A Hamilton Railroad employees time book from 1930

Some of the great drawings by the late George Townsend

Wonderful drawings Tom, I had a chance to meet George Townsend in 1982, a real gentleman and a scholar.

That great Larry, I wish I would have met him, all I ever hear is good things about him. I ran across those drawings on Ebay & thought I would have to hold onto them, four are from NAWCC conventions 68,69,70,71.

Tom

I corresponded with Townsend a few times when I first started collecting, and he very patiently tried his best to answer all of my rough questions. At that time he told me that he had several hundred high grade watches in pristine condition that had never been out of the box. He had bought these, I guess, from jewelers who were going out of business. I often wondered how he could be sure there was really a watch in there, since the boxes were sealed. I suppose his collection went to the NAWCC.

Meeting the Colonel was quite an experience for a new pocket watch collector, back in 1982 at the Southern Ohio Regional at Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. He had a table with many of his publications for sale, I wish I would have got him to sign my copy of his "American Railroad Watches" I did buy a Hamilton #954 from him, that complemented my Grade #994 that I bought later.

Here is a good one from the cover of the October 1941 Railroad Magazine, the old cigar smoking hoghead won't even take his watch off for the Watch Inspector, must have heard those stories about Watchmakers stealing jewels out of pocket watches.

South Bend Watch jewelers sign

Illinois Watch jewelers sign

Interesting Hamilton Leather watch inspection cardholder from Barnes Jewelry Co. Alliance, Nebraska Official Watch Inspectors Burlington Route

Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad Co. Employees Rating Card dated January 22, 1913 for Charles Lerouien Firemen on the Alliance Division Illinois Bunn Serial No. 136778 last cleaned on November 1, 1913 by the Barnes Jewelry Co. in Alliance, Nebr.

Here are a coupe of watch parts cabinets and jewelers' display trays on top. It's hard to read the bottom one (in red). The upper drawer reads "genuine materials," and the bottom reads "Hamilton watch." As you can see, this has become a catch-all for miscellaneous stuff.

Hi Larry and all, I'm curious about the South Bend sign from Ford City, Pa., as I have lived in the area since grade school and graduated from Ford City high school in 1975.

Hello Gary:

I can't tell you very much more about the South Bend sign. I found the following information at Wikipedia "Ford City, Pennsylvania was founded in 1887 as a company town by the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, the factory employed 5000 people in its heyday, and shut down in 1990". The community was serviced by the Buffalo and Allegheny Valley Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. EBay is offering a panoramic map of Ford City from 1896, Item # 120384093834.

A little more info I found on the Ford City South Bend sign if either of you are interested.

Walter H. Bowser was born Sept. 1881 & in 1920 was living in Ford City and was a jewelery store manager, he was married to Edna & had a daughter Margaret age 12 & a son Richard age 11.

Tom

Hi Larry and Tom, Ford City was founded by John B. Ford, who established Pittsburgh Plate Glass, which later became PPG Industries. I was employed there until 1993, when the plant closed. Most of the facilities were razed, also the railroad tracks have been lifted. Ford City today is a small town of about 3500, that is like many old company towns, lust trying to get by.

Thank you Tom and Gary for the additional information. It adds a lot to the history of my South Bend sign.

Larry

Hamilton Watch Company Stock Certificate

Hi Larry, what can you tell me about the Havana, Ill sign? The guy that got me started in this hobby was from Havana.

Larry

Hope you don't mind me posting what I found on the Havana, Il. sign.

1930 Census Havana Illinois
Jacob Euteneuer, born about 1857 in Connecticut, married to Mary. Occupation was retail merchant watchmaker jewelery.

He died March 2, 1931

His son was Leo, also a jeweler, born about 1884.
Leo was married to Catherine & in 1930 census he is listed as an optometrist in a jewelery store.

Thank you Tom! A few years ago the only Havana I had heard of was in Cuba!

Carlos

About 100 miles south of me on US550 is the small town of Cuba.

Tom

Here's something that I have framed, hanging over my workbench.
Jon

A pair of cuff links.

Sorry, I'm having trouble posting my pic.

Those cufflinks are neat, Gary!! Lets the world know what you like. Are these actual movements? Are there any marks to denote the manufacturer? And I wonder if their is a cover of sorts to keep the wheels, etc. from catching on clothes or getting bent. Very nice!

Here is some more stuff. Thie postcard from 1909 is of interest because Bradley University started off as the Peoria Watch Company some 20 years earlier.

Two Hamilton time books, or maybe watch inspection books with celulite covers:

These books had several pages of Hamilton advertising information inside.

Here is more of the same:

...and more

...and still more...

Here is an Elgin cardholder