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Tick-tock, time to learn about clocks

A collection of quality mantle clocks is shown here.
A collection of quality mantle clocks is shown here. - Louis Leroux

A sound seldom heard in our hurried modern times is the reassuring tick-tock heartbeat of an antique or vintage key wind clock.

There was a time when a clock, be it on a mantle, a wall or standing alone in a hallway, marked the hour of the day for us as we moved through life.

Clocks are the centrepiece of countless tales. In fact, authors used the continuity of clocks in the historical context of their stories of people and places.

Here in Nova Scotia, for example, there is a book called Historic Halifax in Tales Told Under the Old Town Clock, referring to the clock on Citadel Hill. It was put there by the British military to serve the citizens of Halifax. Today it is mostly a tourist attraction, as most public clocks in historical locations have become.

Younger generations recognize the word ‘clock’ but really have little knowledge or use for mechanical clocks, except as colourful and nostalgic items for decor.

Occasionally, we see magnificent clocks in television shows, such as Downton Abbey or Murdoch Mysteries, all set in the late 1800s to early 1900s.

Shown here is an American-made banjo clock. - Louis Leroux

Notable in the history of civilization, mechanical and steam-driven clocks were popular and considered the ‘new wave.’ In Vancouver’s Gastown district, for example, there is a steam-driven clock that serves the citizens of that city to this day.

Relegated to historical public buildings and places appears to be the fate of antique clocks, a curiosity, and yet people rely on them out of nostalgia and appreciation for these mechanical marvels.

Clock making was primarily a European skill and was brought to North America by immigrants, particularly from Germany, Switzerland and Scotland, who were famous for making tall case clocks.

In Canada, a Swiss immigrant created The Arthur Pequegnat Clock Company, with unique models named after Canadian cities. Collectors should make efforts to learn more from books available in our public libraries, which is a first step at no cost.

Clocks have played a significant part in our history; the railroads across Canada are a prime example.

Key wind clocks are named for their style and purpose from the 1800s onward. Beautiful cabinets of exotic woods and handcrafted clock faces, often animated with moons and sailing ships, stand tall in grandfather clock cases.

Smaller versions were named grandmother clocks, followed by mantel clocks with wood cabinets shaped like admiral hats from the past. In the 1920s and 1930s, sleek cabinetry and chimes echoed the sounds of the great clocks of Europe, such as Big Ben in London and Trinity Church.

Added features included quarter, half and on-the-hour chimes in the best of clocks. There was also social prestige bestowed upon a household that displayed clocks in prominent locations, including fireplace mantles, hallways and living rooms.

The first clock I remember was a small Westclox alarm clock that woke up the household for school. To this day, I cringe at the insistent alarm coming from a digital electric clock to awake us. Fortunately, a simple press of a button eliminates the annoying buzzer.

As a matter of fact, alarm clocks have existed since the late-1800s era. I have one — a circa 1900 Nuremberg, Germany, wind-up mantle clock that delivers a soft ringing tone.

Its regular clock face is esthetically appealing, unlike the plastic or tin lumps of digital red light buzzing beasts they call alarm clocks today.

It’s always a surprise for me to meet younger generations who can’t read an old clock face and they are amused by the sounds of chimes, somewhat like a music box toy to them. Clocks were never featured in children’s educational shows as timekeepers, but as characters dancing with teapots.

Perhaps adding a gentle tick-tock along with a music box chime to announce the hour could be, for many of us, a reminder of civility and order, both somewhat absent in today’s hustle-and-bustle society.


1. Clocks are repairable like all mechanical things.

2. Clocks do need occasional cleaning with solvent fluids. This is best left to professionals.

3. Clock keys often are replacements. Today there are universal adjustable keys available.

4. Clocks with pendulums need balance and must be on a stable surface or regulated with weights and angles of location to function correctly.

5. Clocks range from magnificent furniture to decorative cuckoo clocks with songbirds and animated figures.

Enjoy your choice and learn all you can to fully appreciate the wonder of these timekeepers.

Louis Leroux is a Halifax-based writer specializing in antiques and collectibles.

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