure sum to get it working again and it chimes beautifully, however, as it runs quite fast P gets annoyed with it so it just lives in a box on a shelf, never used. I am tempted now to bring it out again and wind it up.
ReplyDeleteJayCee, yes, do give it another chance. Point out to P that the clock is only ever a rough guide to the time.
DeleteThe ones that sat on mantel were called grandmother clocks and of course the grandfather clocks were the ones standing in the hallway. My mum had a grandmother clock and the ticking was a background to me falling asleep whenever I visited as a young child. There were no spare beds so I was put on a "mattress" of blankets to sleep beside the fireplace in the lounge room while my dad slept on the sofa.
ReplyDeleteRiver, oh, I got the mantel spelling wrong. I even checked. You are right about it being it being a grandmother clock, now I think about it. A ticking clock never worried me but the newer clocks with the dropping flaps certainly did. Kids can really fall asleep anywhere.
DeleteMy parents had a short grandfather clock that was known as a grandmother clock. I don't know what happened to it. We have a grandfather clock. At present it is chiming 5 hours fast or 7 hours slow. At least, it was before I turned off the chimes. When I have an hour or two to spare I will adjust it.
ReplyDeleteJB, I had forgotten the grandmother clock name. Your clock sounds old and as unreliable as everyone's.
DeleteThese old clocks ! they made me crazy with their tic tac, when there was one in the room I slept when we stayed with friends. Once I got up in the middle of the night took the clock and put it in the living room on the sofa with 3 cushions on it. Then I slept ! My grandma's sister had a horrible clock with a Coucou ! and this bird showed it's had all half hours and of course the hours. 12 was my favorite hour. He showed his head 12 times ! I was nearly ready to decapited the poor bird !
ReplyDeleteLol at your clock tales Gattina. Smother the cuckoos.
DeleteAmazing pieces of art and mechanical engineering.
ReplyDeleteYes TP, the engineering. How come that mechanism has lasted for so long!
DeleteIt IS impressive that it still works. We had an old clock that belonged to my great-great grandparents, I think -- and when my mom moved into a retirement center we sent it to my uncle. He has since died and I have no idea what ever happened to that clock. But it didn't work anyway.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pity Steve. The clock we have is quite special to me.
DeleteThe ticking came keep me awake sometimes but the birds always wake me up. This looks like something that would be on the Repair Shop television show.
ReplyDeletePat, it would be nice to have the case and face restored, but I will leave that to the Repair Shop.
DeleteHow awesome you got them to do repairs. Be well, Andrew.
ReplyDelete