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Art deco- watches and beyond

  1. boraxman Apr 29, 2019

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    Good stuff!
     
  2. allwoundup Apr 29, 2019

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    Following on the Ingraham watch Professor posted above, here are a couple other "dollar" watches of mine from the same period. The U.S.-based Ingersoll Watch Co. is perhaps the best known and prolific of the dollar watch manufacturers. Over a twenty year period, Ingersoll sold nearly forty million dollar watches. The company's slogan was, "The watch that made the dollar famous!" In the early years of the 20th century Ingersoll began manufacturing watches in England (Ingersoll Ltd.), and sold them for five shillings -- the equivalent of one dollar. Ingersoll went bankrupt in 1921, and was bought out the following year by the Waterbury Clock Company (of Connecticut), which had initially produced its watches. The company changed its name to Ingersoll-Waterbury. It was the first company to produce Mickey Mouse watches, selling over five million in the first fifteen years. The Waterbury Clock Company went on to be renamed the U.S. Time Corporation....now known as the Timex Group U.S..

    The second dollar watch, having an octagonal case, was made by the New Haven Clock Company (also of Connecticut) and was commonly sold under the brand name Tip-Top. This particular watch is a promotional item of the Poll-Parrot Shoe Company. The watch represents an interesting, and low cost, means of adapting a pocket watch movement to a wristwatch -- i.e., rotating the crown slightly to the 1:30 position and attaching simple wire lugs to the case.
     
    Ingersoll.06.jpg Ingersoll.02.jpg PollParrot.11.jpg PollParrott.13.jpg TipTop1928.02.jpg
  3. Professor Apr 29, 2019

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    I've seen more modern watches with the dial oriented to put the 12 hour marker in the same position, the crown at the regular position.
    IIRC these were designed to make it easier for a driver or helmsman to check time at a glance while keeping a firm grip on the wheel.
     
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  4. queriver May 1, 2019

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    The National Herbarium in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne, Australia. The building dates from 1934.

    248BD786-8BCC-43F5-BEB5-CA196C7F6B36.jpeg 06123643-7FBE-4DE5-8224-73E554296199.jpeg BAC0FAF2-91CB-4806-B252-0B27FB9ED5AB.jpeg
     
  5. Peemacgee Purrrr-veyor of luxury cat box loungers May 2, 2019

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    Out and about in Leeds today - decided to take a wander around the art gallery.
    Not strictly Deco (a couple of years too early) but I think worth adding here.
    Artist Wyndham Lewis A7424AEC-CE22-4225-94ED-975893014A18.jpeg
     
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  6. Professor May 2, 2019

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    Looks like he might have been a serial killer who used decomposing corpses as models. That's one way to make them sit still.
     
  7. arturo7 May 2, 2019

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    She pointing at her wrist, but there is no watch.

    I think she wants you to buy her Longines.
     
  8. jimv50 May 2, 2019

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    Classic Art Deco shape and colour
     
    DSCN0689.JPG
  9. queriver May 9, 2019

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    This simple toy in the “Streamline Moderne” style was produced in Australia during WW2 at a time when materials for non-essential products were scarce. PMG is the acronym for Post-Master General which was the government authority responsible for the postal service and phone system. One can only speculate why the toy was designed in this style since it would have in no way resembled the real delivery vans of the time (nor now). This is in the Melbourne Museum.

    52B857D3-254A-4E13-B765-49C4DE7CC75B.jpeg FF93B443-5E97-4348-90B5-EA318C2773F1.jpeg
     
  10. Professor May 9, 2019

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    My speculation would be that it was loosely based on futuristic air foil designs for vehicles that showed up as show cars and experimental autos and trucks in the late 30's and early 40's.

    Its also not unlikely that rather than being purpose made blocks of wood the body was made from a by product of some industry. Cut off end pieces of milled lumber intended for some sort of structure.
    In our town the factory my dad worked at in 1943 had switched from peacetime furniture manufacture to manufacturing air craft seats and other parts. One by product was scrap plywood in a quarter moon shape. Workmen took the scrap home and made nicely finished wall decorations from these, a moon with Romeo & Juliet balconies connected by a staircase also made from scrap wood. I still have one.
     
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  11. queriver May 9, 2019

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    You may well be right that the inspiration came from show cars. According to Wikipedia the first Melbourne Motor Show ran in 1925. I doubt it ran during the war but the memories of such futuristic vehicles, if they had been exhibited prior to the war, would still have been relatively recent.
     
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  12. allwoundup May 12, 2019

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    Spending the weekend in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for my eldest son’s college graduation, and decided to visit the National Watch and Clock Museum in nearby Columbia (great!) where this Art Deco purse watch was on display.
     
    8D171A84-3F2C-4DE1-8234-54A909FD6EB1.jpeg
  13. queriver May 16, 2019

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    I walked past the Manchester Unity Building recently and took some photos inside the lobby. The decorative detail is almost overpowering.

    The architect and building committee members ensured their names would be remembered ....
    IMG_4763 - Copy.JPG

    IMG_4765 - Copy.JPG IMG_4766 - Copy.JPG

    A pity electronic directory screens were installed.... IMG_4768 - Copy.JPG IMG_4769 - Copy.JPG

    In the below photo, you can see a relief of the building facade on the left hand cornice.
    IMG_4771 - Copy.JPG

    A link to info about the building...
    https://manchesterunitybuilding.com.au/
     
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  14. Syrte MWR Tech Support Dept May 16, 2019

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    Thanks for sharing this beautiful example!!! :thumbsup:
     
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  15. Modest_Proposal Trying too hard to be one of the cool kids May 16, 2019

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    .
     
    s-l1600 (2).jpg
  16. Professor May 16, 2019

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    Love those numerals.
     
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  17. CaptainWinsor May 16, 2019

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    That’s a nice set of the Kodak A1 with box, both designed by Walter Dorwin Teague in 1929-30
     
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  18. CaptainWinsor May 16, 2019

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    More likely based on the designs of Norman Bel Geddes. Car #9
    FC5A0E91-3D9D-4B7E-A93B-D73C9481F2CE.jpeg
     
  19. Syrte MWR Tech Support Dept May 21, 2019

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    Art deco in Krakow Poland comes in strange and bitter packages.
    Below:
    1/ pictures of a famous art deco building in the city with bold last attic floor the nazis found so decadent they had it transformed into a more traditional beaux arts style (photos courtesy of the Oskar Schindler Factory Museum);
    2/ large and famous art deco building whose name I don’t know - postcards at the same museum showed it with a large nazi flag flying at the top;
    3/ at an antique dealer a box presented to me as “polish art deco from the 1920s or 1930s”- too bad the side showed an inscription “Krakow 1941”- that had kind of a chilling effect;
    4/ a beautiful clock bearing the name “Casimir” in Polish on the dial.
    5/ first aid kit marked in German (“erste Hilfe”).
    6/ armoire.
     
    662C1A30-C8EA-4740-9CFB-9587109638F6.jpeg EDF6E776-318F-4143-B949-542A650D3099.jpeg F90A7260-7A73-46CA-A9B6-941B205CBA07.jpeg EB70A33B-9739-4CDB-8E96-DB3A9219B389.jpeg FD9CEBA9-BA21-48D8-AAA0-0C654D67753D.jpeg 6AB272ED-0D2D-4207-B809-F0A5CFEBFE9F.jpeg DEE9554A-99F1-4AFF-AC00-61EE44DA00C6.jpeg 9F969BE2-1412-436D-BEB1-8E0E751853AE.jpeg
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  20. Professor May 21, 2019

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    A strong "Metropolis" vibe from all these.
     
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