आमचे खापरपणजोबा
By: Swati Dole-Dixit
Tags: Gustav Baker, Heirlooms, Seth Thomos, Ancestors

या दोघांच्या संसाराने दीक्षितांच्या पाच तरी पिढ्यांचे संसार बघितले. अमेरिकेत बनवलेले हे घड्याळ आडबाजूच्या या गावात कसे आले, कोणी आणले याची अलीकडच्या तीन पिढ्यातही कोणालाच कल्पना नाही.

गावातल्या वाड्यात ते स्थित असताना टोल पडले की गल्लीभर ऐकू जायचे. पुण्यात आगमन झाल्यावर त्यांनी फ्लॅट मध्येही जुळवून घेतले. अजूनही दोघांचा संसार सुरळीत चालू आहे, अर्थात काळाबरोबर ते विनातक्रार प्रवास करतात.

सेथ थॉमस ची कुळकथा अलीकडेच आमचे मित्र श्री दांडेकर यांनी सांगिल्यावरच समजली. मग त्याच्या इतिहासाचा धांडोळा घेतला. जगातील सर्वात प्रसिद्ध आणि सर्वाधिक व्यावसायिक आयुष्य लाभलेली, ही घड्याळे बनवणारी अमेरिकन कंपनी श्री सेथ थॉमस यांनी १८१३ साली स्थापन केली. अमेरिकेतील कानेक्टिकट प्रांतातील वोलकॉट येथे १७८५ मध्ये जन्मलेल्या थॉमस यांनी १८०७ मध्ये एली टेरी यांच्या घड्याळ कंपनीत नोकरी सुरु केली. १८१० मध्ये ती कंपनी तत्कालीन ६००० डॉलर ला आणि १८१३ मध्ये श्री क्लार्क यांचाही व्यवसाय त्यांनी विकत घेतला. सन १८०० ते १९२० पर्यंत अमेरिकेतील हा सर्वात मोठा बिझनेस होता.

त्या काळातील युरोप मधील जर्मनी ,इंग्लंड, फ्रान्स मधील महागडी घड्याळे सर्वसामान्य अमेरिकन्सना परवडत नसत. हे ओळखूनच थॉमस यांनी कॅलेंडर, म्युझिकल, किचन, मार्बल, इलेक्ट्रॉनिक, एसी अशी विविध घड्याळे वॉलनट, ओक च्या सुंदर, आकर्षक केसमध्ये बाजारात आणली. अर्थात क्वालिटीशी कुठेही तडजोड न करता!

जगभरात १८४२ पर्यंत घड्याळाच्या आतील भाग लाकडाचे बनत. त्यानंतर ही जागा पितळेने घेतली. १९१८ पर्यंतच्या घड्याळात शाईने तारखेचा ठसा मागे किंवा खाली छापलेला असे. वर्षाचा आकडा उलट्या क्रमांकाने तर महिन्याच्या क्रमांकानुसार अल्फा बेट वापरले जाई .म्हणजे जानेवारीसाठी A, फेब साठी B. उदाहरणार्थ- एप्रिल १८९७ साली तयार झालेल्या घड्याळाचा कोड असे- ७९८१- D.

यथावकाश थॉमस क्लॉक कंपनीचे कॅलिब्रि (calibri group of watches) ग्रुप मध्ये विलीनीकरण झाले. १८५९ साली थॉमस यांचे निधन झाले.

Plymouth C.T. या गावाचे नाव थॉमस यांच्या बहुमानार्थ ‘Thomaston’ असे ठेवले गेले.

आजही “ Founding Father of the Clock companies” म्हणून थॉमस यांचे नाव आदराने घेतले जाते.

ऋणानुबंध

“ठ णण…ठ णण”. रात्रीच्या निरव शांततेत अचानक या खापर-पणजोबांचे टोल तब्बल १२ वेळा दणाणतात आणि काळजाचा ठोका चुकतो. याचा तुम्ही फक्त गजर ऐका, जणू वादळाचे केंद्र तयार होते की काय अशी कंपने हवेत उठतात. कधी हा फॉरेनर बापमाणूस एका छोट्या खेड्यात, गोपालनानांच्या, अण्णांच्या माजघरात, जुन्या भिंतीवर, जवळजवळ पावणेदोन शतके अधिराज्य करत होता.

आमचे पूर्वज ‘थॉमस’ च्या सुचनेनुसारच मुहूर्त गाठायला, उपरणे सावरत पूजेला जात असतील, सौ चिमाबाईंपर्यंत माजघरात याचा सांगावा पोचत असेल.

गणेशभट आणि सौ अन्नपूर्णबाई यांचा संसार याच्याच तालावर आणि टोलांवर संपन्न झाला असेल.

गोपाळरावांची आन्हिके, शाळेत-शेतावर जाण्याची वेळ आणि यमुना बाईंची स्वयंपाक पाण्याची गडबड याचे वेळापत्रक यानेच ठरवलेले असणार.

बळवंतरावांचा तसा राजेशाही थाट होता. पानाचे चांदीचे तबक घेऊन झुल्यावर झुलताना, घड्याळाचा धीरगंभीर आवाज ऐकत त्यांनी अत्तराचा फाया कानात सरकवला असेल. अन्नपूर्णबाईंनी या थोरल्या बापमाणसाची वेळ पाहूनच अहोंना हाक दिली असेल.

अन्नपूर्णबाईं-बळवंतराव

सीतारामदादा, नारायणबाबा, विष्णुपंत यांचे लहानपण, विष्णुपंत -उषामाईंची आयुष्याची उस्तवार यानेच अनुभवली असणार.

उषामाईं

गयामाई

संसार म्हणजे काय हे कळायच्या आत बालविधवा होऊन माहेरी आलेल्या, लाल आलवणातल्या गयामाई आत्याचे दबलेले उसासे याच्याशिवाय कोणाला कळले असतील.

मुलांच्या बाललीलात हा बापमाणूस पोर झाला असेल. दुलीचंद ,देवराम,उखरडू, तुळशीराम यांच्यासाठी त्यांच्या मालकांएव्हढाच थॉमसजी घड्यालजींचा मान होता.

मनिषा, आशा, मानसी,ज्योती, स्वाती, या सुनांना याचाच वडीलकीचा आशिर्वाद लाभला. आता नातवंड पतवंडाचे भरजरी सुख पांघरून आता पुण्यात स्थिरावलेत हे आमचे खापरपणजोबा!!!

मागील वर्षी सुनेला-अपर्णाला घेऊन मी आपला वाडा दाखवायला घेऊन गेले. जमीन-भिंती धूळ माखून उभ्या होत्या, मात्र थॉमस खापरपणजोबांचा निवास असणाऱ्या भिंतीवरच्या आकारठश्याने आपली शतकोत्तर मुद्रा त्यावर कोरली होती.

II इति लेखनसीमा II

जाणून घ्यायचाय या घड्याळाबद्दल? मग पुढील माहिती वाचाच.

Plymouth Hollow, Connecticut

(After 1865) Thomaston, Connecticut

Seth Thomas

Seth Thomas was born in Wolcott, Connecticut in 1785, the fifth of seven children of Scottish immigrant, James Thomas, a cooper, and his wife Maria Ward. Connecticut, incidentally, was an important and expanding hub in the American clockmaking trade.

Seth Thomas Childhood Home, 36 Peterson Ln

(photo above c.1984 — link to c.2005 photo)

He was born in this house and lived there until about 1810.

Current Photo • Current Map

Seth had a natural ability for carpentry and he probably obtained his knowledge and interest in mill property and manufacturing from this.

He had imited formal education and left school at an early age to become an apprentice carpenter and joiner to Daniel Tuttle, of Plymouth.

Seth was apparently a man of few words with great energy and perseverance in all that he did; thus, he paid strong attention to the duties of this apprenticeship. Subsequently, he became a skilled woodworker and built houses and barns in the nearby towns around Farmingbury/Wolcott (incorporated 1796).

In the early 1800s, Seth attempted to set up a clock-making industry in Wolcott. He made his first clock in his family’s house. The woods around the house were filled with mountain laurel trees; many Wolcott men worked cutting the trees and sawing them into thin slices, which, when seasoned, were used for the wooden wheels of the clocks. The women of the town spun flax (cotton) into cords and these were used to hold the clock weights. As a result, the town of Wolcott profited to some extent from the Thomas enterprise, the short time it was located in Wolcott.

In 1807, Seth moved to Plymouth. There he joined Eli Terry and Silas Hoadley in a business of making clocks at a wholesale rate. Seth mainly worked on fitting the wheels and different clock parts together. From 1807 until 1810, they made 4000 clocks of the “hang-up” or “wag-on-the wall” type. These clocks did not have cases, but buyers who wanted cases for their clocks hired carpenters to build what they called “grandfather cases” for them.

In 1810, Thomas and Hoadley, for $6,000, bought out Terry’s share of the company, by then the most successful clockmaking firm in the country, and worked together until 1812. On December 4, 1813, Seth Thomas sold out his share of the company to Hoadley for $2,000, and went into business on his own in Plymouth Hollow on land he purchased from a former apprentice of Eli Terry. The land included a clock factory and was conveniently located near Eli Terry’s new shop (where was the non-compete agreement?).

Thomas continued Clark’s wooden movement tall clock production, and about 1817 began making the wooden movement shelf clock. These were cased in pillar and scroll cases until 1830, when the bronze looking glass and other styles became popular. In 1842, brass movements were introduced, and first cased in the popular O.G. case (which was made until 1913). Wood movements were phased out in 1845.

Seth Thomas home purchased in 1838, now a museum

The Seth Thomas Clock Company was organized as a joint stock corporation on May 3, 1853 to succeed the earlier clockmaking operation of the founder. Seth Thomas (1785–1859) had been manufacturing clocks at the site since 1814.

Seth’s first wife was Philinda Tuttle; they married in the early 1800s and had a daughter, Philinda. His second wife was Laura A. Andrews. They had six children Seth, Martha, Amanda, Edward, Elizabeth, and Aaron. Seth Jr. and Aaron went into the clock business with their father, subsequently enlarging the clock factory and developing it into a worldwide business.

After Thomas’ death in 1859, the town of Plymouth CT was renamed “Thomaston” in his honor. At that time, Aaron became President and began to add new products.

About 1862, the firm purchased the patent rights of Wait T. Huntington and Harvey Platts of Ithaca, New York and added three models to their line that year. The earliest of the clocks indicate only three patent dates on the dials, September 19, 1854, November 17, 1857 and January 31, 1860. The fourth and final patent of March 1, 1862 is carried on most of their calendar clocks manufactured until 1875 or 1876. On February 15, 1876 Randall T. Andrews, Jr., a Thomas relative and workman in the factory, received a patent on an improved mechanism. This was put into production and utilized on all later perpetual calendar clocks until the last model was dropped in 1917.

Movement Dept — Thomaston CT

Regulator clocks were introduced in 1860. The patterns and machinery for these had been purchased in 1859 from the creditors of bankrupt clockmaker Silas B. Terry. Spring driven clocks were introduced ca. 1855–1860. Perpetual calendar clocks were made from ca. 1863–1917. Some of the most popular later types include walnut kitchen clocks, made from 1884–1909; marble clocks, 1887–ca. 1895; black (Adamantine finish) wood mantel clocks, ca. 1885–1917; black enameled iron cased clocks, 1892–ca. 1895; oak kitchen clocks, 1890–ca. 1915; tambour clocks, introduced in 1904; chime clocks, introduced in 1909; and electric A/C clocks, introduced in 1928.

The Seth Thomas Clock Company was very prosperous into the 20th Century and was considered the “Tiffany’s” of Connecticut clock manufacture, even by their competitors. Between 1865 and 1879 they operated a subsidiary firm known as Seth Thomas’ Sons & Company that manufactured a higher-grade 15-day mantel clock movement and during that period were major supporters of a New York sales outlet known as the American Clock Company. They also became a major manufacturer of tower and street clocks after 1872 and in between 1915 were manufacturers of jeweled watches.

“That our business has throughout half a century steadily increased from a small beginning to its present dimensions, is sufficient evidence of the quality of our work. No pains will be spared to maintain and increase the reputation of the ‘SETH THOMAS CLOCKS’ and we give our warrant to the full amount of the cost, that every clock that leaves our factory, if properly used, will prove a good Time Keeper.”

–Excerpt from an 1863 Seth Thomas catalog

Many Seth Thomas clocks from 1881 to 1918 have a date code stamped in ink on the case back or bottom. Usually, the year is done in reverse, followed by a letter A–L representing the month. For example, April 1897 would appear as 7981 D.

On January 1, 1931, the firm became a subsidiary of General Time Instruments Corporation and soon passed from family control.

In 1955, a flood badly damaged the Seth Thomas factory. They phased out movement manufacturing and began importing many movements from Germany. Hermle, in the Black forest of Germany, has made many movements for Seth Thomas clocks.

Former Seth Thomas Factory

The firm’s decline was gradual over the next 50 years and culminated by purchase of Seth Thomas by Talley Industries in 1968 and moving from Connecticut to Norcross, Georgia somewhere between 1975–1979.

It was reported in 1988 that the firm was all but dissolved. In June 2001 General Time announced that it was closing its entire operation. The Colibri Group acquired Seth Thomas. The NAWCC (the National Association of Watch and Clock collectors) purchased from Seth Thomas their collection of historical records, drawings, photographs, advertisements and documents.

In 2003, The Clock Guy was contacted at that time by a staff member at General Time regarding disposition of their collection which was subsequently sold to private collectors.

In January, 2009, The Colibri Group unexpectedly shut its doors, laying off its 280 employees and preparing to sell all remaining jewelry, gold and silver to pay creditors. The following message appeared on the Colibri website: “February 16, 2009: The Colibri Group is currently in receivership and is not accepting any orders at this time. We are also unable to repair or replace any items returned to us for the time being. We will do our best to ensure that items that have been sent to us will be returned to the respective customer or owner. We will update this message as new information becomes available. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your patience.”

R.I.P. Seth Thomas

Dating Seth Thomas Clocks

Some early Seth Thomas clocks can be dated by the address of the printer (Elihu Geer) who printed the labels found inside. If your label is still intact, the printer’s name and address can be found in small print at the bottom of the label. Based on the printer’s then-current physical address, you can extrapolate the approximate period of manufacture using this table:

26 ½ State St.

1839–1834

26 State St.

1845–1846

1 State St.

1847–1849

10 State St.

1850–1855

16 State St.

1856–1864

18 State St.

After 1865

Additional Seth Thomas History Links:

● History Article/References

● City Series Clocks

● 30-Hour Clocks

● Adamantine Clocks

● Seth Thomas Regulator №2 Identification Guide (PDF)

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