Clock

Datec. 1930

MediumMetal, leather, glass

Dimensions2 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 22 1/2 in. (6.4 x 16.5 x 57.2 cm)

Donor credit lineLoan courtesy of Bristol County Sheriff's Office

Object numberL2025.22.10

DescriptionDetex Corporation Patrol clock, in leather carrying case. Keys to clock tied to carrying case. Used at Ash St. Jail, New Bedford.

" Detex has its origins in a predecessor company established in 1878 by Abraham A. Newman to manufacture and sell stationary watchclocks. In 1906, Newman incorporated the Newman Clock Company and then sold it in 1909 to Charles E. Renshaw, a New York businessman. In 1910, Newman founded a competitive company, the Chicago Watchman's Clock Works. The Eco Magnetic Clock Company of Boston marketed its first portable watchman's clock in 1906 – a device whose recording mechanism was made in the U.S. and installed in an otherwise complete clock imported from Germany. A Chicago firm, Hardinge Brothers, entered the market in 1907, and in 1908 introduced the "Alert" watchclock, which was based on principles similar enough to Newman's to require Hardinge to pay royalties to the Newman Clock Company. In 1909, Hardinge brought out the "Patrol" model, a watchclock that avoided infringement of the Newman patent.

In 1916, Mr. Renshaw acquired the Eco Clock Company of Boston. Then, in a series of aggressive moves in 1923, he acquired the Watchclock Division of Hardinge Brothers and the Watchman's Clock & Supply Company of New York, a dealer-distributor organization that originally marketed the products of Mr. Newman's Chicago Clock Works. Renshaw merged these with the Newman Clock Company and the Eco Clock Company, forming a single firm that he named the Newman Watchclock Corporation. This was the first-known American use of the term "watchclock." Two months later, the name was changed to "Detex Corporation" to emphasize to existing Hardinge and Eco users that the company wasn't the old Newman Clock Company. The term "Detex," believed coined by Philip H. Haselton, Sr., was suggested by a watchclock's detector feature, which marks the recording chart automatically when the cover of the clock is tampered with or opened. The corporate name was soon amended to "Detex Watchclock Corporation" to highlight the company's product offerings.

Detex consolidated its product line, retaining the "Eco" (from Eco Clock Company), the "Alert" and "Patrol" (from Hardinge Brothers) and the "Newman" (from Newman Clock Company). The Detex name was universally used in conjunction with the names of the four models to differentiate the new version of each model from the old version. The works of each were also completely re-engineered. Now, each model had the same look, the same high quality of movements and cases, and many interchangeable parts, but each with its own distinct station-registering system. " (https://www.watchclocks.org/Types/Collection/history/history.html). The Detex Patrol clock was discontinued in 1970. ProvenanceThis item is on loan to the museum. The museum holds no copyright or capabilities for licensing. For information on copyright or rights licensing, please contact lender.

On View

On view