SPOTLIGHT
In 1892, the Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was created through a merger of the Keystone Watch Company and the Aurora Watch Company. Hamilton had a monopoly on the railroad timepiece industry, and by the turn of the century was dubbed “The Railroad Timekeeper of America.” Waltham and Elgin remained the top two American watchmakers of the era (with Hamilton a close third), but neither exists any longer. Another big name of the time was Ball Watch Company. Cleveland, Ohio jeweler Webster Ball was hired to investigate time and watch conditions on the railroads after a fatal crash was caused by a conductor’s too-slow wristwatch. Ball established strict guidelines for the manufacturing and maintenance of all timepieces used by railroad personnel before establishing his own successful brand. Eventually, additional U.S.-based companies started producing railroad-grade watches as well, including E. Howard Watch Company, which marketed its watches directly to rail workers through trade magazines.
With the adoption of the international time standard in 1884, train traffic increased, and schedules became more predictable, making the watches carried by conductors and engineers more important than ever. But only when tragedy struck did the quality and precision of those watches become an issue that would push the industry’s achievements to even greater heights.
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LUX BOND & GREEN
FOUR FATEFUL MINUTES On April 19, 1891, in Kipton, Ohio, a fast mail train heading east collided with a passenger train heading west, killing eight people. The passenger train was supposed to stop to let the mail train pass, but it had been late in getting to the stopping point because the conductor’s watch was running four minutes slow. The general superintendent of the railroad appointed Cleveland, Ohio, jeweler Webster Ball to investigate time and watch conditions on all lines. Founding the Ball Watch Company, he established strict guidelines for the manufacturing and maintenance of all timepieces used by railroad personnel. Established watchmakers such as Waltham and
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Elgin were quick to adopt the new railroad standards, but so were newer, smaller companies eager to capitalize on the requirement for more accurate and high-quality timepieces. In 1892, the Hamilton Watch Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was created through a merger of the Keystone Watch Company and the Aurora Watch Company. Utilizing the Keystone factory location in Lancaster and the Aurora equipment from Illinois, Hamilton quickly came to dominate the railroad timepiece industry, reportedly acquiring more than a 56 percent market share. By the turn of the century, its advertisements in Harper’s Bazaar called the company “The Railroad Timekeeper of America.” According to Nicholas Manousos, executive director of the Horological Society of New York, “The American railroad expansion in the late 19th century was half of the reason why the American watchmaking industry rose to prominence in the early 20th century. This expansion gave manufacturers a reason to improve the quality of their watches and gave consumers a reason to buy those watches.” Waltham and Elgin remained the top two producers of American watches, with Hamilton
a close third. Many other companies began successfully producing railroad grade watches as well, including Illinois, Trenton, South Bend and the E. Howard Watch Company, which marketed its watches directly to rail workers through railroad trade magazines. (In 1858 Edward Howard had left the Boston Watch Company, Waltham’s predecessor, to form the eponymous E. Howard.) The American watchmaking industry boomed throughout the early part of the 20th century before a sharp and devastating decline. By 1932, only the big three and the Ball company remained. After the 1929 stock market crash and the onset of the Great Depression, watches were among the first luxury goods the American public stopped buying in favor of necessities such as food and clothing. Entry into World War II, which largely pulled the U.S. out of the Depression, further complicated matters in the watchmaking industry as companies like Elgin halted commercial manufacturing to aid in the war effort. Instead of watches, these companies manufactured chronometers, fuses for artillery shells, altimeters and other aircraft instruments and sapphire bearings used for aiming cannons. Ironically, the
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