Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Watchworks and Clockworks
name: label: Creator
content: Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Watchworks and Clockworks is a portion of the Business Ephemera Series of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Accession AC0060 purchased from Isadore Warshaw in 1967. Warshaw continued to accumulate similar material until his death, which was donated in 1971 by his widow, Augusta. For a period after acquisition, related materials from other sources (of mixed provenance) were added to the collection so there may be content produced or published after Warshaw's death in 1969. This practice has since ceased.
creator: label: Creator
content: Warshaw, Isadore, 1900-1969
setName: label: See more items in
content: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Watchworks and Clockworks
abstract: label: Summary
content: A New York bookseller, Warshaw assembled this collection over nearly fifty years. The Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Watchworks and Clockworks forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Subseries 1.1: Subject Categories. The Subject Categories subseries is divided into 470 subject categories based on those created by Mr. Warshaw. These subject categories include topical subjects, types or forms of material, people, organizations, historical events, and other categories. An overview to the entire Warshaw collection is available here: Warshaw Collection of Business Americana
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 2.98 Cubic feet (consisting of 3.5 boxes, 1 folder, 5 oversize folders, 2 map case folders, 3 flat boxes (partial).)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1819-1957
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0060.S01.01.Watchworks
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Business ephemera
label: Type
content: Ephemera
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: In 2016, with funding provided by the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund, the Archives Center at the National Museum of American History implemented the use of minimal level processing standards to increase information about and facilitate access to more of our collections. 

A large portion of stored material from the original acquisition received minimal level processing, which resulted in additions to this Subject category. This effort included basic arrangement and replacement of non-archival housing for long-term stability, but staples and other fasteners have not all been removed. Revisions to the encoded finding aid were made to reflect the added content in context to the previously processed material.

Minimal level processing and enhancement of the machine-readable finding aid completed by Nicole Blechynden, September 2017.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Business ephemera
label: Genre/Form
content: Ephemera
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This material consists primarily of printed advertisements, illustrated catalogues, scattered correspondence on letterhead stationery, bills/receipts, order forms, premiums, price lists, calendars, almanacs, patents and trademarks, from manufacturers, importers and dealers of instruments for measuring time. Most of the devices are watches and clocks but it also includes chronometers, regulators, and analemmas. There are a number of items from the 1893 Columbia World's Fair. The bulk of the material is late nineteenth century.

The different types of clocks includes banjo, grandfather, grandmother, electric regulator, alarm, hall, traveling, tower, window, mantel, swinging and cuckoo clocks. Unusual clocks were the Strasburgh and Engle clock. The clocks are made of various materials including brass, wood, nickel, polished veneer, ebonized cased, bronze and copper. The earliest manufactured clock included in this material is a clock-lamp made by J, Walker in 1731. This clock was said to display the hours of the night making it useful as a clock and a candle. The clocks were manufactured to be used in railroad stations, banks, schools, factories, ships, dwellings, churches, offices, the home and stores.

There is some material from companies that cleaned and repaired timing devices. A number of companies just sold materials for manufacturing watches including faces, bells, bobscrews, dials, hands, keyes, rods, springs, tablets, verges, washers, sashes, and Other companies sold tools for watch manufacturers including lathes, benches for lathes, chucks, Accessories were also sold including chains, fobs and cases.

The companies tended to sell other products such as diamonds, cameos, jewelry, music boxes, Japan ware, cutlery, Silverware, spectacles, eye and opera glasses, pencil cases

Catalogues often included historical information on watch makers particularly pioneers in the field, factories, how clocks are manufacture red and marketing strategies.

Publications on topics such as "Timetaking and timekeeping an illustrated booklet published in the interest of correcting the erroneous ideas prevalent in regard to the correct maintenance of standard time.

Materials are organized alphabetically by name of company. There are some folders of material arranged by type including general images, timetables, patents, journals, pamphlets, books and articles.
relatedmaterial: label: Materials in the Archives Center
content: Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)
label: Forms Part Of
content: Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.

Series 1: Business Ephemera

Series 2: Other Collection Divisions

Series 3: Isadore Warshaw Personal Papers

Series 4: Photographic Reference Material