Westclox

Westclox was originally established in 1884 as United Clock Company of Peru, Illinois based on a new, innovative idea by Charles Stahlberg. Stahlbergs innovation was patented in September of 1885 and his idea proved to be successful. He began with a small factory in back of a Department Store producing only one clock per day. He gradually increased production to 25 clocks per day with his staff of only eight people and later moved the company to its own building. In 1908, the company proposed to change the name to the Western Clock Company, which was later agreed upon by the stockholders in 1912. In 1908 the company created a clock with a bell-back design and was granted a patent for the Big Ben alarm clock movement. This resulted in the first Big Ben clock introduced to the market in 1910. The great success of the Big Ben lead the company to develop a smaller version known as Baby Ben. In 1920, Big Ben became the first alarm clock advertised nationally. In later years Westclox i...