I have a number of nice telechrons, all from the rich, Art Deco designs of Telechron from the late 1920's - 1950. All but one are actually plugged in and working, day in and day out... in most cases 60 years or more after they rolled off the assembly line at the Homer Ave. plant in Ashland MA. There is some dispute as to who actually made the first commercial electric clock but no real dispute over who made the first truely successful electric models; Henry Warren, a brilliant engineer, philanthropist and naturalist. Those interested in the history of Telechron should pick up a copy of "Electrifying Time: Telechron & GE Clocks, 1925-1955" in it you'll find a wealth of detail and pictures of literaly every Telechron produced; and there are hundreds!

A nice early digital (cyclometer) clock: Model 8B-7 "Baron". Wallnut brown bakelite with chrome accents it was a work of the industrial designer Walter Dorwin Teague. These were still very affordable at around $9 each and were introduced before the war (1936). Telechron sold about 27K of these, actually their cyclometers really predate the more well know ones from Pennwood Numechron and Lawson and are their much copied forerunners but seem to be less well know. This is probably due to the extreme styling these others show with well remembered designers like Kem Weber at Lawson. This is a beautiful example of streamlined moderne design, almost reminiscent of the locomotive design at the time.


The "Minitmaster Jr." Model 8H63. An early plastic shell clock, these were introduced after the war (1947) and sold for around $5. Telechron produced about 89K of these. It's a rather unique looking kitchen clock/timer, nice accents and the big red arrow indicator.


Model 455 "Radio" was a more expensive Telechron produced in the late 1920's. Not surprisingly (being that it was made in the height of the depression) it only sold about 7,000. A very stylish mantel piece it was cast metal with a 5" dial.


Model 4H93, "Highland" is a pre-war (1939-41) bakelite. These sold for about $6 and had a brown case and cream colored dial. Because of the solid design and construction of these early (pre-GE -i.e. 1943) Telechron "rotors" they basically seem to just run for decades without needing any service.


The "stewardess" is my favorite Telechron. A pre-War model, it was produced from 1939-42 and sold for around $5. Telechron produced about 150K of these. Rich chrome over die cast metal, cream colored face with deco font and blue lacquered hands. Looks and works great 60+ years later...