Oak Gilbert Mantal Clock 1910

Description

Oak Gilbert Mantal Clock 1910 all parts including pendulum and key. Was unable to get it ticking but Im sure someone would be able to get this item running.

William L. Gilbert Clock Company, often simply called “Gilbert,” was a major American clock manufacturer based in Connecticut. Here’s a breakdown:

 Origins & Timeline

• Founded in 1828 by William L. Gilbert and George Marsh in Farmington/Bristol, CT, originally as Marsh, Gilbert & Co.

• The firm underwent several name changes—Clarke, Gilbert & Co., Gilbert & Clarke, etc.—as partnerships evolved during the 1830s–1860s .

• In 1866 it became the Gilbert Manufacturing Co., which was destroyed by a factory fire in 1871. Reincorporated as William L. Gilbert Clock Company in Winsted in July 1871 (missed first operations until 1873)

Rise, Innovation & Products

• Factory expansion between 1873–1902, including multiple large buildings in Winsted—at its peak employing ~500 workers and producing around 2,000 clocks daily .

• Known as a mass-market clockmaker, offering a wide range of affordable clocks—shelf/mantel, banjo, black-mantels, schoolhouse, alarm, ornate metal clocks, and paper‑mâché designs during WWII

• Innovation included first spring‑driven weight clock styles, patenting movement features, and later A/C electric clocks from 1930

Decline & Legacy

• Economic challenges: Panic of 1907 slowed growth; receivership in 1932 from Great Depression and costly electronic‑clock ventures .

• Reorganized as William L. Gilbert Clock Corp. in 1934. During WWII, used papier‑mâché cases due to metal shortages  

• In 1957 acquired by General Computing Machines; clock division sold to Spartus in 1964—clockmaking ceased thereafter

Identifying & Dating Original Gilbert Clocks

• Look for label on the back, showing one of their firm names—it indicates the era (e.g., Marsh, Gilbert & Co. vs. William L. Gilbert Clock Co.)

• Many clocks featured steel plates, wide pendulum swings, and distinctive chimes (like “Normandy”).

• Styles include banjo clocks (1800s), ornate metal mantel, black mantel (1870s), schoolhouse wall clocks (c. 1890), office-drop calendar clocks, and early alarm clocks like the “Winlite.”

Factory Today

• The Gilbert Clock Factory buildings in Winsted are on the National Register of Historic Places and have been repurposed as residential apartments. They also showed radium-era luminescent use issues (now resolved) 

Why Gilbert Matters

• Major contributor to America’s clockmaking boom in Connecticut.

• Produced affordable, widely available clocks that democratized timekeeping.

• Their products are now collectible antiques, especially early brass-plate and complex models.