Photos and photo negatives, correspondence, newspaper and magazine articles, and other printed material documenting the interior operations, products, and horological research relating to watch companies and watchmaking in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Scope and Contents:
The initial collection consists of approximately 760 photographs and negatives created by the Hamilton Watch Company and documenting its employees, equipment, materials, and factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Many photographs depict the company's research and development efforts. There are also images of the Hamilton Watch Company's work in fuse assembly for bombs during WWII. The photographs are mainly organized by factory department or location. A number of these photographs were created by the advertising department and include identification numbers, location of the image, name of the photographer, and the identification of people in the photograph, as well as release forms for those pictured. If not located with the photographs, these items, as well as additional information, can be found in the corresponding folders. Negatives in poor condition were scanned. There are also five glass plate negatives.
Following addenda consist primarily of advertising material related to material catalogs and newspaper and magazine articles published by watch companies in the 19th and 20th centuries. Included in the addenda are photographs, correspondence, articles, and other material documenting the interior operations, products, and horological research relating to the Hamilton Watch Company, Bowman Technical School, Keystone Watch Case Company, Elgin National Watch Company, United States Watch Company, Waltham Watch Company, and other prominent watch manufacturers primarily in the 20th century.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into seven series.
Series 1: Photographic Prints and Negatives, 1931-1954, undated
Series 2: 2009 Addenda, 1930-1969
Series 3: 2010 Addenda, circa 1826-1985
Series 4: 2016.3007 Addenda, circa 1885-2009
Series 5: 2016.3197 Addenda, circa 1870s-1970s
Series 6: 2014 Addenda, circa 1866-1981
Series 7: 2017 Addenda, circa 1850s-1998
Biographical / Historical:
Hamilton Watch Company, established in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1892, was known for its manufacture of high quality wrist and pocket watches. Broadway Limited, its first series of pocket watches, was nicknamed "the watch of railroad accuracy," and Hamilton soon became associated with the railroad industry. The company also supplied wristwatches to the United States Armed Forces in the 1910s. Hamilton continued its association with the military during World War II when it stopped production of watches for consumers in order to provide the armed forces with one million timepieces. The company was responsible for the Ventura, the world's first electric (battery-powered) watch, and in 1970, the world's first digital watch.
In 1969, Hamilton closed its factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, signaling the end of its American manufacturing operations. All production moved to the facilities of the Buren Watch Company in Switzerland, a company that Hamilton had acquired three years before. The Hamilton brand is currently owned by the Swatch Group and carries two product lines, American Classic and Khaki.
Related Materials:
Materials in the Archives Center
E. Howard Clock Company Records (NMAH.AC.0776)
Seth Thomas Clock Company Records (NMAH.AC.0627)
James Arthur Clock and Watch Collection (NMAH.AC.0130)
National Company (NATCO) Atomic Clocks Records (NMAH.AC.0547)
Harold Lyons Atomic Clocks Collection (NMAH.AC.0701)
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Series: Watchworks and Clockworks (NMAH.AC.0060)
Josephus Gill Ledger (NMAH.AC.1573)
Andrew Chi Atomic Clocks Collection (NMAH.AC.1264)
Richard Bond Clock Escapement Video Documentation: Videotapes (NMAH.AC.0682)
Illinois Springfield Watch Company Record Book (NMAH.AC.1145)
Harold Lyons Atomic Clocks Collection (NMAH.AC.0701)
Sam DeVincent Collection of Illustrated American Sheet Music, Series 14: Calendar, Time and Weather (NMAH.AC.0300.S14)
James Knight Co. Records (NMAH.AC.0847)
Jacob Rabinow Papers (NMAH.AC.0403)
Materials in the Division of Work & Industry
See accessions: 2010.0243.03; 2012.0266; 2014.0023; 2015.0030.011; 2016.0026; 2016.0381; 2017.0337.
Provenance:
The donor, Jon Hanson, purchased the photographs and negatives from Hamilton Watch Company (Series 1) in 1969 when Hamilton closed its Lancaster plant; they were later sold by his estate. Hanson donated these materials to the Archives Center in 2008.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
