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COLLECTION 009 · SGC-NC-009

New Haven Clock Works

New Haven Clock Company

Original advertisements, illustrated products and contemporary records trace the company’s work and changing identity.

Factory panorama, dated 1920 · Original publication unidentified; rendering dated 1920 by Walk New Haven
Factory panorama, dated 1920 · Original publication unidentified; rendering dated 1920 by Walk New Haven
OPENING / FIRST RECORDED DATEJerome case works: 1844; movement works: 1845
FOUNDED / HISTORICAL PERIODFebruary 7, 1853

Treat Clock Works as a descriptive collection label. Chauncey Jerome’s business preceded the company; the company was separately incorporated in 1853 and acquired Jerome Manufacturing in 1856.

Read the full story of New Haven Clock Works

COLLECTION HISTORY

The people behind the place.

Jerome brought case making to New Haven in 1844 and movement production in 1845. The separately incorporated New Haven Clock Company supplied his business, then acquired its assets in April 1856. The preservation nomination dates the company’s incorporation to February 7, 1853. [NC-010]

The catalogs show timekeeping combined with decoration: Thistle and Velvet cases, a tennis-themed ink set, a figurative clock and a night clock designed for a gas fixture. These product illustrations are primary evidence of what the company offered, while their descriptive claims remain advertising. [NC-001]

Chauncey Jerome’s 1860 autobiography offers a personal account of the trade and his financial collapse. Its portrait and title page establish the publication context. Read his account alongside the corporate chronology, rather than treating the predecessor business and the later company as interchangeable. [NC-009]

The catalog’s clocks were also furnishings. Named cases, figurative designs and combinations with desk or lighting objects show how sellers placed timekeeping within domestic and working interiors. These are illustrations of products offered for sale; they do not establish that every design was made in the same quantity or owned by a particular household. The company’s history is equally sensitive to distinctions. Jerome’s New Haven operations preceded the 1853 corporation, which later acquired his assets. His autobiography offers a participant’s explanation of that financial and industrial world, but his viewpoint requires comparison with company records. Together the sources make clock manufacture a story of design, business relationships and competing accounts of change. [NC-010] [NC-001] [NC-009]

ESTABLISHEDFebruary 7, 1853
EARLIEST HISTORYJerome case works: 1844; movement works: 1845

Treat Clock Works as a descriptive collection label. Chauncey Jerome’s business preceded the company; the company was separately incorporated in 1853 and acquired Jerome Manufacturing in 1856.

About this research edition. A selected primary-image and source collection, now including a licensed photograph of the New Haven Clock Company factory. Historical commercial renderings and engraved portraits are identified as illustrations. Additional photographs remain linked research leads. The predecessor Jerome business is distinguished from the 1853 company.

THE SEARCHABLE CATALOG

Images, maps & original records

Search includes catalog notes and the OCR text included with this edition. OCR may misread names or dates; use the original scan to verify a match.

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Clock manufactory engraving, dated 1866

NC-005 · Advertisements · Original publication unidentified; rendering dated 1866 by Walk New Haven

Clock manufactory engraving, dated 1866

New Haven Clock Company

A factory engraving headed “Manufactured by New Haven Clock Co.” Walk New Haven dates the rendering to 1866. The image should not be described as a photograph.

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Factory panorama, dated 1920

NC-006 · Historical illustrations · Original publication unidentified; rendering dated 1920 by Walk New Haven

Factory panorama, dated 1920

New Haven Clock Company

This panoramic rendering presents the expanded New Haven Clock Company works. Walk New Haven dates the image to 1920; it is a drawn commercial view.

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Jerome autobiography title page, 1860

NC-009 · Historical documents · 1860

Jerome autobiography title page, 1860

New Haven Clock Company

The title page of Jerome’s own account of the American clock business, published in New Haven in 1860. His personal account is a primary source that should be read with attention to his position in the company’s financial collapse.

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NC-012 · Sources & research leads · Date described in source

Women working at the factory, circa 1910

New Haven Clock Company

NRHP figure 6 credits Whitney Library/New Haven Museum. Public availability of the nomination is not an explicit license for all third-party historical photographs. Referenced photograph remains at its publisher.

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ED-IG-NC-01 · Photographs · about 1860 object; photograph undated

Shelf clock

New Haven Clock Works

A New Haven Clock Company shelf clock pairs a wooden case with a brass spring-driven movement.

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ED-IG-NC-02 · Photographs · about 1887 object; photograph undated

Watch

New Haven Clock Works

The company also made watches, extending manufactured timekeeping from the home to the pocket.

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Continue your research offline.

Extract the ZIP and open START_HERE.html. It includes the catalog, selected images, acquired source text, credits and a searchable SQLite database. New photo additions are hosted in the SGC media library and require an internet connection; original bundled images remain available offline.

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