Gibraltar and Windsor Clocks |
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A variety
of clocks were made
in the 1930's by the Gibraltar Manufacturing Company, of Jersey City, NJ.
These were sold under the Gibraltar name itself, as well as the Windsor and Oxford brands, and
probably others.
The majority of the clocks they made were, at best, totally uninteresting. Many were aggressively ugly novelty creations with figural pot metal or cheap wood cases. Their movements were cheap and grew noisy as they wore, and the faces were often foil-coated paper. Like most early electric clocks, these were not self starting. A knob on the back of the clock had to be spun to start the motor which could be run backwards, if desired. The clocks shown on this page are among their best efforts, and quite unlike the bulk of their production. For the clocks shown here, they used sheets of Catalin plastic and mirrored glass pieces to create these spectacularly beautiful clocks. The first clock shown is particularly beautiful when back lit, as shown in the photo below, as light is filtered through the nearly transparent Catalin panel. |
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The last two clocks on this page are made of Plaskon plastic. The first is a Windsor wall clock from the 1930's in bright red, and the second is a circa 1940 Oxford "Self Starting" alarm clock. This marbleized form of Plaskon is known as "Beetle", and was a popular material for radio cabinets. This is the only clock I have ever run across that used this material. |
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