Page 24 - joa-october-rev

The cover of a 1914 Ansonia Clock Company thrived for decades, only to succumb to a familiar foe for the Phelps’
catalog currently for sale for around $20 at businesses this time in the 21st century – a fire. The company then
Biblio.ie closed the day before Thanksgiving, 2013, and made a deal with the
town of Ansonia to forgive as much as $400,000 in back taxes in
company had manufactured 83,503 exchange for demolition and clean up of the contaminated properties. In
clocks, employed 150 workers, and used 2015, the owners sold the property to 725 Bank Street Development,
90,000 pounds of brass to make the Inc., in Cincinnati, Ohio. The property, which even had its own rail
clocks. In 1873, its first published price stop, had to be remediated and cleaned up to allow for redevelopment.
list offered 45 models and 14 different In 2018, a fire ripped through what many saw as the most beautiful
movements. Ansonia also exported its of the buildings left on the site, as if to erase the Phelps legacy. Today,
clock movements overseas. Some of the the town of Ansonia now works to preserve the legacy of Anson Phelps.
most highly prized antique clocks made
in Europe have Ansonia movements.
In 1877, the Ansonia Clock Anson Green Phelps, Philanthropist
As Anson Phelps maneuvered through the business world, he did
Company moved its entire business not forget those who were less fortunate. Phelps regularly contributed
to Brooklyn, New York where the to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the
building burned down in 1880.
Once again, the company was rebuilt and Colonization Society, the Blind Asylum of New York City, the
opened for business within a year. Expansion was American Bible Study, and the American Home Missionary Society,
on the owners’ minds, and the newest site consisted of a and served as President of each one of these organizations at various
300,000-square-foot factory complex. Here, Ansonia’s 1,500 times. Many other societies and charitable institutions also benefited
employees made more than 10,000 clocks and watches, which they from him both directly and from his estate. At his funeral, family friend
Mrs. Sigourney wrote of Phelps,
added to their product line, each day. Today, it houses a 71-unit “The cares of commerce and the rush of wealth Swept not away his
residential co-op.
meekness, nor the time To cultivate all household charities; Nor the
answering, conscientious zeal To consecrate a portion of his gains To
man’s relief and the Redeemer’s cause.”
Watches Join the Clock Enterprise
Ansonia clocks were expensive. They were often placed in the home His grandson, James Stoker, established the Anson G. Phelps
where they could stand out as a status symbol. When the company Lectures on Early American History at NYU in 1918. There is a collec-
attempted to create an inexpensive version tion of pamphlets, brochures, and posters
of a pocket watch for the average person, promoting the lectures as well as pub-
the designers chose to go with a tourbilion lished lectures and manuscripts on lecture
watch that was originally created in France topics at the University covering the series
by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1775. from 1920-2008. The purpose of the lec-
Taking the design a step further, they built tures, according to Stokes, was that of
the case so that the movement would “inculcating a knowledge of the principles
rotate inside. Millions of the non-jeweled which animated the Puritan Fathers and
models were sold across 25 years before the early colonists; and of the influence they
watch division went out of business. have exerted upon modern civilization.”
The year 1877 is the same year that
Henry J. Davies of Brooklyn—also a
clockmaker, inventor, and case designer The Clocks at Market
The vast variety of Ansonia clocks and
—joined the now-reconfigured Ansonia high numbers of those produced have
Clock Company as a founding partner. made collecting them something anyone
The good times were at hand. By 1914, can collect at any level. With a quick scan
the business offered around 450 different via Google, there are clocks available for
clocks and their iron-cased clocks contin- In 2018, what was considered one of the most beautiful buildings
ued to be popular. But, with a broader from the closed Ansonia Brass Company burned to the ground. purchase ranging from $35 to $1,500
range of raw materials in manufacturing and up. The determination of value rests
on condition, features, working status,
and changes in taste over time, the Ansonia Clock Company began to and how many of a particular model were
drop business starting around 1920 when the selection was down to created. With the signature of an impor-
136 clocks and 9 watch models. tant clockmaker, look for a higher value.
Then, in 1929, the Ansonia Clock Company business stumbled fur-
ther with the Great Depression as a somewhat final blow. The Ansonia
Clock Company was sold to Russian investors, and the entire company
was moved to Moscow.

Meanwhile in Ansonia
Back in the town of Ansonia, the Ansonia Brass Company

A sought-after Vintage Ansonia Clock Tin by the Ansonia Clock Company of Brooklyn, New York. The tin was used to house the “BEE” clock which required no key,
all you had to do was twist its back. The side sees the words “Warrantees a good time keeper, One Day Bee, will go in any position.” And, “No key required to wind the clock.
Turn the back. Patented April 23,1878.” The base shows a wonderful illustration of views of the factory in Brooklyn, New York.
22 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles