In this installment I want to introduce you to a glorious example of the golden age of travel, my Westclox Travalarm clock.
It’s a discovery highlighted a problem I’m finding whenever I set foot into an antique shop or browse on Ebay, I want to take every item home! I figure my willpower to keep the credit card in the wallet was 50/50. I thought I had been pretty strong the day I walked out the Railroad Street Antique Mall in Sherwood Oregon with only my wonderful Emerson Explorer transistor radio in my hand.
I should have known better.
While heading to the counter to pay for my Explorer, I spotted a group of old clocks and cameras sitting behind the glass of a display case. One clock in particular caught my eye. It was different from the rest. For one thing it was a rectangle, not square, and the lower part of the face was obscured by a set of horizontal plastic ridges. Others might wonder why the ridges blocked the front, but I didn’t have to wonder. I knew. They were part of a moveable cover that slid up to protect the clock.
How I knew this, I couldn’t say. I had no actual memory of seeing such a device before, but it struck a chord with me. It was so familiar. Even after I left it behind in the shop and spent the next few days enjoying my new/old radio, I couldn’t get that timepiece out of my mind.
I was so intrigued that before the week was out I was back in the shop. I asked the clerk to take the clock out of the display case and he showed me how it worked. First he confirmed that it indeed had an accordion cover which rolled up to protect the face. Then he showed me the back. Instead of being smooth, the back was on a hinge.
Flipped up it protected the clock’s controls. One was a key to wind the clock (no batteries needed to power this baby) and the knobs that set the time and the alarm. Then he flipped the back down and a thought shot through my mind like a bolt of lightning!
“THAT’S RIGHT. THE BACK TURNS INTO A STAND, DOESN’T IT?”
Just like an easel. There was no more question. Even if I couldn’t picture it clearly, I must have seen this clock before.
According to clockhistory.com, Westclox has been making timepieces since they came into existence as the United Clock Company in 1885. They’ve had a series of different owners since then, but they’re still making clocks today.
As to this mid-century wonder, I suspect my dad had one sometime in the 1960s. He was an airline pilot. He needed a good, rugged clock like this on the go. This Westclox fit the bill. Made of real metal the clock could easily withstand the rigors of traveling along with the jet set. With the front and back folded up, the compact shape meant the timepiece was easy to transport and well protected.
I doubt a fall from a second floor hotel balcony would hurt this baby. Not like clocks made today. Before I discovered this wonder I had bought a travel alarm made in 2019. I won’t name the brand, but the plastic hinges that attached the cover to the clock were so weak they broke off as I took it out of the package. Now I admit I only paid $12 for the thing, but you would think it would at least last long enough to get it out of the blister pack in one piece!
No worries. Now that I have my rugged Westclox Travalarm, nothing can go wrong… as long as I remember to wind the thing!
FYI, this style of clock came in a variety of colors so I had to buy a few more. That’s when I discovered that sometime in the intervening decades Westclox switched from metal to plastic. They look the same, but are not. So, if you want a good, rugged version, make sure you buy one made in the 1950s or 1960s. A later, plastic, version is more hardy than the cheap ones manufactured today, but they aren’t quite as study as the originals.
No matter the era, there’s one thing that will never change. This Westclox Travalarm is a Glorious example of Vintage Stuff!
