Jon and Jennifer Hanson Watch and Clock Collection
topic: label: Topic
content: Assembly-line methods
label: Topic
content: Bombs
label: Topic
content: Chronometers
label: Topic
content: Clocks and watches
label: Topic
content: Factories -- Pennsylvania
label: Topic
content: Fuses
label: Topic
content: Horology
label: Topic
content: Manufacturing processes
label: Topic
content: World War, 1939-1945 -- Industries
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The donor, Jon Hanson, purchased the photographic prints and negatives (series one) in 1969 when the Hamilton Watch Company closed its Lancaster plant; they were later sold by his estate. Hanson donated these materials to the Archives Center in 2008.
setName: label: See more items in
content: Jon and Jennifer Hanson Watch and Clock Collection
abstract: label: Summary
content: Photographic prints, negatives, correspondence, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and other printed material documenting the interior operations, products, and horological research relating to watch companies and watchmaking in the 19th and 20th centuries.
accruals: label: Accruals
content: Accession 2009.3100 consists of 1.50 cubic feet documenting Hamilton Watch Company and was donated by Jon Hanson, December 2009.

Accession 2010.3101 consists of 2 cubic feet of material documenting Hamilton Watch Company and was donated by Jon Hanson, December 2010. 

Accession 2014.3122 consists of approximately 1.15 cubic feet of archival material documenting the Hamilton Watch Company and was donated by Jon Hanson and Jennifer Hanson, December 2014. 

Accession 2016.3007 consists of 1.3 cubic feet of material documenting the Hamilton Watch Company and other watch companies and was donated by Jon Hanson and Jennifer Hanson, December 2015. 

Accession 2017.3165 consists of 2 cubic feet of archival material on watches, clocks and related subjects and was donated by Jon Hanson and Jennifer Hanson, December 2017.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Hamilton Watch Company, established in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1892, was known for its manufacture of high quality wrist and pocket watches.  Broadway Limited, its first series of pocket watches, was nicknamed "the watch of railroad accuracy," and Hamilton soon became associated with the railroad industry.  The company also supplied wristwatches to the United States Armed Forces in the 1910s. Hamilton continued its association with the military during World War II when it stopped production of watches for consumers in order to provide the armed forces with one million timepieces.  The company was responsible for the Ventura, the world's first electric (battery-powered) watch, and in 1970, the world's first digital watch.

In 1969, Hamilton closed its factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, signaling the end of its American manufacturing operations.  All production moved to the facilities of the Buren Watch Company in Switzerland, a company that Hamilton had acquired three years before.  The Hamilton brand is currently owned by the Swatch Group and carries two product lines, American Classic and Khaki.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 27 Cubic feet (35 boxes, 1 map folder)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1826-2009
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1122
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Account books
label: Type
content: Annual reports
label: Type
content: Advertising
label: Type
content: Blueprints
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Picture postcards
label: Type
content: Price lists
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged into seven series. 


		
Series 1: Photographic Prints and Negatives, 1931-1954, undated	

Series 2: 2009 Addenda, 1930-1969	

Series 3: 2010 Addenda, circa 1826-1985	

Series 4: 2016.3007 Addenda, circa 1885-2009

Series 5: 2016.3197 Addenda, circa 1870s-1970s	

Series 6: 2014 Addenda, circa 1866-1981	

Series 7: 2017 Addenda, circa 1850s-1998
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Series one processed by Kiley Orchard, intern, 2008; Christopher Ruggiero, intern, 2008; and Vanessa Broussard Simmons, archivist, 2008. Series two through Series seven processed by Kamina Gager, intern, 2024; supervised by Alison Oswald, archivist, 2024.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Account books -- 20th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Annual reports
label: Genre/Form
content: Advertising
label: Genre/Form
content: Blueprints
label: Genre/Form
content: Business records
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1940-1950
label: Genre/Form
content: Picture postcards
label: Genre/Form
content: Price lists
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The initial collection consists of approximately 760 photographs and negatives created by the Hamilton Watch Company documenting its employees, equipment, materials, and factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Many photographs depict the company's research and development efforts. There are also images of the Hamilton Watch Company's work in fuse assembly for bombs during WWII. The photographs are mainly organized by factory department or location. A number of these photographs were created by the advertising department and include identification numbers, location of the image, name of the photographer, and the identification of people in the photograph, as well as release forms for those pictured.  If not located with the photographs, these items, as well as additional information, can be found in the corresponding folders.  Negatives in poor condition were scanned. There are also five glass plate negatives.

Following addenda consist primarily of advertising material related to material catalogs and newspaper and magazine articles published by watch companies in the 19th and 20th centuries. Included in the addenda are photographs, correspondence, articles, and other material documenting the interior operations, products, and horological research relating to the Hamilton Watch Company, Bowman Technical School, Keystone Watch Case Company, Elgin National Watch Company, United States Watch Company, Waltham Watch Company, and other prominent watch manufacturers primarily in the 20th century.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

E. Howard Clock Company Records, NMAH.AC.0776

Seth Thomas Clock Company Records, NMAH.AC.0627

James Arthur Clock and Watch Collection, NMAH.AC.0130

National Company Atomic Clocks (NATCO) Records, NMAH.AC.0547

Harold Lyons Atomic Clocks Collection, NMAH.AC.0701

Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Series: Watchworks and Clockworks, NMAH.AC.0060

Josephus Gill Ledger, NMAH.AC.1573

Andrew Chi Atomic Clocks Collection, NMAH.AC.1264

Richard Bond Clock Escapement Video Documentation: Videotapes, NMAH.AC.0682

Illinois Springfield Watch Company Record Book, NMAH.AC.1145

Harold Lyons Atomic Clocks Collection, NMAH.AC.0701

Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 14: Calendar, Time and Weather, NMAH.AC.0300.S14

James Knight Company Records, NMAH.AC.0847

Jacob Rabinow Papers, NMAH.AC.0403
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: Division of Work and Industry, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

See accessions: 2010.0243.03; 2012.0266; 2014.0023; 2015.0030.011; 2016.0026; 2016.0381; 2017.0337.