it had been introduced, the March 1, L877, issue of the B,ristol Press third astronomical patent on March

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1 GAIE DROP CATENDAR During the years that B. B. Lewis and D. J. Gale worked for the Welch. Spring and Company, a keen rivalry developed between the two men about who was Brisl,ol's greatest calendar clock inventor.as In 18?6, D. J. Gale was working on a new calendar mechanism that he thought would be more economical to produce and better suited for Lhe market than his previous one, which, at that time, was only being used in gallery clocks. By January, 1877, he had finished developing this new calendar mechanisml the Welch, Spring and Company's new trade catalog pdce list for that year carried his new elock, the Gale Drop Calendar. The Welch, Spring and Company,s management must have had ereat confidence that it would be well received by the publie, for at the time of the catalog printing, D. J. Gale had not even applied for his pater,t.aa He was successful because sixty days after it had been introduced, the March 1, L877, issue of the B,ristol Press stated that the Welch, Spring and Company had received large orders for their lew Gale Calendar Clock. With the immediate success of the new calendar clock, D. J. Gale applied for his third astronomical patent on March 20, L877, and received Patent No. 192,188 otr June 14, 187?. The Gale Drop Calendar (Figure 61) has the same case as the No. 4 Round Head ingly, they s $17.50 each. movement and calendar mechanism used in the Gale Drop Calendar Clock. Fig. 6l Co lendor The Gole Drop Asfronomicol 49

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3 FOURTH STAGE I THE PATTI ERA In 1879, the Welch, Spring and Company started their fourth and last stage of growth, the Patti Era. For the next five years the company's final efforts to stay in business and remain ^successful would revolve around one clock, the Putti. The PatLi clock \\-as the Welch, Spring and Company,s finest accomplishment, for it was this clock alone that clock collectors, antique dealers, and horological historians associate with the Welch, Spring and Cornpany of tr'orestville, Connecticut. For those unfamiliar with the Patbi, lel me explain what a Patti is, its history, and its major role in the life of the Welch, Spring and Company. Let us slart from lhe beginning when this clock appeared in the Welch, Spring and Company catalog of 1880,a5 On page 49, there was a clock called the PatLi V. P. (Figures 68 and 64) which stood 18% " high, had a 5' dial. a rosewood case, and was listed as an eight-day time and strike clock. Since that time, there have been thousands of questions asked about the patti, most of rvhich have gone unanswered. In the following pages, I shall try to outline and explain what a patti is and hopefully answer the majority of these questions. I will cover these questions in five major categories: first, the Case; second, the Movementi third, the Name; fourth, the Accessories; and fifth, the Speeial Alarrn. THE "PATTI" CASE The first official record on the concept of the Patti was dated Februar"v 24, 7879, when Solomon C. Spiing applied for a design patent for.;a Ctoct- Case". On March 25, 1879, Solomon Spring was au'arded Design patent No. 11,092 naming himself as the inventor to the Forest design patent, it was only issued for seven years. A copy of the patent is shown in Figure 65. In place of sending a model tn the p'atent office, Solomon Spring sent photographs of the clock sho\rr-ine the front and side views, illuslratingiome nerv and outstanding design features. l'he patent photographs clearly show that the original design had four fancy column turnings, glass sides, rosettes, and fancy finials. The aforementioned items along with the case which was constructed of rosewood, a hrass pendulum with a sandwich glass center, and a special movement m,ade the Patti, one of the most collectible and famous parlor clocks ever made by an American manufacturer. Studying the design patent closely, $'e see that Solornon Spring went into great detail to desclibe the construction of the clock case. He identified it with the curved arch at the top, the forzn of the fiase, and the corner pillars or posts which had rosettes mounted to them. At a later date, this sarne clock would be knorvn as the Patti. For his plotection on future models, he added the following cl'ause in his closing paragraph of the patent, "While I consider the design for the top of the case above the ends of the pillars as of my invention, I intend to use in some cases the body of the case and pillam herein shown with a top of a different design," By using this clause, it was obvious that Solomon Spring had other models in mind that would be similar to this style clock. It is interesting to note that the two witnesscs for the patent were J. Hart Welch (son of E. N. Welch) and G, H. Mitchell (son-in-law of E. N. Welch) both part-ownel's of the Welch, Spring and Company. After they applied for the design patent, but before it was accepted, the management of the Welch, Spring and Company thought that the original design patent was too specific and covered only one style. The original patent, you will recall, called for "A Clock-Case".ao It r,qas at this time that the management decided to apply for another patent to cover additional models. On March 20, 1879, Solornon Spring applied for his second patent, "Improvement in Clock Cases". At this time, to protect the company for a longer period of time, he applied for an inventor's patent, giving the company variations in style and a patent life of fourteen years. o1

4 Fig. 63 Pofti, V. P. - front view 52

5 Fig. 64 Potti, V. P. - side view

6 Fig. 65 Pqtti Design Potent No. I