How I started collecting information on Attleboro Clocks.

In May of 1994 I was visiting my parents in Southern Illinois. Being a clock collector I was interested in taking at least one clock home with me to California. Congratulating myself on being resourceful, I used the book and telephone information service to obtain the phone numbers for the presidents of the two local chapters of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC). I asked them who in the area who have clocks for sale and was directed to a Mr. C.W. Byrd in Boskeydale, IL who purchased clocks and repaired them for resale.

I contacted Mr. Byrd and made arrangements to visit his clock shop. He asked me what I was looking for and I told him that I didn’t have anything specific in mind, but was interested in finding something different. I looked around and was admiring a not very attractive iron case clock that had the wind holes in the case below the clock dial. His response was that if I liked that clock then he had just the clock I was looking for. I asked it what it was and he said it was a kitchen clock. I told Mr. Byrd that I had several kitchen clocks and wasn’t interested in purchasing another one. He said that he was sure I would like this one and proceeded to go off to his house to get the clock. When he returned Mr. Byrd was carrying a very clean walnut cased kitchen clock and a copy of A Treasury of American Clocks by Brooks Palmer. The Treasury had been one of the few American Clock identification books until recently.

Mr. Byrd showed me where the clock had Attleboro Clock Co., Attleboro Mass on the dial. He then showed me in the Treasury that it indicated that there were only two clocks that were "known to be marked" with Attleboro Clock Co. on the dial. He then said "So there are only two of these clocks, and right here is one of them" and then quoted me a price about $75 more than I had ever paid for a kitchen clock. Well, I was smart enough to see through his sale’s pitch and knew that there had to be more than two "Attleboro Clock Co." clocks.  But Mr. Byrd’s approach was successful and I took the clock back home to California with me.

I first wrote to the Attleboro Historical Society and got a nice letter back stating that although they got lots of inquiries, they had no information on the Attleboro Clock Co. other than it never existed in Attleboro, Mass. I decided that I would find out just how many Attleboro Clock Co. clocks I could find, and would see if I could find out where these clocks came from.

My research into the Attleboro Clock Co. has taken me to the NAWCC headquarters at Columbia, PA twice, and to numerous other locations looking for information.  My Attleboro clock collection keeps growing.  Although I have been trying not to buy every Attleboro clock I find, I now have 6 kitchen clocks, a black mantle clock, a metal novelty clock, two metal alarm clocks and a pocket watch all marked with Attleboro Clock Co. Attleboro Mass on the dial.