As General Chairman for the 2006 Ward Francillon Time Symposium and Exhibit, cosponsored by Chapters 174, 185 and 28, I'd like to warmly invite all Chapter 185 Ball Research Forum participants both to attend the seminar and to participate in the exhibit. (Please see the Chapter Events listing on this site for additional details.) The 2002 Seminar exhibit, sponsored by Chapter 174 (Pocket Horology), featured one of the most outstanding exhibits of early American watches in memory, both for content and presentation. The 2006 seminar exhibit will feature watches, clocks, documents, propaganda and ephemera of the Webb C. Ball Watch Co. We have an excellent start on a great exhibit with several major Ball collectors, including our esteemed Chapter 185 president Lin Riddle, already enlisted as participants. Tom McIntyre has graciously agreed to coordinate the exhibit and to create an enlarged electronic display to accompany it. As with the 2002 exhibit, it is again our intention to create a scholarly annotated pictorial catalog of the 2006 exhibit for posterity.
We seek both representative and unique examples of the products of the Ball Watch Co. I'd like to hear from the Ball Brain Trust on this discussion site what you think the ideal Ball exhibit should contain. Thanks in advance for your help.
Clint Geller
Posts: 219 | Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA | Registered: May 10, 2003
Can I "bribe" someone w/ good photography skills to take pics of the Ball display, complete w/ close ups of watches for me...I am not going to be able to attend...I will gladly pay someone for their efforts..Thanks Greg
Posts: 9 | Location: Monroe, North Carolina U.S.A. | Registered: February 05, 2005
To address the original question as to what the ideal Ball exhibit should contain, I think that the many facets of it should include early Waltham-Ball variations and the Cleveland streetscapes and buildings that Ball would have known. I am all for creating context for the artifacts (and personalities) we all admire.
The introduction of the 16s Waltham-Ball watches was a great endeavour. How did Ball persuade Waltham to do it? The financial risk must have been considerable. Perfection of the line took some years but laid a foundation for the future.
Early postcards are an excellent source for the streescapes and buildings. Does anyone have a picture of Ball's home at Cleveland Heights? Would Webb C Ball have been able to travel all the way to the "office" by street car? Did he?
Just some suggestions. John Scott.
Posts: 215 | Location: East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Registered: December 31, 2005
As I am at quite some distance and, unfortunately, unlikely to make it to the Seminar, perhaps the most practical offering would be e-mailed images of relevant Cleveland street scenes.
Posts: 215 | Location: East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Registered: December 31, 2005
