25. The Hub of Clocks and Watches in the U.S.: Tom Bartels Talks NAWCC

Today On the Dogwatch we have an opportunity to talk with Tom Bartels, the former and longtime director of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, which runs both the NAWCC Museum, and Library and Research Center in Columbia, PA. Tom has been a member of the NAWCC for 54 years, and has lectured throughout the world on clocks and horology. He joins us from his home in Nevada and discusses clock and watch collecting, shares tips on how to approach making a collection, describes the NAWCC holdings and jewels of the collection, and relates the story of locating the treasured Engle clock in the back of a barn.Our feature today is the song “My Grandfather’s Clock” that was written by Henry Clay Work in 1876.Tom shares with us that the clock in this song is what led to the general public indiscriminately referring to most large clocks as “grandfather clocks” after the song became popular, despite the fact that they are technically known as tall-case clocks.