PHOTO GALLERY
My Uncle Gordon and the "Allison Watch Wagon" (a 1932 American Austin, 2-passenger, 5-window coupe) riding the streets of Sherman Oaks, California, circa 1934.
My grandfather, Charles "Charley" Allison, in his watch workshop, circa 1946. Use of a Clemente Lathe gave him the versatility to get creative in his clock designs.
The Allison Mystery Clock, created in 1936, remains missing, and is believed to have been accidentally discarded in Los Angeles in 2021 during a house purge. If you happen across it, email me!
The Allison Mini-Steeple Clock (1937) tells the time in New York, Chicago, Denver, and LA. It reminds me a little of the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz..
The Allison Bakelite Anniversary Clock (1941) has entirely visible works. An observer can, literally, watch time go by.
The Allison Alpha-Omega Clock (1944) has interior pearling only a watchmaker would see. His exteriors are eye-catching, but my grandfather clearly wanted his inner workings to be beautiful as well.
The Allison Couples Clock (1946) has intricately milled gears to drive the large twin faces, for spouses who sleep in separate beds.
The Allison Brass Anniversary Clock (1948) includes a unique "second hand" at the top of its face. Unique in that it tracks six-second increments and rotates counter-clockwise.
The Allison Brass Anniversary Clock (1948), with two main barrels (and very fashionable gearing), runs for two years, longer than traditional 400-day clocks.
The Allison Mini-Grandfather Clock's broken click wheel (the clock was a wedding gift to my parents, but my father accidentally broke it on its first wind!) led to seventy years of shame.
The Allison World Clock tracks time in 24 time zones worldwide (with two city names, opposite ends of the Earth, on each face).
Behind the scenes, the Allison World Clock has a sophisticated set of gears to drive its many hands.
Grandson Gregory Allison reads from his memoir in his grandfather's hometown of East Rochester, New York.
"Greg Reads" photo credit: Stephanie Livingston Heywood
NOTE: Additional interior and exterior clock photos of the entire Allison Collection are included in "My Grandfather's Clocks: The True Story of a Grandson's Search for an American Inventor's Lost Collection."
If you find my grandfather's lost-and-found timepiece collection intriguing,
please help me spread the word with a Facebook share...and thank you, sincerely!
