8 day stowell dashboard clock questions

March 10, 2010, 13:33

Lindell V. Riddle

Hello Phil,

Thanks for bringing us this early car clock.

It is typical of what we find from the late teens and through the 1920s in both North America and Europe. Like yours most of them use an 8-day movement but people would forget to wind them after the novelty wore off. Add to that the fact these mechanical movements attached to the dash board did not fare well given the vibration and dust that was common in those old cars and most clocks stopped after a while.

Not until after WWII would clocks became a more common item in cars. Most of those were electrically wound but problems persisted, the mineral oils began to fail after a couple years so by then they were only on time twice every twenty-four hours. I recall as a child riding in the front seat I would try re-setting the time, then the car clock would click and wind but usually run for only a few minutes.

Then by the early 1960s they finally used electric clocks in cars which were very reliable.

Click this link to "Car Clocks" in our IHC185 "Find-Or-Search" to see additional related information.

Perhaps someone will be familiar with the Stowell manufacturer as it looks interesting.

Lindell