Westclox (Western Clock Company)

Two bankruptcies, one famous alarm clock, and nearly a century of waking America from a factory town in Illinois.

By David Ray · clocks.fyi

Two failures, then the Western Clock Manufacturing Company

Westclox began with an inventor and a string of false starts. The Made in Chicago Museum says Connecticut clockmaker Charles Stahlberg patented a new alarm clock design in 1885 and moved to the Peru and LaSalle area of Illinois.

According to the Science Museum Group and the NAWCC library, his United Clock Company was founded in Peru in 1885 and soon went bankrupt. It was reorganized in 1887 as the Western Clock Company, which also failed. In 1888 the business became the Western Clock Manufacturing Company, which the Made in Chicago Museum says was incorporated with backing from local zinc industrialist Frederick William Matthiessen, with Ernst Roth as general manager.

Big Ben and the alarm clock boom

The clock that made the company famous was Big Ben. The Science Museum Group records a 1908 patent for its movement and says it was first brought to market in 1909. The Made in Chicago Museum credits employee George Kern with inventing the first Big Ben in 1908 and says its first national advertisement ran in the Saturday Evening Post in 1910.

Sales took off quickly. By the museum's count, Big Ben and its smaller companion, Baby Ben, sold more than 900,000 units combined in 1913 alone. The industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss's restyled Big Ben came out in 1931, and on July 31, 1942, the last Big Ben left the line as the plant switched to government work for the rest of World War II.

The NAWCC library adds two later milestones: the drowse alarm, an early form of what is now called a snooze button, was patented and put into production in 1959, and Westclox introduced a quartz movement in 1972.

See also: how alarm clocks went from bells to buzzers on OnlineClock.app.

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How to date a Westclox clock

The company name on a clock is one of the most useful clues. The Science Museum Group gives the sequence: Western Clock Manufacturing Company from 1888, Western Clock Company from 1912, and the Westclox Division of General Time Corporation from 1936. The NAWCC library gives the same 1888 and 1912 dates.

The Westclox name itself arrived in stages. The Science Museum Group says the trademark first appeared on the backs of Big Ben alarms between 1910 and 1917 and on Big Ben dials in 1911, while the NAWCC library says the name was used on clocks from about 1909. It was officially registered on January 18, 1916.

Check where the clock was made, too. A Canadian subsidiary was incorporated in 1919, and the Science Museum Group says a factory opened in Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1948. Its collection includes a 1952 Baby Ben recorded as made in both the USA and the UK.

General Time, closure and the brand today

In 1931 Westclox merged with the Seth Thomas Clock Company, and both became divisions of General Time Corporation. Talley Industries bought General Time in 1968. The original Peru plant closed in March 1980, shortly after General Time moved its headquarters to Norcross, Georgia, according to the NAWCC library.

Management bought General Time back from Talley in 1988. The NAWCC says all US manufacturing moved overseas in 2000, and General Time went out of business in 2001. Salton, Inc. then acquired the Westclox, Big Ben and Spartus brands, and in 2007 Salton sold its timekeeping brands to NYL Holdings LLC of Valley Stream, New York. US trademark records show NYL Holdings still filing new Westclox trademark applications in May 2026.

The Westclox Museum now occupies part of the historic factory building at 312 Fifth Street in Peru, where it displays Westclox products, documents, photographs and company history. The NAWCC library also holds a collection of Westclox catalogs, advertising and company records dating from 1886 to 1997.

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Questions people ask

How do I tell how old my Westclox clock is?

Look at the company name printed on it. Western Clock Mfg. Co. points to 1888 to 1912, Western Clock Co. to 1912 or later, and Westclox Division of General Time to 1936 or later. Where it was made, such as Canada or Scotland, also helps.

Is Westclox still in business?

The original company is gone. General Time, its parent, went out of business in 2001. The Westclox and Big Ben brands passed to Salton and then, in 2007, to NYL Holdings LLC, which was still filing Westclox trademark applications in 2026.

Who invented the Big Ben alarm clock?

The Made in Chicago Museum credits Westclox employee George Kern with inventing it in 1908. The movement was patented that year and the clock came to market in 1909.

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