Herschede Clock Company

Herschede Hall Clock Company Records, 1887-1964.

Frank Herschede was born on July 30, 1857 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He operated a jewelry store at No. 9 Emery Arcade and began selling hall clocks in 1885. The clocks had imported mechanisms in locally manufactured cases. Herschede decided to exhibit his hall clocks at the South Carolina and West Indies Exposition, held in Charleston, SC in 1901. There his clocks won a gold medal, the first of several such awards. In 1902 the clock business was incorporated under the name of Herschede Hall Clock. Frank's brother, John A., acted as the general manager and salesman for the firm. Frank's son, Walter J., joined the business in 1902.
The Herschede Hall Clock Company moved to Plum Street in 1903. Afew years later, the company began manufacturing its own clock movements. The cases and the movements won awards at several expositions and were sold across the country. In addition, the company supplied cases and movements to competitors. The company built a new plant at the corner of McMillan Street and Essex Place in 1913. The company also began offering a third melody, the Canterbury Chimes, in addition to the two tunes that had been offered from the beginning, the Westminster and the Whittington Chimes. During World War I, the clock mechanisms, which were the only ones made in the United States, were in high demand because the American market was cut off from European manufacturers. The Herschede Hall Clock Company also produced surgical and surveying instruments and compasses for the military. On September 15, 1922, Frank Herschede, the founder of the company, died at the age of 65, following an operation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Walter succeeded his father as president and experimented with the production of radios and other items.
The company began selling electric clocks in 1926 under the name of the Revere Clock Company.
In 1929 the company employed about 300 workers and had sales of $1.2 million. Fours years later, annual sales would be reduced to $187,000. Walter's sons, William Foy Herschede, Walter J. Herschede Jr., Richard L. Herschede, and Robert H. Herschede joined the company in the 1920s and 1930s. The company began manufacturing parking meters in 1936 and acquired the Karpark Corporation in 1938. During this time the Herschede plant was completely modernized. The old-fashioned long-line shafts used to drive the machinery were eliminated and individual electric motors were installed to power each machine.
During World War II, the production of clocks and parking meters was stopped, so the company obtained government contracts to produce observation instruments. William Foy Herschede organized the Panocular Corporation to make the lenses. After the war, demand was high for clocks, and production began again on consumer products. A Clock Service Center was established in 1948 to improve the efficiency of the company's repair service.
For the Herschede Hall Clock Company, the postwar period was not without problems. Union activity was increasing and in 1946 the first union contract was signed. A twenty percent excise tax was imposed on "luxury items" which included clocks, and competition became so severe in the parking meter industry that prices were forced down to levels which left little if any margin for profit.
The Korean War saw the reactivation of the Panocular Corporation as the firm began producing tank periscopes for the military. The company's other products faced stiff competition in the 1950s. It became apparent the less expensive European clocks would soon be underselling American-made clocks, so the company began importing clock mechanisms, and complete clocks which were sold under the Herschede name. In 1959 the Rookwood Pottery Company was purchased. At one time, Rookwood Pottery had been the foremost art pottery in the county, and management felt that Rookwood might make a suitable companion sales item for their hall clocks.
Due to labor, taxes and other expenses, the Herschede Hall Clock Company began considering the possible advantages of moving the company to a new location. In 1960, the company moved into a new plant in Starkville, Mississippi, where it continued the manufacture of clock movements and cases as well as importing German clock movements. Panocular, Karpark and Rookwood also moved to Starkville. In 1962, Walter J. retired as president and was succeeded by his son, Richard. Walter J. Herschede died two years later at the age of 79.
In 1966, Robert Herschede, who had been the Vice President of Sales, became the last family member to be president of the Herschede Hall Clock Company. Under his guidance, the company developed a new product sold under the name "Motor Guide," which was an electrically powered, foot-operated outboard motor.
The company continued to have financial difficulties and was purchased by local Starkville businessmen in 1967. Richard Herschede stayed with the company as the vice-president and general manager. In 1972 the Herschede Hall Clock Company merged with Howard Furniture and Briarwood Lamps to form Arnold Industries, Inc.
(Sources: this collection, and newspaper clippings from the Cincinnati Historical Society files and from the Cincinnati Public Library's newspaper index.)
Scope and Content Note:
This collection consists of the records of the Herschede Hall Clock Company and its subsidiaries. It comprises four boxes (2 cubic feet) of materials. The collection begins with the clock businesses: Herschede Hall Clock Company, Revere Clock Co. and the Clock Service Center. These are followed by the other subsidiaries in alphabetical order: Jung Products, Karpark Corporation, Mar Lu, Panocular Corporation and Rookwood Pottery. Last are the oversized materials.
The bulk of the materials from the Herschede Hall Clock Company, Revere Clock Co. and Clock Service Center are financial statements, advertising and publicity, histories and photocopies of photographs. (The original photos are located in the Photographs Department.) The Karpark Corporation records include financial statements, patents, photocopies of photographs, and information about competitors. The collection has the record of incorporation, financial statements, and photocopies of photographs for the Panocular Corporation and several magazine articles in English, German or Italian about Rookwood Pottery. The records of the other subsidiaries are limited to financial information.
The records for the Herschede Hall Clock Company and its subsidiaries generally extend from the 1940 to 1964. The records for Rookwood Pottery include articles from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century.


This historical note is from the inventory of Herschede Hall Clock Company Records, Mss 989. Published here with permission of the Cincinnati Historical Society Libriary, Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. For more information, please visit the Historical Society Library catalog at library.cincymuseum.org.